(Serious spoiler) "The Last Temptation of the Pastor" (First Reformed) director and screenwriter Paul Schrader was the writer of the controversial "Last Temptation of Christ" 30 years ago . The theme of "The Servant of God Experiencing the Spiritual Night" of this play has a long history in Western movies. "Pastoralism" is reminiscent of Inmar Bergman's "Winter Light", Tarkovsky's "Sacrifice", Terrence Malik's "Tree of Life" and "Love is Magic", and the most influential of this film It seems to be Robert Bresson’s "Diary of a Country Pastor" in 1951; it can even be said that "Shepherd" is the "21st Century Hollywood Environmental Protection Edition" of "Xiang".
The spiritual night is the experience of losing faith, hope, and love:
Lose confidence
At the beginning of "The Last Temptation of the Priest", the priest Toller was already in the dark night of the soul. He tried to use the practice method of writing a spiritual diary to help himself through this difficult period. Because of his duties, he still has to preside over the sacraments, but he can no longer pray. When believers ask him to pray together, he can do it with his "vocational skills," but he cannot connect with God in his heart.
Suffering is one of the reasons why people fall into the spiritual night. Toller followed the family tradition and sent his son to the battlefield. He was also the pastor of the army. As a result, his son died in battle and his wife left. Toller left the army and worked in the "First Reformed Church" in a small church with a long history under the arrangement of the pastor of Mega Church called "Abundant Life".
The appearance of a couple stirred Toller's mind. Mary, who was pregnant soon, asked Toller for help, and her husband Michael fell into despair because of a setback in his fight for environmental protection. A conversation between Toller and Michael was actually an exchange between a person committed to Christ and a believer committed to environmental protection. Michael believed that the impact of humans on the environment has reached an irreversible end, but people are unwilling to change. As a pastor, Toller certainly expresses a message of hope and hopes that Michael will cherish the lives of himself and the baby.
Then Michael committed suicide. But this is just the beginning.
Toller, who handled the funeral and relics for Michael, also gradually fell into despair. He saw the information about global warming and pollution, the collusion between the political and business circles and the church; he himself was ill but he was delayed to check, and he was drinking more and more aggressively.
Keeping a diary does not seem to help Toller hear the voice of God. But the injustice of the world is vividly visible.
Where is God?
hope
One of Toller's work was to prepare for the 250th anniversary celebration of the First Reformed Church, but he gradually discovered that this was just a celebration subordinate to the Church of Plenty of Life, politicians and businessmen. Michael's belongings included a suicide bomb vest, which was discovered by Mary and taken by Toller.
Although Michael died, Toller gradually lived in his shadow. Because of the lack of justice and the hopelessness of environmental protection, the combination of despair and anger became a black fire. Toller decided to put on the vest himself, planning to celebrate the "clean temple"-this seems to be just an "alternative jihad" relative to Bush's attack on Iraq. What is the connection between suicide bombing and hope? What is despair? It is to be sure that things will only go bad but not good. What does despair have to do with suicide and homicide? To commit suicide is to believe that one's own situation will not turn for the better, and to kill is to affirm that these people are hardened and "unsaved."
Lose love
The most important thing in faith, hope, and love is love, and the core of Toller's spiritual dilemma is loss of love. He first lost the love of his wife and children and fell into loneliness. Then he also rejected the love of others, even insulting a female believer who pursued him. These of course all stemmed from his inability to feel the love of God. A person cannot feel God's love, not necessarily because he blames God, but simply cannot feel it.
Although it is not mentioned in the play, we can imagine that the pastor Toller must know that believers must be patient in the face of trials. It's just that patience is not a kind of knowledge. Michael is like a prophet, announcing that the end is near, and it is human beings who destroy this originally beautiful Heavenly Father's world. Patience and the end of the world form a paradox: should we wait, or can we not wait?
As a Hollywood movie, the orientation has always been relatively popular, and the creators are not as cruel and dark as the European masters. Mary became the lifesaver that made Toller turn around, because she appeared in the celebration party, which forced Toller to take off the bomb vest and saved him from the brink of suicide. She is also an environmentalist and has experienced suffering, but she still maintains faith, hope and love.
The director did not explain why Mary is such a person, but only showed that she is such a person, just like the firefly that Toller saw in the spiritual valley. She asked Toller to imitate the intimate moments of Micheal with him before, and let Toller who had been in the dark for a long time see a vision-isn't that the connection between God and man?
To love is to cherish another life, so you choose to believe that the world does not necessarily decay to the end.
This choice is hope.
Originally published in Issue 1621 of "Times Forum" , September 23, 2018
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