Film Luther
In the context of "Celebrating 500 Years Reformation in the SF Bay Area"
Director: Eric Till, 121 min., 2003This Hollywood production tells the story of Martin Luther by spanning a wide arch: starting with Luther's entrance into the monastery; his life as a professor and preacher at Wittenberg; the peasant revolts and Protestant confession of faith of the German princes in Augsburg. This feature shows the psychological development of the young Luther from self-doubting monk to the reformer contrary to sake and outlines a genre picture of the early 16th century, throwing light on the ecclesiastical and political events of the time.
Director Eric Till emphasized the historically verifiable and reduced the personal topics. Luther's relationship to his family and his marriage to Katharina von Bora are merely touched. Instead, Till explores a series of highly interesting topics like the struggle of the individual against the prevailing conviction and their instances of power, or the rampant fear of death and beyond of a population that is mercilessly exploited by the Catholic clergy.
Film courtesy of Matthias Film gGmbH.
In collaboration with the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in San Francisco.