''Martin Luther, Heretic'' is a 1983 film made to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther. It was released on 8 November 1983 in the United Kingdom, two days before the 500th jubilee on 10 November. It starred Jonathan Pryce as Martin Luther. Maurice Denham reprised his role of Johann von Staupitz that he played in the 1973

American Film Theater From 1973 to 1975, using approximately 500 movie theaters across the US, The American Film Theatre presented two seasons of film adaptations of well-known plays. Each film was shown only four times at each theatre. By design, these were not films ...

film '' Luther''. The time frame of the film is 1506-1522: the beginning of Luther's monastic vocation to his return from exile at the Wartburg in 1522. A medieval

dramatic Dramatic may refer to: * Drama, a literary form involving parts for actors * Dramatic, a voice type classification in European classical music, describing a specific vocal weight and range at the lower end of a given voice part * Dramatic soprano, ...

troupe's performances of mystery plays provide the unifying motif for a parallel telling of the story of the film. When Luther's carriage en route from the Wartburg to Wittenberg it is shown passing an actor wearing a devil's mask. When this scene is revisited at the end of the film, the actor slips this mask off his face.

Historical inconsistencies

Some could interpret the portrayal of Martin Luther returning to Wittenberg, which occurred in early 1522, as his approving of the radical changes instigated by

Andreas Karlstadt Andreas Rudolph Bodenstein von Karlstadt (148624 December 1541), better known as Andreas Karlstadt or Andreas Carlstadt or Karolostadt, or simply as Andreas Bodenstein, was a German Protestant theologian, University of Wittenberg chancellor, a c ...

the year before. However, historically, Luther opposed some of the changes as well as the rashness of the changes he did approve of. The movie makes the out-break of the radical changes the instigation of his return thus implying, probably rightly, the need he felt to moderate them. He preached his "Invocavit Sermons" against this radical reform in Wittenberg, and he had some of the changes rolled back.

Cast

* Jonathan Pryce - Martin Luther * Maurice Denham - Father Staupitz * John Nettleton -

* Clive Swift - Johann Tetzel * Philip Stone - Johann Eck * David de Keyser - Duke Frederick *Hugh Dickson -

Georg Spalatin Georg(e) Spalatin () was the pseudonym taken by Georg Burkhardt (; 17 January 1484 – 16 January 1545), a German humanist, theologian, reformer, secretary of the Saxon Elector Frederick the Wise, as well as an important figure in the histo ...

*Jon Croft - Berlepsch * Valentine Dyall - Chancellor *Pip Miller - Captain *John Byron - Papal Nuncio *Eric Francis - Keeper of Relics * Timothy Ackroyd - Student *Neal Swettenham - Student *James Kirby - Emperor

External links

* 1983 films Films about Martin Luther Films with screenplays by William Nicholson 1980s English-language films {{christian-film-stub