Luther (1928)

The film begins with Martin Luther studying law. Several fictional scenes from Luther’s youth follow. In one, Luther visits a small village school, where the pupils turn away from the strict teacher and toward the gentle, cheerful Luther. He plays his stringed instrument for the children, and they listen to his music. The village schoolteacher also listens and is glad of the change in his daily routine. But there are dark days in Martin Luther’s life, too. In a duel, one of his friends is killed by a sword blow. Luther is shaken and distraught. Then comes Luther’s famous experience in a thunderstorm. He vows that if he survives the storm, he will enter a monastery. There, he devotes himself excessively to monastic life. He fasts and flagellates himself to the point of total exhaustion. Father Staupitz worries about the young monk and persuades him to read the Bible. Martin applies himself diligently to his Bible studies, and one day he discovers that God is not an angry judge. His fasting and self-flagellation had been the wrong path, because God will show mercy. By now a Doctor of Theology in Wittenberg, Martin Luther learns that Johann Tetzel is selling indulgences to the faithful. Luther therefore posts 95 theses against this practice on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. But the higher clergy respond, and Luther eventually has to answer before the emperor at the Diet of Worms. Luther remains steadfast and does not recant. After the Diet, Luther plans to travel back to Wittenberg, but on the way home he is ambushed and taken to Wartburg Castle. There he is safe from the reach of the emperor and the pope. It is there that he begins translating the Bible. The film ends with the iconoclasm in Wittenberg and Luther’s return to the city.