MOVIES - Dec. 26, 1988
The Swiss canton of Valais banned director Martin Scorsese’s controversial film “The Last Temptation of Christ” over the Christmas weekend, ruling it offensive. The canton’s censorship board said it made the decision after seeing the film at the request of distributors United International Pictures, which wanted to show it in two towns in the region. Despite protests from religious groups, none of Switzerland’s 22 other cantons has banned the film, which contains a 30-second scene in which Jesus Christ fantasizes on the cross about making love to Mary Magdalene. It has been already been shown in a number of Swiss towns.
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