From devout monk to fervid reformer

Heaven knows the Catholic Church has had its share of problems recently, but tonight PBS delivers a blast from the past with a documentary on the man whose bold defiance 500 years ago shook the institution to its core in “Martin Luther” (9 p.m., KCET).

The handsomely mounted two-hour special, filmed at historical sites throughout Europe, has an unusual structure. There are atmospheric filmed re-creations, talking-head segments with modern-day religious scholars and narration by actor Liam Neeson. Luther is portrayed by Timothy West, who is seen but has no dialogue in the role. The storytelling technique, used by producer-director-writer Cassian Harrison in his documentary “The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization,” is richly informative but somewhat distancing emotionally. The story itself possesses so much power, however, that such quibbles quickly fall away.

The action unfolds in flashback, with an aged Luther circa 1546 reflecting on the events that transformed him from a fiercely devout monk into a crusading rebel railing against the failings of the church. From the inside out, Luther comes to see the church as a greedy and corrupt power that trades cruelly on peasants’ desperate dreams of a better existence in the hereafter. He was almost maniacally driven to advance his belief that a relationship with God didn’t require earthly rituals and institutional approval to achieve salvation.

Calling him one of the great emancipators in history, the program illustrates the tremendous personal risks Luther took in igniting the campaign for reform, which would permanently change the face of Europe yet leave the ever-questioning Luther still wondering if his quest had indeed been a righteous one.