The Last Temptation of Christ 1988

I hadn't watched Last Temptation since i was a teenager, so upon my purchase of the UK Criterion Collection bluray i thought i'd watch it this Easter and without sounding blasphemous i found some of the story concepts intriguing - i wholeheartedly believe that Jesus was real - a true samaritan, but i have a problem with the healing powers and resurrection aspect of the gospel . ..the scene in the third act between Jesus and Harry Dean Stanton's Paulius almost won the film over for me - as i suppose Paulius' dogma is in tune with my own- up until that point i just couldn't immerse myself within the film - the lack of native Hebrew tongue replaced by broad New York and North American accents was jarring. For a 2 and a half hour film it was overlong, however it wasnt a total right off . I found some scenes touched a nerve, in a good way, but they were all to infrequent. A shorter version with less dialogue was probably the way to go - a version when were we could be hyptonised by Peter Gabriel's beautiful score that must have influenced the John Debney score of the later Mel Gibson film 'The Passion of the Christ'. If i feel the urge to watch this film again in the future i think i would watch the far superior ' The Passion of the Christ' first and then the final act of the Last Temptation.