How do you turn historical theology into gripping cinema? According to Luther, haul out the fancy clothes. A biopic about the life of Martin Luther (Joseph Fiennes) – the 16th-century monk who split apart the Catholic church by arguing Christians earned salvation by faith, not works – Luther is a staid, somber costume epic whose only flashes of life are in the garish robes that its popes, cardinals and other Catholic officials wear.
