In the context of this artwork, discuss the Film and television of the In culture.
The painting is closely resembled in the film Quo Vadis, where Peter preaches in front of a large Christian crowd. As he tells the story of the Last Supper, the film shifts into a brief scene where the background, clothing, and positions of Jesus and the 12 Disciples is alike to the painting itself. In Luis Buñuel's 1961 Spanish film Viridiana, a tableau vivant of Leonardo's painting is staged with beggars. Another beggar "photographs" the scene by flashing them. This scene contributed to its refusal by the Vatican who called it "blasphemous". The painting is parodied in the motion picture of M*A*S*H (1970), in the scene where Hawkeye Pierce stages a "last supper" for Walt (Painless) Waldowski before his planned suicide. The various doctors, all in surgical scrubs, pose in imitation of the painting. In Norman Jewison's film version of Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), in the Last Supper sequence, Jesus and the 12 apostles briefly mimic the posture of each character in Da Vinci's painting. The painting is also parodied in Mel Brooks's movie History of the World, Part I (1981), making Leonardo a contemporary of Jesus.
Many parodies of the painting appear on the small screen, including That '70s Show's 1998 first-season episode "Streaking", with Eric flanked by his friends (and Jackie wondering why everyone is sitting on the same side of the table); The season seven finale of The X-Files, "Requiem" (and Mulder's last episode as a series regular) features a scene in Skinner's office with the characters lined up in homage to the painting; The Simpsons' 2005 Season 16 episode "Thank God, It's Doomsday", with Homer as Jesus and Moe and his other patrons as the disciples; and South Park's 2009 Season 13 episode "Margaritaville", with Kyle and his friends eating at a pizza parlor. In one 2015 episode of the CBC drama Murdoch Mysteries called Barenaked Ladies, the suspects recreate the poses of Peter, Judas, and Thomas in their victims.
The fifth episode of the 2021 TV series Leonardo depicts a fictional story of how the painting was created.
first-season Last Supper Judas Jesus Viridiana Eric South Park Margaritaville Mel Brooks Luis Buñuel Murdoch Mysteries Homer The Simpsons Moe Kyle Jackie Leonardo Barenaked Ladies That '70s Show Vatican Jesus Christ Superstar Thomas History of the World, Part I tableau vivant beggar Quo Vadis Peter Requiem Thank God, It's Doomsday Hawkeye Pierce M*A*S*H The X-Files