The Passion of the Christ (B+ or 3/4 stars)
Mel Gibson chronicles the last 12 emotional, violent hours of the life of Jesus in 'The Passion of the Christ'. The movie starts with Jesus is praying in the woods; his disciples are concerned as to why he is troubled. Startingly, Satan appears & whispers his ill words into Jesus’ ear. Satan is depicted as a haunting man with feminine features and is cloaked in black; very mysterious & creepy. Meanwhile, Judas has betrayed Jesus for the 3rd time & told the Jewish priest, Caiaphas, his whereabouts. The Jewish community are terrified that Jesus Christ could be the true son of God; the Messiah. They figure his magic healing powers to be masked by evil, and he should be crucified for his unbelievable powers, beliefs, & intentions. For the Jews, he is too revolutionary. Fearing an uprising, Caiaphas holds true to the wishes of his people & takes Jesus to Pontius Pilate (the Roman Governor) for sentencing.
Pontius Pilate finds no good reason to crucify Jesus, and yet, he too fears an uprising & is forced to oblige the Jewish priests’ orders. You see, Jesus had been preaching a new covenant that would threaten all ideological beliefs of the general population at that time. Something had to be done. In the next scene, we see Jesus chained to a concrete podium and beaten to a pulp by Pontius Pilate’s guards. All of this is unbeknownst to Pontius Pilate. Using various kinds of whips, they practically bludgeon Jesus for a good half hour. It' the most horrifying, grotesque display of anything I have ever seen in cinema. Making matters worse, the Virgin Mary (a wonderful Maia Morgenstern) is an onlooker to all of this & you could feel her pain and see what she thinks through her eyes. But there's nothing she could do. And to top it all off, it is she & Mary Magdalene who must remain behind to mop up the mess left by the guards.
The next hour or so is the torturous walk that Jesus endures as he carries the cross on his bleeding shoulders. He bleeds as if he has lost all pints of blood in his system. He stumbles, he groans, he falls, he gets up … all of this is slow torture on him, the townsfolk & the audience in the theater. Along the way, we see Simon emerging to help Jesus carry the cross to the hilltop. In this instance, we see the Jews depicted positively and not nearly as harsh as previously displayed by Caiaphas & the other priests. Jesus reaches the summit & is nailed to the cross. Actually, this scene, for me, was not as gruesome as the previous one where he gets whipped, slashed, & beaten. After hours of him holding on, his life force drains. A magnificent storm comes, wrecking the town below; and Jesus and the thieves (which I once played in a church cantata) were dead. It is said that Jesus died for us. He was not mad at the Jews; he was not mad at God. In the last scene, we see Jesus’ tomb shake, & a naked Jesus prevails … alive; reborn; resurrected. He died for our sins. How powerful is that!?
Jim Caviezel is amazing as Jesus Christ. It is well-known that he endured hypothermia & a dislocated arm during the filming process. If Jesus was a real man and if this is a true story, then it would all mean a lot more to me. As much as I would love to believe the story, & believe that this is what Jesus endured for 'me', I cannot say for sure how I feel about the film. I certainly will not see it again. I did not 'enjoy' it. But it's also difficult to criticize. The musical score & cinematography is beautiful. Gibson's feel of the time period is authentic, & the inclusion of the Aramaic language is hypnotizing. Almost 2 weeks after my viewing of the film, I still have no idea what to think or how to feel about the movie.
I respect Gibson's passionate vision for something that he believes in. And I do find myself recommending the film to others who have yet to see it, or had little or no intention of doing so. Technically, it is an excellent film. While the violence was almost too disturbing, I have to respect the enormity of this project; the care and detail given to the subject matter. I am not an overly religious person. But the fact that I am skeptical and question Christianity and the origins of Christ makes me feel ill about this movie. Am I to feel inspired? Sad? Angry? Disgusted? Rejuvenated? All I am is further conflicted in my beliefs.
Pontius Pilate finds no good reason to crucify Jesus, and yet, he too fears an uprising & is forced to oblige the Jewish priests’ orders. You see, Jesus had been preaching a new covenant that would threaten all ideological beliefs of the general population at that time. Something had to be done. In the next scene, we see Jesus chained to a concrete podium and beaten to a pulp by Pontius Pilate’s guards. All of this is unbeknownst to Pontius Pilate. Using various kinds of whips, they practically bludgeon Jesus for a good half hour. It' the most horrifying, grotesque display of anything I have ever seen in cinema. Making matters worse, the Virgin Mary (a wonderful Maia Morgenstern) is an onlooker to all of this & you could feel her pain and see what she thinks through her eyes. But there's nothing she could do. And to top it all off, it is she & Mary Magdalene who must remain behind to mop up the mess left by the guards.
The next hour or so is the torturous walk that Jesus endures as he carries the cross on his bleeding shoulders. He bleeds as if he has lost all pints of blood in his system. He stumbles, he groans, he falls, he gets up … all of this is slow torture on him, the townsfolk & the audience in the theater. Along the way, we see Simon emerging to help Jesus carry the cross to the hilltop. In this instance, we see the Jews depicted positively and not nearly as harsh as previously displayed by Caiaphas & the other priests. Jesus reaches the summit & is nailed to the cross. Actually, this scene, for me, was not as gruesome as the previous one where he gets whipped, slashed, & beaten. After hours of him holding on, his life force drains. A magnificent storm comes, wrecking the town below; and Jesus and the thieves (which I once played in a church cantata) were dead. It is said that Jesus died for us. He was not mad at the Jews; he was not mad at God. In the last scene, we see Jesus’ tomb shake, & a naked Jesus prevails … alive; reborn; resurrected. He died for our sins. How powerful is that!?
Jim Caviezel is amazing as Jesus Christ. It is well-known that he endured hypothermia & a dislocated arm during the filming process. If Jesus was a real man and if this is a true story, then it would all mean a lot more to me. As much as I would love to believe the story, & believe that this is what Jesus endured for 'me', I cannot say for sure how I feel about the film. I certainly will not see it again. I did not 'enjoy' it. But it's also difficult to criticize. The musical score & cinematography is beautiful. Gibson's feel of the time period is authentic, & the inclusion of the Aramaic language is hypnotizing. Almost 2 weeks after my viewing of the film, I still have no idea what to think or how to feel about the movie.
I respect Gibson's passionate vision for something that he believes in. And I do find myself recommending the film to others who have yet to see it, or had little or no intention of doing so. Technically, it is an excellent film. While the violence was almost too disturbing, I have to respect the enormity of this project; the care and detail given to the subject matter. I am not an overly religious person. But the fact that I am skeptical and question Christianity and the origins of Christ makes me feel ill about this movie. Am I to feel inspired? Sad? Angry? Disgusted? Rejuvenated? All I am is further conflicted in my beliefs.