Pros: tells the story with great authenticity and vivid strokes; good performances; language stroke pays off.
Cons: extremely violent and confronting; not for a soft stomach or heart.
The Bottom Line: One of the most confronting films you will ever see; the death of Jesus is a horrific experience no matter what your attitude is towards religion; powerful and moving.
Well it's now a late hour/early hour depending on which way you look at it. It's been about 10 hours since I walked out of the cinema, and some of the images thrust in my face are still embedded in my mind. And they probably will be for a while. This is the sort of high-impact cinema that has been missing from the bland, over-hyped and overproduced morass of offerings emanating from pretty much anywhere in this new millenium.
Mel Gibson's opus is pretty much a direct translation from the Gospels of the New Testament of Jesus of Nazareth's last hours. At least, before he cames back again for a few days. But, that's another thing altogether!
The movie starts off in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prays the night away, hoping for some sort of salvation or relief from the fate that he knows he is to face. Things move apace as his betrayal by the disciple Judas is swiftly revealed, and he is arrested and marched off to the Temple to face the Sanhedrin.
What follows is a fairly much bare-bones translation of the horrors inflicted upon Jesus. Almost everyone who encounters the condemned man has a dig at him - from lowly gutter scum to the High Priests of the Pharisees and Sadducees. What masquerades as a trial in the courtyard of the Roman Governer, Pilate, sets the scene for the insane injustices that are brutally and viscerally shown over the two-hour duration.
I have never seen a more confronting movie in my life. It was written in one of the Gospels that Jesus endures more pain than any mortal could possibly handle, and the scene of the scourging is probably the most harrowing piece of film ever shown in a cinema not haunted by the demented and twisted. If you don't feel the pain of the scourge digging into his flesh, or flinch away from the mutant glee on the torturer's faces, then you should be watching snuff for kicks. And if you're not moved by his struggle to remain standing, or the despairing courage of Mary as she watches, and even the heartfelt but appropriately useless gesture of Claudia, Pilate's wife, of giving Mary and Mary of Magdalene towels for their tears, then you have a stone lodged in your chest.
If there is one thing that will possibly confront you the most, aside from the terrible suffering on display, it is the feeling of authenticity, as though you are really there watching on, and not sitting in the relative comfort of a padded seat, megasized beverage in hand. The fact that the dialogue is all in the archaic languages of Aramaic and Latin goes a long way to conveying this - even despite the addition of subtitles. The guttural raspings of Aramaic almost adds to the savage atmosphere, the primal emotions that are on display almost from the beginning, and the move is such a bold stroke that it would be either a total failure, or a success. From my point of view, it worked superbly. If I were not reading subtitles (and honestly, anyone who knows the biblical stories doesn't really need them), I would feel as though I were trudging that long road to Golgotha with Him.
From the gory scourging, the film moves to the travesty of a trial where Pontius Pilate gives Jesus over to the mob (at the urgings of the priests), and the release of the insane murderer Barabbas (a moment that would be comical were it not in such a serious film). From here, the rest of the show is concerned with Jesus' agonising walk from the courtyard in Jerusalem, to the horrible stony summit of Golgotha. Gibson has a tendency to overuse slow-motion shots on this long, seemingly endless journey. Every time Jesus crashes to ground as the burden of the cross becomes too much, his fall is shown in agonisingly slow detail. There is probably a little bit too much of that!
The base cruelty shown by the Roman Legionaries, and the frenzied mob as they line the streets, is offset by glimpses of humanity. The most glaring example is when Simon of Cyathea helps Jesus carry the cross all the way up the mount. Initially reluctant, he sees the pain of Jesus and becomes his defender at one point. Through the glaze of blood and barbarism, these glimmers of goodness help make the film watchable, beyond it being a simple spiritual exercise.
The climax of the crucifixion is shown in all of its terrible brutality. I can't really describe it to you - if you've got the stomach to see it, I can only recommend you watch. Suffice it to say that the ordeal would be simply unbearable. Watching it is much the same. One can't help but be moved by the suffering and sacrifice that one man went through - whether or not you believe in what the Bible has to say. That a man could endure this, selflessly, and with such grace that he could forgive those who tormented him so wretchedly, is truly a marvel.
The Passion of the Christ is probably the most powerful and moving films to come out for as long as I can remember. The story is such an epic one, and with meaning to so many people, that there is such controversy surrounding it (and for no good reason) simply belittles the story being told.
One can't talk about this movie without mentioning the performances. Jim Caviezel IS Jesus. He was almost a mirror image of the picture I have in my mind of how the man looked. He radiated an aura of compassion and determination that was completely in tune with the characterisation of the man, and even though to be honest he doesn't have to DO much aside from suffer a lot, the fact that his performance so perfectly evokes Jesus makes it a great one.
Most other performers don't have a huge amount of screen time. Pilate is effective as the somewhat besieged Governer - how much of his character is creative license as opposed to historical fact is open to debate, but the measured performance of Hristo Naumov Shopov is interesting. Maia Morgenstern as Mary is tremendous as the overawed mother of a man condemned, and Monica Bellucci as Mary of Magdalene is pretty good as well. There are a lot of anguished scenes of tears being shed, but one never gets the feeling that it's all overdone.
The Passion of the Christ hardly ranks in the annals of "must-see". It's a difficult, very intense and graphic portrayal of one of the more grotesque betrayals you could imagine, regardless of its eventual effect on mankind. . Two hours worth of bloodshed is rough going whichever way you cut it - but the story is a timeless one, and more than worthy of attention regardless of your faith. A bit of knowledge of the New Testament is required, though - and an interest in the story is definitely needed if you're going to sit through it all. It's not easy, but it'll be a film for the ages.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.