Let me begin by saying, even though I am from the South (Arkansas) I am not a particularly religious person in the Christian sense. I have read excerpts from the bible, and did attend a Baptist church for a span of time, but none the less, I find some conflicts within Christianity that keeps me from totally believing in it. I have seen or heard several variations of the "Passion of Christ" and find this one to be the most graphic by far. Please don't take your children to this one, I thought I was desensitized to this stuff, and some of it bother me from a strictly humanitarian point of view. No one should be able to do what they did to another human being and enjoy it.

That said lets talk about the film. It is of course the story of Jesus's last hours before death. The movie shows his capture, his "trial", Pilate's involvement (and Claudia, his wife's involvement which I had never seen portrayed before), Jesus's torture and finally the crucifixion. Most are familiar with this story. While other stories I have seen focused more on his teachings, what he endured, and the circumstances behind the story, this story seemed to focus on his suffering more that anything. It is a very vivid movie. Lots of imagery, and its very graphic--especially in the torture and the crucifixion. The dialogue is all in Latin and Aramaic, I believe. It is subtitled, but not very well. You get the feeling that you are missing a lot in the conversation, but it may be the occasion of I'd really rather not know. There is some creepy, not sure to what purpose, imagery involving Satan. It was very interesting, but not sure what it was supposed to mean.

The story is well the story, but I would have liked to seen them start earlier with some of his teachings, or at least the last supper. Can we learn something from this? Not just have a horrified reaction to what happened. As it was, I felt like we were coming in, in the middle of the story. The scenes were well done, the elicited the emotions that they wanted you to feel. I thought the attention to detail in the film was good. If you like this kind of film then this is a good one. Although, as I have said repeatedly, its graphic. Leave grandma and the kiddies at home.

The acting was well done. James Caviezal plays Jesus and does such a good job that I didn't realize that who it was until I looked it up just now. He is calm and passionate, and shows the suffering in a wonderful manner. Maia Morgenstern plays Mary and does a wonderful job, you can almost feel the suffering that this mother is going through for her son. I also thought Hristo Shopov made an excellent Pilate. He is a man caught between a rock and hard place with no where to go. You can get that off his face and in his manner here. Well done. The acting was all well done.

This is a very make you feel kind of film. Its supposed to make you feel the suffering and agony that Jesus endured and lead you to some higher religious plane. If you are into this kind of film, then get in line with the rest of the Christian community because you will adore this film. If this is not your thing, then catch another film. If you do see this one, I say again its very graphic, please, please, please don't take you kids to see this one.

The controversy around this film is, is it accurate? I don't know enough about the strict details of the story to answer that, ask a historian. Plus it also portrays the Jews killing Jesus. Someone has told me that the head of the Jews wasn't as blood-thirsty as he was portrayed, and that Pilate wasn't as sensitive as he was portrayed. Well, what can I say. I don't know enough about it to really pass any kind of judgment. I didn't think it would be such a big deal in California, but they were lined up out the door to see it on Friday night. Wow.

Recommended: Yes