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Back Shelf Beauties
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The Passion Of The Christ About 2 years ago, when Mel Gibson announced that he was going to make a movie about the last 12 hours of Jesus Christ's life on Earth, most people didn't believe it, and some even laughed. A full-length motion picture, made in the ancient Aramaic language with NO subtitles, and individually financed by Gibson, seemed like a disaster in the making. More than one person, myself among them, thought Gibson had gone off the deep end and was committing professional suicide by dedicating so much of himself and his finances to an art project. Little did we know that The Passion Of The Christ would become one of the most talked about films in recent history. Now, after seeing it, I can tell you that it is a very good one at that. Thankfully, Gibson inserted some subtitles so we could follow along. Using the biblical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, as well as the teachings of controversial Saint Anne Catherine Emmerich, Gibson takes the audience on a journey to watch the capture, beating, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ as played by Jim Caviezel. Along the way, we see some of the basic teachings of Christian faith including Pontius Pilate's (Hristo Naumov Shopov) condemnation of Christ, the Last Supper and Palm Sunday, along with a more personal look at Mary's (Maia Morgenstern) reaction to the horror happening to her son, and the pain experienced by Mary Magdalene (Monica Bellucci). The movie's most touching and powerful scenes come from these personal stories. The scenes between Mary and Jesus are movingly filmed by Gibson and heartbreakingly acted by Morgenstern and Caviezel, especially the moment when Mary rushes to Jesus's side as he tries to carry the cross through Jerusalem. It is one of the best sequences I have seen in a few years. Morgenstern is able to show Mary's stoicism in the face of tragedy, which eventually yields to heartache as she watches her son go through the ordeal, while Caviezel puts in an amazing physical and emotional performance as a man destined to die, but embracing it for a higher cause. His portrayal of Jesus in the final moments, begging God to forgive everyone, is as powerful as it gets. Together, Morgenstern and Caviezel relate to each other without a great deal of dialogue, letting the situation and images of what is happening on screen overpower the audience, which is exactly the way Gibson wants it. When Gibson was making The Passion Of The Christ, he never intended to use subtitles, so every scene is made with utmost importance placed on physical action on the screen, the music playing in the background, sounds of the crowd and the way characters interact with each other. It's like a ballet where physical movements are used to show pain, heartache, evil and suffering. He tries to contrast images such as Christ's arrival in Jerusalem as a hero on Palm Sunday versus his condemnation and march to crucifixion on Good Friday, just 5 days later. Even the film's brutal violence goes to creating powerful images to tell the story and make the audience feel that Christ's sacrifice is a painful and stunning one. Ultimately, just about everyone I know wants to see the film to judge if it is anti-Semitic or will inflame anti-Semitic views. The charge is based on several factors. First, in earlier versions of the film, Gibson included a very controversial scene where a Jewish high priest, Caiphas, states that Jesus's blood will be on the Jews' hands and the hands of their children. This quote only appears in one of the Gospels (Matthew), so it was a surprise that Gibson would want to include it in The Passion Of The Christ. In the final version of the film, which I saw and will be playing in theaters, this statement is not translated in the subtitles, but it is still spoken in the movie at a lower volume. If you can speak Aramaic, I guess you could pick it out, but I can't, so I only know that it appears as Caiphas is leaving the scene of the crucifixion because that is what I have learned through other media reports. Second, some argue that Jews are portrayed in the movie as a rabid, bloodthirsty mob that can only be satiated by Christ's crucifixion. However, I think that is looking at the movie too broadly. Even Gibson, as the co-writer, fuels this criticism by having Pontius Pilate state to Jesus that, "your own people, the Jews, have put you up to me for death." In my opinion, throughout the movie, it's hard to tell who in the crowd is Jewish and not, while several Jewish characters in the movie defend Christ and try to help him. You can count many more horrible acts by the Romans in this film, which adds to Gibson's vision that many people had a hand in the crucifixion. I'll even go so far as to argue that Gibson wants us to consider the influence of Satan on the crowd, possibly clouding judgment and inflaming passion. Satan (Rosalinda Celentano) appears in the crowd at key moments, and only after Satan has returned to Hell do people seem to realize what has happened. Finally, Gibson does not lay out all of the reasons why this group of Jewish religious leaders is calling for Christ's crucifixion, which is one of the film's faults. While Gibson flashes back to The Last Supper and Palm Sunday, he does not explain what has happened in the days leading up to the crucifixion. While several characters state that Christ has claimed to be the Messiah and that he will, "tear down the temple and rebuild it in three days," there seems to be more at work in this situation, and I wish Gibson took an extra 15 - 20 minutes to show this. Maybe he would have been well served to start the movie on Palm Sunday with Christ's triumphant arrival in Jerusalem, then taken us through the final week. This would give the film more substance and basis for those who don't know what happened. The Passion Of The Christ is one of those movies that you need to see for yourself. I can understand why Jewish people would be worried about this film being twisted by Anti-Semites to somehow justify their hate, especially because it has been done before with this story. However, we cannot let the misguided, hate-filled people get away with that. Someone full of hate will always try to twist things around to justify that wrongheaded thought, but we can't let fear steer us away from movies or art or speech because of how bad people will misuse it. I am glad to see that Jewish leaders are actively educating the public about this movie, and I hope many Christian leaders will join in this effort. I think The Passion Of The Christ is a very good movie, and one that proves that Mel Gibson is one of the finest filmmakers working today. After seeing his interview with Diane Sawyer, I don't think he will ever act again, but I'm sure he will continue to make stunning films. 3 ½ Waffles (Out of 4) Copyright 2004 - WaffleMovies.com
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