And I was 'round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate -Sympathy for the Devil, the Rolling Stones
The Passion of the Christ is a film about the last twelve hours of Jesus of Nazareth's life. The film opens in the Garden of Olives (Gethsmane) where Jesus has gone to pray after the Last Supper. Jesus' resists Satan's temptations. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, Jesus is arrested and taken back within the city walls of Jerusalem where the leaders of the Pharisees confront him with accusations of blasphemy and his trial results in a condemnation of death.
Jesus is brought before Pilates, the Roman Governor or Palestine, who listens to the accusations levelled at him by the Pharisees. Realizing he is confronting a political conflict, Pilates defers to King Herod in the matter. Herod returns Jesus to Pilate, who gives the crowd a choice between Jesus and the criminal Barabbas. The crowd chooses to have Barabbas set free and to condemn Jesus.
Jesus is handed over to the Roman soldiers and flagellated. Unrecognizable now, he is brought back before Pilate, who presents him to the crowd as if to say "is this not enough?" It is not. Pilate washes his hand of the entire dilemna, ordering his men to do as the crowd wishes.
Jesus is presented with the cross and is ordered to carry it through the streets of Jerusalem all the way to Golgotha. On Golgotha, Jesus is nailed to the cross and undergoes his last temptation - the fear that he has been abandoned by his Father. He overcomes his fear, looks at Mary, his Holy Mother, and makes the pronouncement that only she can fully understand, "it is accomplished." He then dies: "into Thy hands I commend my Spirit."
At the moment of his death, nature itself overturns.
The Cast
James Caviezel - Jesus
Maia Morgenstern - Mary
Monica Bellucci - Mary Magdalene
Mattia Sbragia - Caiphas, the High Priest
Hristo Naumov Shopov - Pontius Pilate
Claudia Gerini - Claudia Procles, Pilate's wife
Luca Lionello - Judas Iscariot
Rosalinda Celentano - Satan
One of the greatest successes of the movie was the compilation of the talented, international cast (varying from American to Romanian to Italian actors/actresses), especially James Caviezel as Jesus. His piercing dark eyes and hypnotic beauty added to the effect of his role as Jesus. Maia Morgenstern shines as well, as Mary, Jesus' loving mother. Shopov as Pilate portrays his conflicted leader character well, and even Lionello as Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus, gains the audience's pity. Gibson's choice to portray Satan (Celentano) as a woman, but use a man's voiceover, added to the enticing and eerie image of evil.
In all, the acting was flawless, every actor submerging themselves in their part, and able to express the complex emotions intended with grace and subtlety. An added challenge to all the actors was Gibson's choice for the script to be translated and acted in Aramaic (the basis of Hebrew, and a popular language during Jesus' time) and street Latin. (The movie is shown with English subtitles.) The actors, however, showed their dedication to Passion in learning the dead languages, and did justice to the words by acting them well.
The Artistic Direction
Art is born in attention. Its midwife is detail. -Julia Cameron
Without Mel Gibson's extraordinary artistic vision for Passion, the film would have been... well, two hours of a bloody Jesus.
The movie was filmed in the beautiful Italian city of Matera, and the famous Cinecetta Studios outside of Rome. The sets, though simple and monotone, added elegance and a note of sorrow to the spectacle of Passion.
Gibson asked that the artistic basis of the movie be the paintings of Caravaggio, a Baroque Italian painter, who used dramatic contrasts of light and dark, and stylishly painted religious scenes. The request was executed by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, and costume designer Maurizio Millinotti, who handmade historically accurate costumes in dark, Caravaggio colors. Keith VanderLaan and Greg Cannom led the team of makeup artists, who worked to make Jesus' bloodied body look realistic in the later scenes.
I thought a very wise choice in the film editing was to Jesus and his disciples recall memories during certain points of the film, of the wise words Jesus had spoken to them and of the Last Supper. The most moving scenes were the ones between Jesus and Mary, showing their loving and joyous relationship. The flashbacks were skillfully inserted into the present scenes, to further enhance an idea. The scene that comes to mind is the one where Mary goes to Jesus carrying the heavy cross through Jerusalem, and there's a flashback of Mary running to Jesus as a boy, who had just fallen while playing.
The music adds to the solemn mood of the movie, but doesn't distract from the plot. The sounds of stringed-instruments added emotional effect.
Gibson played with the camera's shutter speeds, and always portrayed Satan gilding in slow motion, to add to her eerie appearance. He dexterously had Satan appear in the later scenes, representing Jesus' doubt, and the cruelty and maliciousness of the crowds that spurred on Jesus' death.
At times, Gibson's directional choices seem overdramatic, bordering corny, and the symbolism seems almost forced. An example would be after Jesus' crucifixion, a large tear fell from the sky. The overdrama is a minor gripe though, and almost beneficial to add to the emotion of Passion.
The Age Issue
Passion is rated R for graphic violence, and I was only able to get into this movie because my best friend's father, never a believer in censorship, took us. Passion is viciously, but never intentionally gratuitous, bloody and violent. At several points during the movie, memorably the beating and nailing to the cross scenes, were difficult and nauseating to watch. Gibson's intention were to provoke the deepest understanding possible in the audience of the pain Jesus suffered for our sins (Christian belief). The result was (however overemphasized) successful, causing emotions that seemed to radiate off the screen into the audience. Some of the audience, including myself, cried at several points at Jesus' very visible courage and sacrifice.
Within today's desensitized children, the violence of the movie may seem petty, which is a greater cause for concern. If your child cannot understand that the violence enacted on Jesus was wrong, and should never be performed on any living creature, then I would recommend that they not see this movie. In general, Passion wouldn't be appropriate for children under 13, or those with weak hearts or weak stomachs. There have been actual news stories regarding those who've had heart attacks during the movie.
Ix-Nay on the Anti-Semitism-ay
The first thing I ever heard about Passion of the Christ was that its depiction of Jews was so hateful that it would destroy moviegoers acceptance of Jews back hundreds of years to the degree of widespread anti-Semitism. I scoffed at the idea that any 2-hour film could cause this, but it did arouse my interest.
Post-film, I feel that the anti-Semitism aspect was clearly overhyped. For Christians who grew up hearing and believing "The Jews killed Jesus", and whom Passion of the Christ reaffirmed prejudices, what is there to say to them? The message of the movie was not that to hate Jews (that would have been self-interpreted), but if anything to stop the hate, and love each other.
The Deeper Message
I saw this movie with my Jewish best friend, and she, like everyone else, was moved by the pain Jesus endured. Beyond the religious significance, both of us quickly connected it to the violence of mankind that survived Jesus' crucifixion 2000 years ago. Jesus' life's message was love, but his death blossomed from the hate of humankind, as viewer's clearly seen in Passion, through the grins of the Romans beating Jesus, stained in his blood and the bloodthirst of the crowds demanding Jesus' crucifixion.
Even today, there is so much hate present, so much ignorance and cruelty among people. In my opinion, this move came at the perfect time. It raised questions and concerns in me, such as why do we kill each other? Why do good, innocent men like Jesus die, and why do others stand by and just watch the injustice? When will humanity begin to see past prejudices to accept and love each other? Even if unreligious like me, I highly recommend this movie. The message it portrays is beyond religious, but profoundly human. The message is love.
"Those who live by the sword, die by the sword." -Jesus
For more information: www.thepassionofthechrist.com
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST depicts the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus of Nazareth Jim Caviezel beginning with his betrayal by Judas Iscariot Luca L...More at Family Video
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.