My review of The Passion Of The Christ

[WDWHound]

I just saw the movie an hour ago, and I thought I would post my impressions of it here. Before I begin, I want to clear about my point of view. I am a Christian, so I accept the general message of the movie as fact and this review will reflect that viewpoint (especially in the last few paragraphs). This review is not an attempt to convert anyone, but my Christianity was too much a part of the experience for it to be left out of this review

First off, let me address the big question every one is asking so we can get past it. I can not see any way this film could be seen as anti-Semitic That’s all I plan to say on that subject. That said, lets move on,

All in all I was very impressed and moved by the film. I do have some issues with it, which I will discuss in a moment, but overall the film was very good. I highly recommend it for someone who is already familiar with the Gospels as it help to bring those events 2000 years ago into sharper focus. However, I am a bit apprehensive about recommending the film to those who are not already familiar with the Gospels.

The reason I am apprehensive about people seeing the film who have not read the Gospels is that Gibson chose to insert characters and dialog that are not present in the Gospels. The main examples of this are the appearances of Satan. Satan appears and speaks in the garden of Gethsemane, at the whipping of Jesus and along the way of the cross. While I believe Gibson was trying to show the temptation Jesus must have felt to walk away and release himself from the pain and suffering he was to bear (as the Son of God, this was surely within his power), I fear that people not familiar with the Gospels will actually believe the Bible says that the devil appeared at these moments. While most Christians will understand the symbolism, I am afraid some will accept the appearance of the devil in thse scenes as Biblical fact, rather than symbolism.

I was also VERY disturbed by Judas’ final scenes. After he has betrayed Jesus, Judas is confronted by children who begin to taunt him. The children then are shown to be demons (with full demonic make up, featuring pointed teeth and evil looking eyes). The devil makes another appearance and he and the children chase Judas out of town. There is NOTHING even close to this in the Gospels and these scenes can only be described as strange. Later, the Devil appears to Jesus carrying a huge, grotesquely grinning baby. Again, this was just strange and I feel it had no place in the film

So, why do I recommend the film when there are all these things wrong with it? First, I feel those who know the Gospels can look past these issues and see the main point of the film. Second, there is one scene that impacted me as a Christian like few things have done. Jesus is being prepared for the cross. He is clearly in pain and exhausted. They push him down, grab his hand and place it on the cross. He crys out “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”. WHAM! The hammer strikes the nail and Jesus winces in pain, but he cries out again, “Father, forgive them” WHAM, The hammer falls again, and suddenly you realize…

It is my pride swinging that hammer
WHAM
My Arrogance
WHAM
My selfishness
WHAM (the look of pain on Jesus’ face is heartbreaking)
My sins, my sins nailed him there. I am as guilty as anyone who was there.
WHAM

Yet Jesus never says stop, never says a word in anger. Instead he begs God for our forgiveness. You see the suffering, hear the hammer fall, and you realize, he is doing it for you. He is suffering so that we may never have to. All that pain, all that suffering, we gave it to him, we delivered every hammer blow, and he loves us so much that he accepted the pain so that we need never face such suffering. And you see it all, hammer blow by hammer blow.

There have been complaints that the film is too graphic (and it is VERY graphic), but to show anything less would be to diminish the nature of what Jesus went through, to take away from the sacrifice he made. And the sacrifice is the message, becuase it tells of the love behind it.

That is the message of the Passion of the Christ. The film brings into focus an incredible gift and a love like the world had never known before. Obviously this is a Christian point of view. I recommend this film for Christians because it really does help bring into focus the sacrifice made by one man so many years ago. For non-Chirstians, I guess I still reccomend the film. If nothing else, it may offer you an added insight into those of us who follow Christ. Just be aware that some of what you are seeing is symbolism, and not a 100% historical portayal of the Gospels.

 

[grinningghost]

Thanks so much for a good, detailed review. I'm really looking forward to seeing this movie. I am a no-longer-practicing Catholic, but I am familiar with the biblical story and consider myself to be among the faithful, just in my own way. I have a feeling this movie is going to be so powerful, that I think I need to go see it alone. I think I will absorb alot more that way.

 

[zurgswife]

Thanks for the review

 

[airhead]

....I definitely won't see it. I go to the movies to be entertained. This movie is anything but that. Way too graphic for me.

 

[WDWHound]

Originally posted by airhead
....I definitely won't see it. I go to the movies to be entertained. This movie is anything but that. Way too graphic for me.

I agree that this movie could never be described as entertaining. I also agree that it is not for everyone.

If anyone one is wondering whether or not they should see this film, a good comparison would be Shindler's List. Schindlers List was not entertaining, but it was very powerful and moving. If you saw Schindlers List and did not regret the experience, you will probably appreciate The Passion of the Christ. If you chose not to see Schindler's List or were disturbed by it, The Passion is probably not for you.

 

[grinningghost]

I guess I'll get something out of it, because Schindler's List really shook me. I'm happy to see it's now out on DVD. That's one that I will buy.

 

[disneyfan551]

Thanks for taking time to share your review with us.

The only thing I can't understand is why people chose not to see it??? Other than being too young (under 16 in my opinion..), how can there be any excuse for not seeing what Jesus did for us? The least I can do is watch it, learn from it, and make changes within my own life after reality sinks in and says, 'what have you been doing with your life fool?!' I think way too many people are afraid to face the truth.

 

[MHopkins2]

Originally posted by disneyfan551
Thanks for taking time to share your review with us.

The only thing I can't understand is why people chose not to see it??? Other than being too young (under 16 in my opinion..), how can there be any excuse for not seeing what Jesus did for us? The least I can do is watch it, learn from it, and make changes within my own life after reality sinks in and says, 'what have you been doing with your life fool?!' I think way too many people are afraid to face the truth.

I have no intention of seeing this movie, #1 because I'm not a Christian (which answers your question above) and #2 for the same reason airhead isn't going.

 

[tc]

I saw the movie, and am glad I did.

My pastor saw an uncut version in January. There was an interview after with Mel Gibson; he explained the ubly baby scene.

He said it was to symbolize how Satan takes what God creates as beautiful and makes it ugly. By showing him holding a baby (that image is good and beautiful by all standards), but making the baby hideous, it shows how Satan does that with many things. Mel Gibson said there were many things in his life that he thought was good and beautiful, but once he embraced it, he realized it was vile or bad. Satan clouds our vision. That was one of many artistic symbolisms that he put in the movie.

I agree that w/o knowledge of the four gospels, one could easily get confused. But, it does spark a ton of conversation and questions from those who arent' Christians.

 

[Bbgrizzle]

Originally posted by disneyfan551
Thanks for taking time to share your review with us.

The only thing I can't understand is why people chose not to see it??? Other than being too young (under 16 in my opinion..), how can there be any excuse for not seeing what Jesus did for us?

Actually, I can understand why people choose not to see it. I for one really struggled with whether or not I should see this film. In the end I did choose to see it and I'm glad I did. I was afraid to see it because I thought maybe it would be disrespectul to recreate the crucifixion in any way, even if it was for a movie. I also worried that anyone trying to play the role of Christ could never live up to the reverence and awe I have for him.

That being said, I did think the movie was VERY well done. It was such a powerful and emotional experience for me. However, I will probably never choose to see it again. I don't think that is a movie you should watch over and over again. I never want the shock of what He endured to lessen for me and I think it would if I saw it again. You know like if you went to WDW all the time the magic would start to fade? That's what I think would happen. The crucifixion is too sacred to me for me to ever risk letting the impact fade for me.