The Passion of the Christ Movie Review:


Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ is a great cinematic triumph about the last twelve hours of Jesus’ life on Earth. Drenched with controversy,
due to notions of anti-Semitism and the film’s intense violence among other things, The Passion of the Christ is a powerful piece of art that is memorable and will change people’s lives.

Based on the four Biblical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Gibson and co-writer Benedict Fitzgerald open the film with Jesus (Jim Caviezel) praying in the misty Garden of Gethsemane, where he is tempted by Satan
(Rosalinda Celantano). The film then progresses all the way to his resurrection after the Crucifixion. The audience is also given small flashbacks throughout the film, which include glimpses of The Last Supper, Jesus preaching, his occupation as a carpenter, as well as telling Peter he will deny him three times. All of these flashbacks are very sufficient, including one of the best scenes in
the film, when Mary (Maia Morgenstern), mother of Jesus, sees him fall carrying the Cross, then flashes back to seeing him fall as a child, in which she reaches to comfort him in both incidents. Gibson and Fitzgerald also included the diaries of Anna Catherine Emmerich and Mary of Agreda’s "The City of God" as sources for the script. This is the greatest story ever told from the New Testament that is about faith, hope, love and redemption. The script was also translated into the "dead languages" or Aramaic and Latin for which the
characters of the film speak with English subtitles.

Gibson does take his own liberties with elements in the script and his vision, which include the flashbacks that have already been touched on, as well as Satan. One depiction of Satan is as a hooded, pale androgynous woman who encounters Jesus and that Mary sees throughout the Crucifixion; another is as ravenous children and spirits that hound Judas (Luca Lionello). Gibson made these choices in his belief that Satan would come to earth as something innocent, such as a child. The Satan characters in the film are effective and scary. Gibson also shows sympathy towards Pontius Pilate as well as his own take on the high priest Caiaphas (Mattia Sbragia). Also brought into the film is a scene where Pilate’s wife Claudia (Claudia Gerini) brings the Virgin Mary and
Mary Magdalene (Monica Bellucci) white linens, in which the two then begin soaking up Jesus’ blood from the flogging torture he received at the pillar.

The violence in this film is unbearable, it is feverish, brutal, and Gibson does not hold back at all. This is the first time a film has portrayed Christ’s death as this harsh, in which the violence created is gut wrenching, but understandable to Gibson’s vision and the power of this film. Jesus is beaten to a pulp from the flogging to the nailing on the Cross. Watch very closely, it is Mel Gibson’s left hand that adjusts and hammers in the first nail. Due to the grotesquely violent content and extreme amount of blood in this film, parents if you choose to take your kids to see the film, please be sitting right next to them.

Inspired by the paintings of Italian Baroque artist Caravaggo, Gibson and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel create a visually ravishing film. The
production design and costumes are also fantastic, and the makeup in the film by Keith Vanderlaan and Greg Cannom is superb. Jim Caviezel, who plays Jesus, had to sit through seven-hours of makeup daily to cover his whole body for the latter moments of The Crucifixion. While filming, the makeup caused Caviezel’s skin to blister, which prevented him from sleeping. Through the makeup, a weird
case of getting struck by lighting on the set, and the physicality endured for the role, Caviezel delivers a stellar performance.

Outside of all the great technical achievements and enduring realism of The Passion of the Christ, the film is still first and foremost a emotional depiction about what Jesus did for all of us. It has a profound effect that is drilled into your psyche, and more than anything is unforgettable. This film is not anti-Semantic, it is reflected that all humans have sinned, and will continue to sin, which all of us are to blame. The Passion of the Christ is a beautiful, real, artistic, and conveying masterpiece that is not to be missed.

Grade: A

Joseph Tucker

How cruel are we to one and other? How far can one man go for his beliefs? How does the ordeal of punishment affect the ones around us? How do we judge our friends or do we? These questions and many more are discussed in the controversial telling of the final hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth from actor-director Mel Gibson.

Gibson's chronicling of the events begins just moments before Judas (Luca Lionello) betrays Jesus (Jim Caviezel) and ends with his death upon the cross at the hands of the Romans. Mary (Maia Morgenstern), Magdalen (Monica Bellucci) and John (Hristo Jivkov) follow Jesus through his ordeal and are crippled when witnessing the brutality.

It is hard to look back on this film without seeing the religious ramifications it beholds. It is hard to wipe away the significance that is
the foundation of the Christian faith. Furthermore in this day in age it is hard to discuss religion in any aspect without offending someone. With so
many faucets and branches of the Christian faith we have found hundreds of ways of seeing the story here. So how does one criticize a film that can be
seen hundreds upon hundreds of different ways?

I guess the first way would be to look at how the story is portrayed and if it holds up as just a telling or something more. The film is masterful
storytelling even if you aren't a Christian. The cruelty, pain, suffering and destruction of one man is universal no matter what you believe. The
crippling of a mother as she can't do anything to save her only son will make even the strongest man shed a tear. A commander forced to execute an
innocent man because a screaming mob wishes it. These events and how they are sculpted into the film are heart wrenching even for the most skeptical.

The second would be to look upon the actors and how they bring to life the characters within the story. Jim Caviezel's portrayal of Jesus is shocking.
There is not a moment in the film that we don't see him as his character. The torture, blood and perseverance maybe unnerving and hard to witness but we still could see the kindness and strength of character within him. This is all due to Caviezel. He is magical. Maia Morgenstern's Mary is almost as
hard to watch as Caviezel as we see the depth of an internal struggle. There are many scenes where she doesn't utter a word but just the slightest action
screams pain. I also enjoyed Monica Bellucci as Magdalen. The actress probably only has a handful of lines but like her co-star Morgenstern she
brilliantly accents the silent horror and pain that these two women endured.

The third would have to entail the film's scope and presentation. The decision to present this story in Hebrew, Latin and Aramaic was a bold one.
The flowing of the dialogue and impact that departure conveys on an audience is a powerful one. In some ways it breathes new life and texture into this many told tale. I also liked that the film wasn't afraid to show how brutal and naïve we as human beings can be. In some ways this film separates us even more from the logic of the animal kingdom. Any one species that can
come up with an inhumane idea like crucifixion must not be part of world as we know it.

Cynics, skeptics and rabid atheists are probably going to have a problem separating the religion from the story. I have never been the deeply
religious person but I can acknowledge a legendary struggle. If you can look past those deep-rooted dogmatic factors and just see the story as it is then
that could be the kind of enlightenment you are looking for.

Gibson's film is a bold statement on the religion he upholds but beneath the religious outcry and nitpicking dogma, "The Passion of the Christ" is like no other religious film before it. The humanity has been brought back to those holiest of stories.

(5 out of 5)

So Says the Soothsayer.

Dean Kish

Movies about Jesus Christ tend to ignite almost everyone who watches them (and quite a few who don't). Mel Gibson's extremely personal film stays uncannily faithful to both biblical text and Catholic tradition, so to call this film anti-semiticic is to say the same thing about New Testament (actually, Gibson toned down the Gospels in this sense). Meanwhile, it can be argued that the extremely graphic violence is only a hint at the historical accounts of how Romans treated convicts. But the story is the thing, and Gibson's makes it clear that Jesus goes willingly through this for a specific purpose.

The story follows the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus (Caviezel), as he's betrayed by his follower Judas (Lionello). The Jewish religious leader Caiphas (Sbragia), terrified that Jesus is undermining his authority, takes him to the Roman ruler Pilate (Shopov) for judgement. But Pilate doesn't want to get involved in a local scuffle. He thinks having Jesus brutally flogged will end the riot. But the crowd bays for blood, so Pilate relents and orders his crucifixion. Jesus' mother Mary (Morgenstern), as well as his closest followers John, Peter and Magdalen (Jivkov, De Vito and Bellucci), watch all of this in horror. While the spectre of Satan (Celentano) laughs with glee.

Gibson is obviously striving for authenticity, having the actors speak ancient Aramaic and Latin and filling the film with images that recall classical artwork and iconography. This dark, lushly textured visual style makes the film look like a baroque religious thriller, especially when combined with horrifically graphic gruesomeness. This is basically a two-hour movie about one man being beaten, tortured and executed by one of the most vicious methods in human history. But of course, Gibson has a point in all this.

He's telling a powerfully emotional story about redemption. While Caviezel has little to do besides writhe in agony and utter the familiar lines, he also has a solid intensity in his encounters with Pilate and Herod (De Dominicus), and even in his cat-and-mouse interaction with Satan. But it's the other actors who shine, especially Shopov's Pilate and Morgenstern's Mary, as well as Gerini as Pilate's terrified but compassionate wife. The interrelationships make the film extremely involving--the way Mary and John cling to each other, Peter's denial and hot temper, Magdalen's overwhelming grief and gratitude, Judas' guilt and confusion. These things are heightened by a series of flashbacks, most of which are rather too reverent but add strongly to the characterisations.

In the end, the film remains strikingly true to the Gospels without watering them down to make the story family friendly. But it's not literal or gritty, this is poetic filmmaking drawing on--and continuing--a long tradition of religious art. The spirituality will appeal to believers, while the humour, pain, inhumanity and overwhelming love should speak to everyone. But you have to endure a lot of brutality to get there.

Rich Cline

Betrayed by Judas Iscariot (Lionello) into the hands of High Priest Caiphas of the Pharisees (Sbragia), Jesus of Nazareth (Caviezel) is charged with blasphemy. Taken before Pontius Pilate (Shopov), the Roman Governor in Jerusalem, Pilate gives the priests and the crowd the choice between freeing Jesus or the murderer Barabbas. The crowd chooses the criminal and demands Jesus’ death. Fearing a revolt Pilate reluctantly agrees, sentencing Jesus to be flagellated then crucified.

Any film that portrays religious text from any set of beliefs is bound to cause controversy but the mêlée that The Passion of the Christ has created is like nothing before in movie history.

When an Oscar winning director decides to recreate the last twelve hours of Jesus’ life in all its harrowing, graphic detail, interest rockets skywards. Controversy about blame and how the adaptation of the gospels was handled gathered headlines all over the world. This review is not going to address any of those arguments but just concentrate on the movie itself by judging if it is a good piece of cinema.

The answer is yes for the most part. Dramatising the last twelve hours of Jesus’ life wasn’t going to be the easiest thing to put to film but when Mel Gibson decides to have his actors speak in Latin, Hebrew, and the dead language Aramaic, you have to applaud the dedication of the filmmakers behind the project. The same can be said of the look of the movie, as the cinematography, locations and costumes are superb, transporting you back to ancient Jerusalem.
The aspect of the film that people have found the most disturbing is the graphic, no holds barred depiction of the suffering that Jesus went through before finally dying on the cross. From his public beating, whipping and flagellating to his crucifixion, the film shows everything in extreme detail to create some of the most harrowing scenes ever put to film. While people may argue that the filmmakers didn’t have to make these scenes so realistic, you have to understand that this was a brutal age of cruelty, were the condemned didn’t have any rights and capital punishment was a display of power as well as a deterrent. The violence is used to show that even under great pain and suffering you can still forgive, understanding and not succumb to temptation.

The outstanding look of the film is complemented by the performances of the actors. Bearing in mind that none of them will probably speak the ancient languages used in the movie, to give performances with such passion and vigour is extremely commendable. James Caviezel’s performance as Jesus is central to the power of the film. While in truth he doesn’t have that many lines for a lead actor, this role is all about reaction and expression. He makes you believe in the sheer pain and anguish that his character is going through and can portray more emotion in just a look than many actors take a whole page of dialogue to convey. This is a career defining performance from Caviezel.

The lead actor is supported by outstanding performances. Maia Morgenstern is riveting as Mary. The look on her face just tells you that she is going through everything that her son is suffering, with the scene where her mothering instinct completely takes over, being one of the most heart wrenching in the entire film. Hristo Naumov Shopov is good as the under pressure Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who has to make a choice when politics takes over from compassion. Mattia Sbragia is also good as Caiphas.

Unfortunately even though the film is filled with all these positives it also has a major negative. The filmmakers assume that you know every aspect of the story. The film just goes straight into the story with no set up, introduction to characters or anything. There are a few short flashback sequences scattered throughout the movie but these are not substantial enough for those of us that are not privy to the events in the bible to know exactly what preceded this. You are expected to know why the people and priests would turn on him so. Also many of the characters are not introduced or even have their names spoken. For example, it is assumed that you know that Monica Belluci is Mary Magdalene, Hristo Naumov Shopov is Pontius Pilate and Rosalinda Celentano is Satan, so you spend most of your time trying to figure out who they are, when you should be concentrating on the film.

Even with all the controversy, ‘The Passion of the Christ’ is still a good piece of cinema. You have to applaud the dedication of Mel Gibson and his cast and crew as they have made a movie that looks amazing, is brilliantly acted and can’t fail to steer up emotions. The complete lack of backstory and the assumption that you know everything are its major failings however because the film creates more questions than it does answers but this shouldn’t put you off seeing it.

Star Rating = * * *

Jamie Kelwick

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