The Passion of Christ Movie: " A Monumental Achievement On Many Levels"

Other Breaking News The Passion of Christ opened on 4,643 screens in 3,006 cinemas across the United States and Canada. It was estimated that it will net 15 million to 20 million US dollars in the first day of release, the highest number for a movie with a religious theme. Dozens of Jewish protesters wearing concentration camp uniforms protested outside one Upper West Side theater in New York where the film was shown. Read here for more. Paul Vitello: "Why did we need a movie like this now? Is the world missing a certain religious tension? Does any religious Christian need to be told again what happens at the end of each of the four Gospels -- and to be told it by a man who denounces the modern church and all the reconciling spirit it stands for? " Read here for more Mel Gibson’s Australian compatriots turned out in encouraging numbers for the first day of the director’s controversial film “The Passion of the Christ” on Wednesday. Most Australian critics appeared united in their acknowledgment of the film’s power to move, if not in their estimation of its artistic achievement. Read here for more Once the film started, there was no talking or even rustling of popcorn. When it finished more than two hours later - two hours in which Christ had been shown tortured and killed in graphic scenes of almost unprecedented cinematic violence - there was no noise until the end of the final credit.By the time the audience had stepped outside half were crying. A number held each other and a few could be seen praying.One man said that his guest, a born-again Jew, had felt so sick at what "her people" had done that she had been forced to leave and sit in the cinema's lavatory. "She could still hear the sounds through the walls of what they were doing to Him and it was terrible for her," he said. Read here for more AN Israeli politician today called for Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ movie to be banned from Israeli cinemas, calling it a blood libel. Read here for more

"Mel Gibson's true genius is that he has infused these horrific images with incredible, searing humanity... Even to suggest the film is meant to be anti-Semitic is as foolish as it is cruel. This story never has been a condemnation of a race of people, but of power-hungry religious and political officials. "
Louis B. Hobson

'A powerful vision'

by
Louis B. Hobson,
London Free Press
February, 25 th 2004

According to the Bible, Christ suffered an ignominious death which began with a relentless beating and ended with being nailed to a cross and left to endure an agonizing death.

No film detailing such events could be anything but emotionally wrenching.

It is a story that has been told before on film, but never so graphically.

It is Gibson's intent to detail just how much Christ suffered and he does this by showing how barbaric whipping, scourging, being forced to carry the cross, then being nailed to it and left to hang for hours suffocating under the weight of one's body must have been like.

No one who sees Gibson's The Passion of the Christ will ever be able to hear or read these passages from The Bible in the same way again.

Gibson has made the words visual in the most excruciating, devastating way.

His true genius is that he has infused these horrific images with incredible, searing humanity.

Through carefully placed flashbacks, he gives us a glimpse of what Christ was like as a child, young man, teacher and prophet. These images make his death and suffering all the more tragic.

There is a moment that practically defines the film.

As Christ falls the third time under the weight of the cross and the malicious beatings of the Roman soldiers, he sees his mother, Mary, looking at him.

The film flashes to a scene in which Mary watches Christ as a child trip and fall and rushes to comfort him as any parent would.

At the moment he needs her comfort most, she is denied access to him. You can see the simultaneous hurt and love in mother and son's eyes.

It is one of the finest and most powerful moments you could wish for in a movie.

It is the genius of Jim Caviezel, as Christ, and Maia Morgenstern, as Mary, that they have immersed themselves so completely in their characters that their eyes speak what words could never possibly convey.

This is acting of the highest calibre to match Gibson's brilliant writing and directing.

Gibson has inspired similarly astonishing performances from Monica Belluci, as the reformed prostitute Mary Magdalen, and Hristo Shopov as Pilate.

This continues through the minor roles of the Roman guards, villagers and Jewish priests.

It was a inspired move on Gibson's part to have the dialogue in ancient languages so the viewer is forced to concentrate on the actors' facial and body language, which say much more than the subtitles.

That Gibson never intended The Passion of the Christ to be seen as a documentary is made abundantly clear in his use of a Satanic presence (Rosalinda Celentano) that follows Christ through his journey of pain and humiliation.

The Passion of the Christ is a monumental achievement on so many levels.

Even to suggest the film is meant to be anti-Semitic is as foolish as it is cruel. This story never has been a condemnation of a race of people, but of power-hungry religious and political officials.

The Passion of the Christ rightfully will be considered a landmark achievement.

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST * * * * *

What: Drama directed by Mel Gibson

Starring: James Caviezel, Monica Bellucci, Rosalinda Celentano, Sergio Rubini, Mattia Sbragia

Classification: 18A

Where: SilverCity, Masonville Place (673-4125); Wellington 8, 983 Wellington Rd. (673-4125)

WHAT OTHER CRITICS SAY

Liz Braun, Toronto Sun * (out of five)

"Those who already know how the story goes might want to skip The Passion Of The Christ, Mel Gibson's entirely bloody and lugubrious account of the last hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Despite all the carefully orchestrated controversy around the film, The Passion of The Christ is just more of the same, only more so. Even a cursory knowledge of the scriptures upon which the film is based means a viewer is in the sad position of knowing exactly what happens next, a problem this film tries to solve by bullying scenes of violence and bloodshed. It's just bad storytelling."

Christy Lemire, Associated Press * * (out of four)

"And the film is frightening -- not for its dogma, but for the relentlessness of its brutality. Gibson . . . is fetishistic in his depiction of the pain Jesus suffered during the last 12 hours of his life. The beating and whipping and ripping of skin become so repetitive, they'll leave the audience emotionally drained and stunned . . . Despite its gruesome content, The Passion is beautifully photographed -- and it's a huge, meticulously detailed film."

Jack Garner, Gannett News Service * * * * (out of four)

"From his arrest at the Garden of Gethsemane to his final breath on the cross at Golgotha, The Passion interprets the story with a fresh reality -- and a raw brutality -- unlike anything ever seen before. It is an intense, relentlessly gripping interpretation of the ancient saga. The film's violence is ruthless and unrelenting. The scourging of Jesus seems endless -- with every stroke of the whips detailed. (At one point, the jagged end of a cat-o'-nine-tails sticks in Jesus's skin, and the guard has to rip it out.) Equally brutal is the carrying of the cross, with Christ's repeated falls and whippings, and the placement of him on the cross, with the nailing of his hands and feet."

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