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I saw The Passion of the Christ last night. I have to agree with something Glenn Beck said after viewing the film. It\’s unreviewable. Yet, there is so much to say. I hope you will endure my babbling to find something worthwhile in the words to come.
By now, you have heard about this movie. I have been writing about it for nearly 9 months now as the opening day has drawn closer. One entry on my blog has over 330 coments. Clearly, this is one of the most talked-about movies of the past decade.
While religious bigots have attempted to prevent this movie from being presented true to Mel Gibson\’s vision, and Hollywood has predicted that the movie would flop, in the first five days it has broken numerous records, drawing over $125,000,000 in box office receipts. May I point out my prediction from my January 30th entry?
I can\’t wait to see The Passion of Christ. I think it may be the most accurate portrayal of Christ\’s last day that has ever been filmed. February 25th is the day. I am going to make a prediction. This film will be a huge hit, beyond anyone\’s expectations.
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Enough patting myself on the back. Mel Gibson deserves tons of kudos for having the courage of his convictions to follow through on this project despite the wackos in Hollywood. He is now an incredibly wealthy man and will be able to make whatever pictures he wants with or without their bigotry. Thank you Katzenberg and Geffen for showing your true racist colors. You need Mel Gibson more than he needs you. Justice is served.
I said earlier that this film was unreviewable. Sure, we can discuss the acting, the screenplay, the cinematography, all of which were done in professional Hollywood style. But the very substance of the film makes it impossible rate in an impartial manner. At hand is the very centerpoint of history, the One around whom our whole civilization, and even our very lives, are built.
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The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was a true historical event. It happened two thousand years ago, but time has not erased His life and sacrifice from our memory. No, in fact He remains the most controversial and polarizing figure in all the world. Numerous books have been written attempting to debunk what some call the \”myth\” of Christ, but each one of these has an agenda. It is interesting to note that many so-called scholars seeking to debunk the veracity of Christ and His claims have ended up becoming Christians themselves. C.S. Lewis is the perfect example of a brilliant scholar who attempted to disprove Christianity and ended up becoming one its staunchest defenders.
After we got home from the movie last night, Mary and I found a program on the History channel with a roundtable discussion of whether the story presented in The Passion was based on historical facts or not. At the roundtable were a couple professors from traditional Universities and a Jewish movie critic. There was not a theologian in the room. We looked at each other in disgust and instantly changed the channel knowing that there was nothing of value to be discerned from viewing the program.
Step back in time 4 hours. We arrived at the theater around 6 pm. Our church had bought out the entire showing of 500 seats. Never in my wildest dreams did I picture a scene where church members would be lined up to the back of the theater in order to watch an R-Rated movie!
The buzz was incredible. We viewed people leaving the theater from a previous screening. You could see on their faces that they had just experienced something very solemn. Everyone in line was talking about the film, Mel Gibson, Jesus, and whether or not it would be appropriate to munch popcorn during the screening. ;-)
We got our seats around 6:30 pm. The lights went down at 7 pm and I prepared myself to see the very worst of mans\’ inhumanity to man.
A synopsis of the film in as few words as possible so that I may get to my opinion.
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Other main characters included Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Peter, John and James, Caiaphas and the Jewish Priests, and the Roman Centurions who took part in leading Jesus to His execution.
The movie was brutal. Never before has there been such a vivid portrayal of what Jesus Christ suffered willingly in order to pay the penalty for our sin, yours and mine. As the Jewish Scriptures predicted, He stood silent like a sheep before the slaughter, knowing full well that this was His purpose. He came to die.
He sweats drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, where the weight of what layed before Him was so heavy He could barely fathom it. His flesh is ripped from His body with cat o\’ nine tails which have shards of pottery and broken glass tied to the end of each strand. He is punched in the face, the stomach, the back, the legs and everywhere else, again and again as the abuse gets worse and worse. He falls to the ground carrying the cross as the heavy wooden beam falls on Him, crushing him beneath it. And He endures the stakes driven through His hands and feat, hanging on the Roman instrument of death, all the while pleading for His Father to \”forgive them, for they know not what they do\”.
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It is a brutal film and very difficult to watch. But I do not believe it was excessive. In fact, I do not believe it is possible to show what actually happened for two reasons.
1) The reality was even worse. Read this Forensic study on the Passion of Christ to better understand what He went through that final day.
2) While the movie portrayed Christ\’s physical sufferings, we saw very little of His spiritual sufferings. This is key because it goes to the very heart of why each of us NEED a personal relationship with Christ. He didn\’t just die physically. HE DIED SPIRITUALLY! His burden in the Garden was not so much for the physical torture He would endure, but for the weight of the WORLD\’S sin which He was also committed to shouldering. God can not look on sin, and while on the cross, Christ cried out, \”My God, My God. Why have you forsaken me?\”, because at that moment, The Father turned His back on His one and only Son. Christ became the scapegoat and was spiritually cut off from His Father. He took all the condemnation that is yours and mine. He took the death penalty that is yours and mine. And He did it all for love. THAT is the full message of the gospel (which means \”Good news\”).
While subtitled (brilliantly, I might add) and scarce on dialogue, the film stayed close to the actual account as revealed in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Mel took some dramatic license, but nothing detracted from the central message of the film.
Two characters worthy of additional mention were Simon of Cyrene and Satan.
Simon of Cyrene was an innocent bystander who was pulled from the crowd to help Jesus carry His cross. Carrying a cross was a sign of shame and disgrace. Simon said something to this effect. \”Let it be known that I am an innocent man carrying the cross of a condemned man!\” The stunning irony is that Simon was actually the condemned man carrying the cross of an innocent man. I am Simon. Each of us is Simon.
But the figure that I thought was portrayed perfectly was the character of Satan. Evil is everywhere. It is pervasive and seeks to do nothing more than destroy. From the Garden of Gethsemane, where Satan attempts to tell Christ that He will fail in His task, to the brutal assault on Judas which causes him to hang himself, to the ever present scowls of disapproval at the very breath of Jesus as he is scourged, beaten and crucified, I don\’t know that I have ever seen a better characterization of evil portrayed on the big screen.
Jim Caviezel as Jesus was extremely convincing. He went through a ridiculous amount of suffering in creating the role, and we\’re not just talking about the hours spent in makeup each day. He was incredibly uncomfortable most of the time, was accidently scourged once, and he was hit by lightning. But his personal passion for the role overshadowed the danger. He and others had to learn their lines in dead, ancient languages, and deliver them in context. It was truly an incredible site to behold. Apart from one centurion that reminded me of Randy Quaid\’s \”Cousin Eddie\” in National Lampoon\’s Vacation, I am unable to think of one actor who put in a poor performance. Each was believable and Mel\’s directing was impeccable.
As a film, the movie was a beautiful work of art. Yet, as a story, I felt it lacked a couple things. I wanted to see MORE of the conflict in the spirtual realm. I longed for more flashbacks displaying the love of Christ to His people. And I had hoped for a more dramatic resurrection scene at the end. But these are minor nitpickings. Gibson undertook a task that even those in the Christian movie industry have not been able to manage successfully. (See the movie Matthew for the best life of Christ motion picture available).
Many movie critics are decrying The Passion as too much pain and not enough passion. They don\’t get it. They do not understand the very point of what Christ went through. They do not grasp that the wisdom of this world is as foolishness to God, and vice-versa. They are the true \”walking dead\”, unwilling to carry the cross for the condemned man, when they themselves are comdemned.
The lights went up at the end of the film and no one moved. I like to stay seated through most of the credits to think about wht I have just experienced and to watch other peoples\’ reactions. It was solemn moment, leading me to the conclusion that this was no ordinary movie. Indeed, the was an \”experience\”.
However, the film stands as unreviewable because there is no reference point to compare it to. While best classified as a drama, it is infinitely more than a drama. It is a matter of eternal life and death.
But in my limited human mind, I still find it necessary to attempt to rate the movie based on our ridiculous standards.
So here is my final analysis on a scape of 1 to 10:
Acting – 10
Directing – 9
Cinematography – 10
Music – 10
Story – 8
Mel Gibson\’s \”cajones\” – 10
Jesus Christ – 10000000000000 ad infinitum…
For another point of view, Read Mary\’s Blog