His film made me understand on a gut-wrenching, emotional level, what an enourmous sacrifice Jesus made for mankind. This is what, for me, Mel Gibson accomplished with The Passion of the Christ. The story has ascended into almost a parable, where one tells the story without sensing the humanity of it. definitely.įor me (and I assume, a great many others) the story of the crucifixion is well known, but despite the intellectual awareness of what it was, the reality of it, and what led up to it is hard to comprehend. Was it necessary? As a (recently minted) Christian, I say. There was one moment in particular where I physically cringed in my seat. Yes, it was brutal and difficult to watch. Actually it seemed like it was mainly those who lived within the city, who were probably more likely to benefit from the status quo.Īnd of course we have the torture of Christ. It was clear in the film that not ALL Jews wanted Jesus killed. Anyone who would come away from this film hating Jews is an idiot. If anyone should be complaining about this movie it should be Italians, with the portrayal of the Roman soldiers.

Performed in Aramaic and Latin with English subtitles, Gibson's labor of love is sure to prompt discussion and debate as to historical and Biblical fact.As far as anti-Semitism? Give me a break. Maia Morgenstern, Monica Bellucci, and Hristo Jivkov are touching as Mary, Magdalene, and John respectively, who are devastated by Jesus' fate yet aware that they can do nothing to change it.

The faint of heart should be prepared for the brutal, barbaric beatings that Christ endures. Still, the drama focuses on the seemingly endless torture inflicted upon Jesus by Roman soldiers at the urging of the Jewish crowd that considers him a blasphemer, despite the attempts of a sympathetic Pontius Pilate (Hristo Naumov Shopov) to spare him from death. Directed by Mel Gibson (BRAVEHEART)-who funded the film himself and co-wrote the screenplay-PASSION uses flashbacks to substantiate a handful of pertinent moments in Jesus' life and teachings, such as the Sermon on the Mount and the Last Supper, as well as his relationships with his mother and his disciples. 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 Lionello) and ending with his crucifixion and subsequent resurrection.

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