Directed by Mel Gibson
90 minutes.
Rated R
Films about religious figures most always bring controversy with them. Earlier this year Mel Gibson released his third film intitled, The Passion of the Christ. If you hadn’t heard about it then you must live under a rock. Now that a few months have pasted since the film was released, I thought I would examine the work once again.
I have now seen Gibson’s film three times. I’m not what one would call a religious man; however, I have studied many different religions including Christianity. The main problem with Gibson’s film is the same problem with the passion plays he was so trying to capture. The arrest, trial and execution of Jesus are they key element to Christianity. Those of the faith know the story as the source of ultimate love and sacrifice. They are the film’s audience. The rest of us are left behind.
If one were to go into the film knowing little to nothing about Jesus, his life, teachings and his death, they would leave only with knowledge of his pain. The film focuses solely on the how and gives nothing of the why. But that wasn’t Gibson’s idea. He wanted the audience to suffer as Jesus did. He wanted to make the most bloody, violent film he could, in order to show what Jesus did for the world. The result is a film that feels cold to nonbelievers.
There are times during the film when it is very clear (and somewhat ironic) that the film was directed by Mad Max himself. During my first viewing of the film the intensity was shocking. But the second time around it all just seemed boring. The bloodletting was far less effective. The brutality was far less shocking. All in all I found myself saying, “Come on, just die already.” That’s something that shouldn’t be thought during such a film.
Yet Gibson did make the film he wanted to make. It was for believers, not the whole population. I didn’t feel any closer to Jesus after watching this film, as I did when I saw The Last Temptation of Christ. There are parts that seem very anti-Semitic, and Gibson hiding from them seems very false when the images are so clear.
I could sit here all day and write about this film, but the fact is every film critic has already said everything that needs to be said. Although Gibson made a hit, I think he might have ruined his career. It shall be very interesting to see how history will see his Passion.
Grade: C
Written by David Bohnert
Copyright 2004.