THE
PASSION
OF THE CHRIST

2004 ***** 126 mins.

It is true. Mel Gibson's motion picture The Passion of the Christ has the power to touch its viewer like no other film. The power of this film has completely possessed me to the very depths of my soul. The film is so wonderful, so powerful, so awe-inspiring, so magnificent, that one cannot help but moved to tears at its wonderment and beauty.

Sitting in the theatre fifteen minutes into the film, I could hear people all around me sniffing back tears. This did not cease until the end of the film--not even then. In the lobby I spotted a teenage boy not much younger than myself leaning against a wall, his head on his arm, crying his eyes out. A friend of his was patting him on the back. The mere sight of them wanted me to cry even more.

We have all heard the story. Jesus praying in the garden, the apostles falling asleep. Judas's betrayal and suicide. Jesus being taken to Caiaphas, Pilate, Herod, and back to Pilate. The lashing, the crowning, the carrying of the cross. The falling, the washing of the face, the man ordered to help. The nailing of Jesus to the cross. This story has been told many times before. Never, though, has it been told like this.

That has to be, single-handedly, the most touching moment of the film for me. The fact that he asked forgiveness upon all the people who spat upon him, threw things at him, laughed at him, betrayed him, beat him, and hated him makes me say that that is how we all need to be. That is how we all need to strive to be.

Another beauteous quality of this film is the togetherness has instilled. Everyone thought it would break people apart. Quite the contrary. Catholics, Protestants, Jews, even non-believers have seen this film and gotten the meanings out of it. They have all come together and sat in the same room for two hours and five minutes. For those two hours and five minutes those people who say they are so different from each other share the same feelings of sadness, love, honour, and respect. Maybe this film will help everyone to see that we are not really all that different. It does not matter what denomination a person is, he still believes in the same God as all other Christians. Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Catholics, and all others believe in the same God.

So, I hereby acknowledge my thanks to Mel Gibson for making this wonderful film. After much thought and deliberation, I have decided to label it as my second favourite motion picture of all time. Mel Gibson also is placed in my list of the top five greatest directors.
Number 3 on KRSJR Productions' 25 Greatest Motion Pictures of All Time
Rated R for sequences of graphic violence.