The Passion of the Christ   
 

Jesus: Jim Caviezel

Mary: Maia Morgenstern

Magdalene: Monica Bellucci

Peter: Francesco De Vito

Pontius Pilate: Hristo Shopov

 

Directed by Mel Gibson

Screenplay by Benedict Fitzgerald and Mel Gibson
It has certainly been awhile since a movie has generated this much buzz and controversy before its release.  And whether it was a clever marketing ploy or just natural curiosity over the subject matter, the buzz worked to a huge opening day and weekend. 

The Passion of the Christ focuses on the last 12 hours of Jesus' life leading to his crucifixion.  This project was director Mel Gibson's labor of love as he provided $25-30 million of his own money to finance the movie.  The care he puts into it is obvious and he keeps his story as close to the source material as possible, from Judas' betrayal to the piercing of Jesus' side after his death.  Gibson is a masterful director and is able to ratchet up the emotion and the tension at the right moments in a story that is familiar to many people. 

The Passion does falter at a few places, however.  It seems that Gibson wants to make sure that the audience understands the suffering Jesus had to endure, and he goes overboard on the graphic violence and the gore in order to prove his point.  It's excessive to show twenty minutes of Jesus getting whipped by Roman soldiers and crosses the line between entertainment and gruesomeness.  The suffering Jesus went through becomes obvious over the course of the film ending with the ultimate sacrifice of his life, making these extended scenes of violence purely gratuitous.

Gibson also provides a few flashback scenes including the Last Supper and Jesus' relationship with his mother, Mary.  There were some scenes showing Jesus' teachings, but not enough in my opinion.  The movie clearly makes the point that Jesus' death is more important than his life.  I happen to disagree, and I wish more attention would have been paid to his life.  His actions and teachings, which profess love, friendship, faith, and forgiveness, are the most important aspects of Jesus's life.  They deserved more screen time to make his death that much more tragic and important. 

A lot of the controversy stemmed around the fact that many people felt the movie was anti-Semitic.  I don't think that is the case here.  It is true that the Jewish high priest, Caiaphas, led the charge to condemn Jesus.  However, to be anti-Semitic, something must be hateful towards the entire Jewish race, and that clearly doesn't happen in this movie.  There are good people and there are bad people in this story, and ethnicity does not determine that fact.  The movie does portray Pilate as indecisive and Caiaphas as confident of Jesus' guilt, and this is perhaps the one characterization that could lead to some disagreement over the controversy.  I don't find it as something that is anti-Semitic. 

The Passion is a good movie.  It's beautiful to look at (when you're not being bombarded with violence) and wonderfully directed.  It is also a fascinating story, regardless of your beliefs, interest, or opinions as to the degree of truth behind it.  A man sacrifices his life for his convictions and faith.  Ultimately, it is a well-done film that is worth seeing.