The Passion Of The Christ

[ono]

I watched 'The Last Temptation Of Christ' again last night; I'd strongly recommend watching it back to back with 'The Passion.'

I think that anytime you start trying to lump the likes of Gibson in with Scorsese (problems I have with some of his works aside), you get into really shaky territory, because problems aside, Scorsese is The Real Thing.  And, well, I've been through like sixteen years of church when I was a kid, so I know what the story was all about, and my reasons for not wanting to waste my time and money with Gibson's version.  If I'd see it for free, maybe, but my experience with Gibson is that he generally lacks substance and nuance, and I really don't want to sit through two hours of violence and the heavy-handedness akin to a preacher yelling "REPENT! (you bad, bad person, you).  Sounds like a real guilt trip to me.  Especially if it can make, you, Ghostboy, come almost to the brink of tears.

Some people think it's wrong to make a judgment on a movie without seeing it.  Others, well, they know it's smart to use discretion in spending your time watching movies, especially when there are so many, especially for people who really love movies period.  I think there are more worthy efforts around, so I won't be spending my money on this one, not just because of the whole media influx.  I may check it out though if I can get to a free screening, which my university sometimes offers.  I also find it ironic that Gibson had so much trouble picking up a distributor, and was so gung ho about doing this for the art, but gradually this became more of a big Hollywood type picture.  If he really cared about the art, the media assault would never have come.  He would have let word of mouth handle things.  But then again, maybe that's the studio's doing.  All I know is, when I walk into my creative non-fiction class and see a stack of 8x11 fliers for The Passion of the Christ all shiny and glossy, selling this film like it's a commodity and not art, I know things have gone too far.

[SoNowThen]

Well, I agree that you should be choosey on what films you watch, and if you don't feel like it then, for sure, skip it, there's plenty classic films we should all be watching. But as to those flyers, I mean, it's a movie, man. Cinema is a commercial art. Especially when it costs 25 million. You gotta at least expect the guy to try and get some of his money back, and to get people to see a movie, you gotta advertise. I do think, however, that this merchandising thing sounds a little suspect...

[©brad]

well, i'm gonna wait until this hits video, or atleast the dollar cinema, where it is likely that i'll have a chance to catch it in am empty theater. a bunch of hysterical, religious nuts crying, walking out, yelling- yuck, too much for me. i have a hard enough time just going to church w/ these ppl. (and yes i am catholic)

[Film Student]

Saw this last night... Have MANY feelings on it, but most of it has already been said in some way, so I'll keep it short.

Bottom Line: Hated the movie

Why?  Because it provided no context.  Christ was a revolutionary who incited people in the worst way possible during times of great political upheaval.  The Romans are occupying Jerusalem, persecuting the Jews, and the Jewish Leaders are trying desperately to hold their people together.  Then Christ comes along and tells them the best way to rebel is to NOT rebel, but to Love.  The Jewish leaders see this as highly dangerous to the future of their people, and have him executed.  They use the excuse that he's a blasphemer because he claims he's the son of God.  He accepts his death, he loves those who are killing him, even AS they're killing him, and then depending on what you believe, he is raised from the dead.

Now, it's a fairly simple story that has GREAT dramatic and emotional power, if told the right way.   Then Gibson comes along and decides to forget about who Christ WAS and what he DID, and instead devotes two hours to portraying how greatly this man suffered.   We don't see WHY he's executed, we don't even get a clear understanding of why his disciples are so devoted to him.  We get brief clips of the most generic versions of his teachings (Love One Another), and in the mean time we have to sit through an hour and a half of Christ being beaten, scourged, and forced to carry his cross on the road to calvary.  Then he dies. Then he's resurrected.  

Anyway, this is a longer rant than I expected, but Gibson puts on such an appalling display of pretension in denying the audience any hint of character development, assuming that one should already know everything about this man, except of course, How brutally he was tortured and murdered.  I was raised in a strict fundamentalist christian home, so I went in with a wealth of knowledge on who this man was, yet I was NEVER emotionally involved.  Instead, I felt like I was watching pornography, where the characters are mechanically fucking and coming, and you don't give a shit except for the fact that its so over the top.  The violence in this film WAS pornographic, all the more so because the audience is completely denied any emotional entrance into the story EXCEPT through the violence itself; that is, the suffering of another human being.  

Anyway, I've got a lot more to say, but its coming out randomly, so I'll stop for now.

Oh, and Mel Gibson sucks as a filmmaker.  Story and Religion aside, his hardhat approach to directing is mind-numbingly boring and very typical of Hollywood.  

And Braveheart sucks.

I'm done.  

[metroshane]

it amazes me how many people get fanatical on super bowl sunday...or put up a picture of their favorite band on the wall.  But mention Jesus and all of the sudden  you are a religeous nut.  

If I watch football on sundays, then I'm a man's man.  If I go to church then I'm a holy roller.  Why didn't anyone come down on Stone  for making a football movie?

It's a movie and if it interests you then see it.  If not, don't...but the the cursing of the movie...especially if you haven't seen it, is just a fear mechanism.

[Film Student]

I agree with you, and I was actually really looking forward to the movie.  Unfortunately, it's just a bad movie. That's the bottom line.

[metroshane]

That brings up an interesting debate.  I mean Mel as specifically stated that he wasn't trying to make the "story of Jesus"....that he was intentionally showing the last 12 hours of his life.  That's the movie, take it or leave it.

The debate being can we really navigate away from the typical hollywood narrative standard?  Does the filmmaker really owe us something based on that standard?  I don't know the answer but sure would like to discuss it.

[ono]

I think the nature of who Jesus was really overpowers any obligations or expectations or ambitions towards artists statements either Gibson or the audience has.  When you talk about Jesus, you really owe it to the material to explore who he was if you're going to do it.  If I was ever going to do this film, I'd read the New Testament and the Book of Mormon, and any other testaments to his life and craft an all-encompassing tale about his life, his death, his resurrection, and his new life in Central America, as the Book of Mormon tells it (I think that's right, isn't it? -- though please, let's not get into whether or not the Book of Mormon or the Bible is valid in the first place).  I'd also study Jewish history and Christian history and try to come to a better understanding of who Jesus was rather than just relying on the Catholic faith and their bible.

From what I've heard, Gibson has been so blinded by his faith and this one element -- the suffering Jesus endured -- that he's failed to engage the viewers with anything else.  And I really like Film Student's review for addressing that.

So, really, this movie has even more undue attention because of this nature of being shortchanged as a result of Gibson's ego-driven desire to express this one emotion that really is all too personal for most people to care about when there are wider aspects of this story that are neglected.  Normally I feel the filmmaker doesn't owe the audience anything, but in this case, considering the nature of the beast, I'd like to see more effort like what I described above.

[1976]

damnit...you people ruined the ending for me.

[godardian]

Oh, and Mel Gibson sucks as a filmmaker.  Story and Religion aside, his hardhat approach to directing is mind-numbingly boring and very typical of Hollywood.  

This is my feeling precisely, which is why, without forming any definite opinion until I do actually see the film, I'm hardly rushing out to hop on the Passion bandwagon. Usually, my only response to hype is to just try and see past it, but seeing past this hype leaves me with nothing but a Mel Gibson movie.    Someday I'll be posting my thoughts on the film here, probably, but it won't be soon. I have many bigger cinematic fish to fry than little Mellie Gibson...

[Finn]

If you're a christian...the ending was already ruined.

I just got back from this today, it's truly a great film. I was deeply touched by what it was trying to do and it's execution. It's very bloody, violent, dark and disturbing but so was Jesus Christ's actual crucifixtion. It's profound, brilliant and a masterpiece. Everyone should go see this movie except for the youngest of children. And the very last shot is perfect, doesn't need to be spelled out and stands alone.

[cowboykurtis]

Oh, and Mel Gibson sucks as a filmmaker.  Story and Religion aside, his hardhat approach to directing is mind-numbingly boring and very typical of Hollywood.  

This is my feeling precisely, which is why, without forming any definite opinion until I do actually see the film, I'm hardly rushing out to hop on the Passion bandwagon. Usually, my only response to hype is to just try and see past it, but seeing past this hype leaves me with nothing but a Mel Gibson movie.    Someday I'll be posting my thoughts on the film here, probably, but it won't be soon. I have many bigger cinematic fish to fry than little Mellie Gibson...

hows does it feel to be a snob?

[Ravi]

I hope this doesn't turn into another Triplets of Belleville type thread.

[cowboykurtis]

I hope this doesn't turn into another Triplets of Belleville type thread.

how does it feel to be a pansy?

[1976]

"Braveheart" was entertaining as hell..I loved that sh#t. The fight scenes kicked arse.