THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST (2004)

directed by Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson knows how to sell a movie. When this Jesus movie came out in 2004, churches bought the theatres and saw it in droves. I can't say that I blame them. They'd be waiting for a big-budget adaptation of Biblical anecdote for a while (I think the last time Hollywood money had bothered with rendering a somewhat faithful adaptation of the text was around the early '60s) and any effort at all since then has either been too out-there (see LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST), too cheap (did you get that copy of the Jesus docu-faux-movie-thing in the mail a decade ago? I didn't watch it either), or just mediocre at best (made-for-TV movie, anyone?)

So, yes, when Gibson announced he was making the prequel to BRAVEHEART, and it was starring Jesus, and it was going to be in a foreign language (American film + foreign language = authenticity), churchgoers went gaga. (to be fair, the other end of the tentpole had their own formula for moviegoing bliss that year: American documentary + liberal agenda = authenticity... see FAHRENHEIT 9/11).

So, Gibson had the talent, he had the budget, he had the built-in audience, he even had the Aramaic. So, what goes wrong here? Well, two things really: First, there's too much blood. And from a purely story perspective, far too much emphasis on it. The story goes that Christ died for our sins in a sort of sacrificial way by allowing himself to be executed. It is easy to get caught up in the physical aspects of this (and to be sure, PASSION would be the first Jesus film that even bothered to really mention the physical aspects at all...), but there's more to it than that. Jesus also suffered mental anguish, emotional anguish, and most importantly, spiritual anguish, and a lot of this was spread out over the course of the entire week. Now, you don't have include his entire life on film: this has been done before plenty of times and usually the filmmaker tries to include too many details and explain too many things and the theme of the film gets washed out in all that “history”. But a true passion play on film should comprise more than just the final prayer at Gethsemane (though it was a beautiful starting point), the trials, the beating, the walk, and the cross. There should be more emphasis on the last supper, the Temple appearances that week, the final parables, the final miracles, the continuous attempts by Jesus to try to get his disciples to understand what was about to happen, their almost complete lack of understanding anyway, their desertion of him in his time of need, his immense loneliness. But there's not of that. There's a few brief flashbacks (which I loved), there's Peter denial (which I also loved, but no denuement of this moment), there's Judas betrayal and suicide (I'll get to that in a bit), and there's blood. Lots and lots and lots and lots of blood. Fileted flesh, ribcage baring, slices and dices and hundreds of rounds of beating. No mortal man could've survived this. And Jesus was a mortal man. He was a living man. He had access to superhuman strength, but he chose not to use it. Any of it. And so, after Jesus has been whipped to the point where a normal man would've died four or five times already... he's flipped over and whipped some more. Then he's beaten some more. Then he's made to walk what appears to be miles upon miles with an entire cross on his back (the other two prisoners he's with just carry the cross-beam). So, my criticism isn't that there's blood or even that there's a lot of blood. It's that there's a ridiculous and absurd amount of blood. Jesus could not have possibly been tortured to the extent that he's tortured in this movie.

Second, it's layered with Catholicism. It's apparently taken less from the Gospels and more from an old medieval passion written by a nun. I can see it. The emphasis on Mary here is immense. Not only is she there, but one would think she is the window to Father God himself: every time Jesus feels he can't go on, he sees her by happenstance, and his strength is restored. Satan is portrayed by Death from Bergman's THE SEVENTH SEAL (though a wonderful touch having the part be androgynously played by a woman). Demons inhabit the corners and are right out of Renaissance Catholicism... there might as well have been a Hell-mouth, gaping behind the anti-semitically inspired Sanhedrin.

So, enjoy it all you want. It's a well-made film (though a tad draggy in spots). Watch it with an entire church. Provide whips for self-flaggelation and you'll get a helluva live show, like a Jesus freak cult viewing: The Rocky Horror Jesus Show. Just know what you're buying a ticket for: a wolfishly Medeival Holy Roman Passion Play hidden behind a sheepskin of pious authenticity. Might as well have been produced by the devil himself (or herself, if you prefer sugartits with your temptations). The road to hell is paved with good intentions. After this film, you'll have a greater understanding of what that means, while at the same time remaining terribly confused as to how Jesus' final week brought any hope to anyone.

7.15/10