There is much controversy about this film as I have mentioned. His mother, Mary, and Magdalen especially demonstrate such pure love for this man as he undergoes his ordeal that I was moved to tears a number of times. There are also those who are shown as loving and compassionate. The Jews are portrayed as equally callous and bloodthirsy. The Romans are brutal, bloodthirsy and callous. I found the final stages of the film oddly moving. As the suffering on-screen gets worse, you occasionally get a cut scene where you see Jesus telling his disciples that he was chosen to undergo it all and did so willingly. It's bloody and the violence is relentless. We see Jesus punched, kicked, spat at (in the face), flogged with an array of nasty implements, beaten with sticks, and of course ultimately having a crown of thorns placed on his head before he is forced to carry the cross up the hill before he is crucified. It stars James Caviezel as Jesus and is directed by Mel Gibson. It's subtitled - spoken in Latin, Hebrew and Aramaic throughout. The film is a very poweful portrayal of the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus. It got my experience of the film off to a bad start, seeing as I have no firm religious beliefs one way or another. The New Testament, they said, had 'changed their lives'. Here in Australia we were given a filmed introduction to the movie by a couple of minor celebrities who basically told us that after we'd seen the film, we should 'read the book'. The film was shown without any previews, which I thought odd. My friend Steve said, “And I would have liked to have seen some sign of God the Father’s grief at the death of his Son.I'm not sure why nobody has provided a writeup about this film yet, so at the risk of being shot to pieces by the many groups who argue about this film, I'll provide a short review. You know that was inspired by a drawing by St John of the Cross?” I said, “I would have liked to have seen a reference maybe to Salvador Dali’s famous suspended crucifix–in which you see Christ from above. I wanted the film to be in the tradition of the great iconography of the Christian church. “Yes” he said, “I’m glad you picked it up. I piped up, “I liked the way you referenced some famous Catholic art in the composition of your photography. He came on to the stage after the film showing and asked for our feedback.

We settled down to watch the movie in a little theater in Soho in London and the whispers were that Mel Gibson was going to be there.Īnd he was.

To attract them they were showing the rough cut of the film to get audience feedback and generate interest.Īt the time I was writing film reviews for a Catholic weekly so I got invited, along with my friend Steve Ryan. So Mel was traveling to major cities to meet Catholics who might be interested in helping to fund the distribution of the movie.

How old to watch passion of the christ