The Passion of the Christ

By: debbie lynn elias

Passion – from the Latin “perpessio” – the act of suffering. The passion of Christ – “passio.”

The topic of media buzz for many months and now the focus of a media frenzy, I can’t imagine there’s a person within range of a television, radio or newspaper that hasn’t heard something about Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.” But for those of you that may have been hiding in caves or even a hole and incommunicado, let’s take a little look at what many, including myself, believe, is Mel Gibson’s passion.

“The Passion of the Christ” is the depiction of the final hours of Christ. Although based upon the Four Gospels of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the film also relies heavily on the Fourteen Stations of the Cross, something very familiar to Catholics around the world, and the visions of two nuns – Mary of Agreda of Spain and Anne Catherine Emmerich of France. (Emmerich experienced stigmata which imitated those of Jesus). There are very few of the teachings of Christ depicted. The film is not meant to preach. It is not meant as a substitute for religious instruction or to cause you to flail in the aisles because you have been touched by the Holy Spirit. What it does do is provide an extremely graphic visualization of the very essence of Christianity – Christ’s death and resurrection.

The time is approximately 30 A.D. It is spring. It is the time of the Jewish feast of Passover. Judea, where our story begins, is part of the Roman Empire and under the control of Julius Caesar. Pontius Pilate is prefect, Caesar’s ranking agent in the land. Jesus of Nazareth is a teacher, a healer and he’s Jewish. The mix of Romans in a Jewish land does much to cause debate and unrest among the people, which gives Pilate and other leaders, much cause for concern. A very delicate balance of power existed in the land with a very tenuous agreement between Pilate and the priests of the Temple. The priests would do their best to keep peace and order without too much interference or violence from the Romans. But should the people not abide by the “ground rules,” Pilate would do whatever he deemed necessary for the Roman Empire and to keep himself in a position of power.

For some time, Jesus has been gaining popularity with the people and to such a degree that thousand have made a pilgrimage to Judea just to see him, to touch him, to look at him. He was cheered, revered, pronounced as the Messiah, the one who would lead the people against the Romans, liberating them. And for both the Romans and the Jewish hierarchy who were trying to not upset the current balance of power, Jesus of Nazareth was not a good thing. He was as equally threatening to both the Romans because he was seen as a “revolutionary” and to the Jewish priests because of his new teachings. Caiaphas, high priest of the Temple, decides an arrest is in order. Stop trouble before it can start. And so, at his order, with the help of Judas, a mob of men are sent to find and arrest Jesus.

We see Jesus in the Garden of Gethesame praying as his disciples sleep. The setting is calm; serene. We are seeing the last hours of Jesus. Suddenly, he is dragged away by the Jewish and Roman guards for what we soon learn is the first of many beatings. Reluctant to hurt an essentially innocent man, Pontus Pilate agrees to lashing and beatings of Christ in effort to calm an angry mob.

And so begins the story of Jesus’s arduous blood-soaked journey to His crucifixion; the wooden cross to which is shackled and must carry; the stonings in the street, the repeated floggings and brutal beatings by the Roman soldiers, and ultimately, the crucifixion itself, 25 minutes of violent, blood-drenched inhumane torture by drunken Romans as they nail Jesus to the cross where he is left to slowly die in unfathomable agony and pain. The blood and horror is unlike anything ever seen. As Jesus dies, a devastating earthquake rolls through Jerusalem, destroying the homes of Pilate and Caiaphias. But, on the third day, He rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven…

Gibson is a gifted director and storyteller. Gone are the clean-shaven, sweet smelling, well garbed illusions of Christ and his followers that Hollywood has churned out over the years. Gibson gives us reality – poor humble men who don’t have marble wash basins and maidens to shave and bathe them. Beginning with raw natural characters, Gibson then just keeps on going. Using slow motion, he pays close attention to detail so that no stone is left unturned and nothing goes unnoticed by the audience. Every snap of cat-o-nine tails is seen and heard as it sears into Jesus’s already bloodied flesh, every stumble under the burden of the cross, every rock being thrown by the crowd, every gasp of a mother, every strike on a nail head. Mesmerizing. Riveting. Excruciatingly exquisite. And every so often, Gibson favors us with flashbacks of glimpses into Jesus’ life and some of the parables and Bible stories of which we are so familiar but just as a feeling of comfort and serenity begin to take hold, Gibson quickly jerks you back into the now, into the present, into the end, into the brutality and horror of those final hours. Gibson brings a depth and passion to the work that transcends both the film and the story and spills over into every aspect of this cinematic masterpiece. Adding even more majesty is the breathtaking cinematography of Caleb Deschanel.

James Caviezel as Jesus Christ may as well take the stage at the Kodak Theater now rather than wait until February 2005 to claim his Oscar. He could have taken it this week as his performance is one never seen or experienced in movie history. He is extraordinary and awe-inspiring, maintaining a dignified humanity beneath a ravaged, blood soaked body. Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene and Maia Morgenstern as Jesus’ mother, Mary, use visual expressiveness to convey both the love of Jesus and shock at the horrors unfolding before them. They each have the ability to say a thousand words with a single look.

As for the arguments being made that the film is anti-Semitic, I disagree. As Gibson himself has repeatedly and eloquently stated, it was not the Jews responsible for Jesus’ death. It was not the Romans. It was everyone. All were involved. Gibson has given, what I believe, is a favorable balance of all, Romans, Jews, and anyone else who was around. Could he have made Caiaphias more sympathetic to Jesus and more conflicted over the dilemma he was facing as was reflected in one passage of the Bible? Certainly. By its omission, does it make this film anti-Semitic? No. Are there other passages to which he could have turned for more material? Of course – and many are more damning than what the public is now commenting upon. Does he show a balanced sense of reason for why the Romans want to rid themselves of Jesus? Yes. Does he show a balanced sense of reason why the Jewish priests want to rid themselves of Jesus? Yes. Does he place the blame on the commoners and the public for Jesus’s death? No. In fact, Gibson goes that extra mile and gives us people like Simon, a Jew, helping Jesus carry the cross. He shows the masses crying in pain over the torture being inflicted upon Him.

The best single word to describe the film is “powerful” and clearly driven by the passion of a devoted man, Mel Gibson. No one but a man of great faith could have pulled off a film like this. It is graphic. It is brutal. It is bloody. What many people aren’t accepting or realizing is that this movie was made by a man of faith about a man of faith based on writings of men of faith. Although many take the Bible as the “Gospel truth” and Word of God, the Bible was written by men who wrote for a particular time, a particular place, particular people and with a particular point of view. Their writings may not always be historically accurate and we must remember the time in which they were written. Merely because the New Testament refers to “Jews”, are we to believe that the writings refer to all Jews for all eternity? No. The written word addressed those in the Temple who feared an upset in the power structure and agreements in place with the Romans at that time. You can analogize the fall-out with the public over this film over the fall-out over creation. Men of faith believe that God created the heavens and the earth. Men of science and/or historians view it as the big bang theory. As long as there is humanity, there will always be a controversy where religion and politics or science meet head on.

Whether you agree or disagree with the story being told on screen, or who killed Jesus of Nazareth or why, there is one undeniable truth to be found at the end of it all – Mel Gibson’s passion has given us a once in a lifetime movie experience. And with some divine intervention from above, he will be rewarded by Hollywood with some Oscar gold in 2005.

Jesus, the Christ: James Caviezel Mary: Maia Morgenstern Mary Magdalene: Monica Bellucci Pontius Pilate: Hristo Shopov Caiaphas: Mattia Sbragia Judas: Luca Lionello

Newmarket Films presents a film directed by Mel Gibson. Written by Gibson and Benedict Fitzgerald. Rated R. (126 min)