Finally Saw The Passion

I finally saw The Passion of the Christ movie this week.  Let me say upfront, in short, all the hype is deserved, and almost none of the criticism is valid. 

From a pure film aesthetic standpoint, this is a fantastic movie, and a marvelous achievement overall.  The Passion is an Oscar-caliber film.  Not that i think it will happen, but it deserves nominations for both Best Picture and Best Director.  It is a better film than at least half of the Oscar winners just in the last decade -- Chicago (03), Gladiator (01), Shakespeare in Love (99), Titanic (97), English Patient (96).

I would also nominate Maia Morgenstern for Best Supporting Actress (the Academy will concur, i predict).  She gives a remarkable performance as Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

As for the invalid criticism, the anti-Semitism angle is ridiculous.  In fact, i felt that Gibson went out of his way to show just the opposite.  Then you have the words of Jesus himself, in one of the flashbacks, where He explains to his disciples that He lays down His life willingly.  It is also very clear that, as believers already know, the crucifixion was God's plan all along.

Sure, the Roman soldiers were the proximate cause of Jesus' death, and sure, it was clearly the Jewish Sanhedrin leaders who gave Him up to the Romans.  But as we have been taught, Jesus died for each of us, and so it was my sins, your sins that put Him on that cross.  Blame extends no further than the face in the mirror.

But back to the film...  i was very impressed with how Gibson combined fidelity to scripture with artistic imaginings.  I thought the scenes with Peter were great.  The scenes with Judas were great.  The scenes with Satan are wonderfully imagined and depicted. 

The flashback scenes were more plentiful than reviewers had led me to believe -- there's plenty in there about the ministry and message of Jesus.  I especially liked the flashbacks that included Mary, with the best one being her interplay with an adult Jesus, as He crafts a "tall table".

The gore and brutality were not as dominating as i expected, however.  The scourging scene is long because the scouring itself was long.  Besides, Gibson doesn't show every blow (he shows enough) head-on; for some, he shows us Mary's face.  That doesn't lessen the impact, though, as i found it more difficult to watch her watch it.

I'll say more later about my reactions to the movie, but let me close this entry by saying:  Go see this film!  See it at the theater to get the full effect.  Don't let any of the misguided criticism dissuade you from seeing it, or from persuading friends and family to go see it, even if they are not believers.