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March 5, 2004/Adar 12 5764, Vol. 56, No. 24
Film well-acted, well-constructed
JENNIFER GOLDBERG
Staff Writer
In the medieval era, Christian penitents eager to subdue their sinful, lustful flesh and keep their minds focused on the suffering of Christ would wear hair shirts beneath their clothing. They would scourge themselves with whips or go about their day wearing thorns next to their skin.
Today, self-mortification can be had for the bargain price of less than $10 (not including popcorn), in the form of a ticket to Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."
Of course, not everyone standing in line at the box office for "The Passion" is looking for religious punishment, which is why many people are hesitant to see the film.
With "The Passion," director and producer Mel Gibson has created a tightly focused, shockingly graphic portrayal of the final 12 hours of Jesus' life. While the target audience for the film is doubtless the devout Christians, who, like Gibson, take the veracity of the New Testament Gospels on absolute faith, "The Passion" has elements to impress and inform a wide demographic.
At the outset of the film, the reader is dropped immediately into a scene that non-Christians may be unfamiliar with. Christ prays by night in the garden of Gethsemane while three of his disciples doze nearby. He knows that tomorrow he will suffer the most horrible of deaths, and he begs God to spare him from his fate.
At the same time, his disciple and friend Judas Iscariot stands with the Jewish priests of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, and betrays Jesus for the famous 30 pieces of silver, setting in motion the chain of events that lead to the Crucifixion.
From there, we witness the arrest, torture, judgment, torture, and crucifixion of Jesus, interspersed with flashbacks to less bloody moments in his life: the Sermon on the Mount, the Last Supper, the washing of the disciples' feet. "The Passion" ends with a brief depiction of the Resurrection.
The movie is visually stunning, rendered in beautiful colors and shadows by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel.
The acting is good also; while Caviezel does a good job portraying Jesus, the real standouts are Italian actress Rosalinda Celentano as the genuinely unsettling Satanic figure, Bulgarian actor Hristo Shopov as the conflicted Roman governor Pontius Pilate, and Romanian actress Maia Morgenstern as Mary, Jesus' anguished mother. Morgenstern is particularly good; her depiction of Mary as a woman torn between bottomless grief for the fate of her son and the understanding of the destiny that according to Christian tradition he must fulfill is subtle yet powerful.
The plot itself is one of those rare stories that engages and engrosses the viewer despite the fact that everyone knows how it's going to end. The tension builds from the moment we see Satan tormenting Jesus at Gethsemane to Jesus' arrival at Golgotha, "the place of the skulls," where he will be crucified. The long walk, as Jesus carries his cross to Golgotha, is the only slow part of the film but manages to stay interesting via several flashbacks.
Two main points of contention regarding "The Passion" are the violence and the possibility of an anti-Semitic theme. While the first is certainly present in the film, the second isn't.
The violence is overwhelmingly graphic, brutal, shocking and protracted, even by contemporary standards. Regardless of the viewer's religious beliefs, watching anyone endure such torture is upsetting and in some parts, virtually unwatchable.
For this reason, people highly sensitive to movie violence, as well as the parents of anyone younger than high school age, should think carefully before seeing or allowing their children to see "The Passion."
While it is true that the Jewish priests of "The Passion" come off as self-serving and bullying, this hardly translates to anti-Semitism. Their condemnation of Jesus and their coercion of Pilate to order his execution, while not exactly on the up-and-up, was justified from their point of view: Jesus' message was in opposition and a threat to their deeply held religious beliefs and by extension, their role as community leaders. In a society that often suffered popular revolt, Jesus was seen as a rabble-rouser who had the power to foment unrest during the busy Passover week.
If anyone comes off badly, it's the Romans, from the generally benevolent yet easily cowed Pilate (an image of the Roman that does not jell with most historical accounts), to the sadistic, inhumane centurions responsible for Jesus' torture.
So why see "The Passion?" See it because it is an important film on several levels. First, it is well-made and interesting. Second, it has sparked and will continue to spark intra- and interfaith discussion.
Most of all, see it because the story is an integral one in Western society.
Regardless of the meaning the viewer ascribes to it, the Crucifixion is an historical event that impacts the lives of more than 2 billion Christians. Understanding it can lead to a greater understanding of the world around us.
Contact the writer at jennifer_goldberg@jewishaz.com.
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