The Passion of the Christ

[baumer]

Discuss

[baumer]

Religious, atheist, agnostic, it doesn't matter.The Passion of the Christ is an undeniably moving and emotionally galvanizing experience and will indelibly stay in your conscience long after the credits roll. It is now 8 years later, and I saw the film once in the theaters, and I remember it like I saw it yesterday. And this is coming from someone who still hasn't made up his mind about religion. This is a one of a kind film that will affect you as long as you have a pulse. For those jaded enough to just view the film as anti-Semitic or just plain hooey, then perhaps I will stipulate that you will find something wrong with it. But for anyone who at least has a humanitarian side to them, this movie will get inside you and never leave.Mel Gibson has lost much of his credibility when he got drunk one night and went off on Jews. This rant painted him as a hypocrite and that is very unfortunate because this film is one that at least has something to say. If nothing else, it shows us that humanity hasn't changed in 2000 years. We are still as violent as we ever were. We still don't value a human life anymore than we did when Jesus ostensibly walked the Earth. Christ apparently died for our sins and if you believe in this, if you accept the fact that Jesus got tortured more than any living thing should be, then you have to understand that this was done so that we could have our sins wiped away when entering the Kingdom. But it was also done, if you believe in Christianity and/or Catholicism, so that we could become better people. Why else would God allow his only begotten son to succumb to such despicable and inhumane treatment? One would hope that it is to better humanity, not make it worse. Although I didn't live in Biblical times, I can only assume that times are not any better now than it was then. Torture is still prevalent in myriad of countries, and even condoned by the former U.S president himself...the most powerful man in the world. Famine is at an all time high and while the rich countries like the one I live in do little to help wipe it out, there are starving people even on our street corners. Altruism is a word that most people don't know how to spell let alone practice. Greed is everywhere and the opulence that is provided by the very Earth we live on is being destroyed and pillaged by those that should be thanking their lucky stars that we have this great place to live in.What does this all mean? Does this have anything to do with the movie? Of course it does. As I said, if anything this film appeals to the humanitarian in all of us. I don't know how I feel about God, Jesus, John 3:16 and The Bible and so on. But even though I am ambivalent to all of this, I still have emotions and I do respect a human life. And if a man, deity or human, was actually treated this way by a society that existed 2000 years ago or 10 days ago, it is bothersome. If there was a man named Jesus Christ that existed and taught us to be altruistic and benevolent and peaceful, he would be disgusted to see how we all turned out. The Passion of the Christ is about that man. It doesn't matter if he was a God, a spirit or the flesh and blood, this is a film about the power belief. But it is also about the power of corruption and corruption of power. And power can be absolutely corrupting and this is what has turned our world into a cesspool of the rich and dangerous. Because when you watch the film, the fear of this man, the fear of what he represented is what scared everyone.The Passion of the Christ is a masterpiece of film making. I believe it wasn't nominated for anything because the donkeys that run Hollywood are powerfully corrupt as well and there are plenty of powerful figures who just don't agree with the supposed message and supposed anti-semitism. I don't really think Mel cares too much what the rest of Hollywood thinks of him as this film apparently netted him more than 300 million dollars as he funded the film by himself. I say good for him. It's a shame alcohol makes you say such asinine things because Mel damaged his reputation beyond repair when he did so, but that shouldn't take away from the brilliance of this film. James Caviezel is a miracle as the Christ figure. Speaking in an entirely different language he conveys the passion, the fear, the emotion and the spirit of Jesus Christ. I can't imagine another actor playing this part.The Passion of the Christ is one of the most moving motion pictures of all time. It brought me to tears. Tears of anger, tears of sorrow and tears for fear. As I said, this is coming from someone who sits on the fence when it comes to religion. If you are a Christian or a practicing Catholic, this film will move you like no other.9/10 Love it or hate it for what it says, you cannot deny how it will make you feel.

Edited September 21, 2012 by Expendable baumer

[Hiccup]

As a Christian The Passion of the Christ is probably one of the most moving films I have experiences. Every time I see this I am left speechless. James Caviezal did a fantastic job as Jesus Christ. Baumer basically summed up my thoughts on the the film. It doesn't matter what religion you belong too, whether you believe Jesus was real or if He was the Son of God, you will be moved by the film. A utter masterpiece.This scene (14 seconds to 37 seconds) was deeply moving.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-z9k_qUHOc10/10

Edited September 21, 2012 by Andrew the Alien

[Noctis]

An absolute piece of shit that is nothing more than glorified violence-porn. I have never felt more queasy.

[Webslinger]

As a lifelong Christian... this movie definitely wasn't my cup of tea.Mel Gibson's direction is assured and it's difficult to say much that isn't quite positive about the technical side of the film. However, as a dramatic experience, I felt it was mostly inert. There were some moving scenes - Mary's brief reunion with Jesus while he carries the cross being one of them - but Gibson is so squarely focused on the savage violence that I felt little connection to what was happening on the screen; and considering that the story is paper-thin and Gibson seems to be gunning so hard for an emotional response, that's a problem. I was numbed to the violence, not moved by it.Given that I tend to be much more interested in Jesus' social message than in the passion story (quite possibly because in my experience, the latter often gets discussed to death - no pun intended - with no new powerful insights), this is a movie I could go on critiquing for a while. And it only adds fuel to the fire that a very close friend/former girlfriend of mine is a Jewish-born convert to Christianity who absolutely hates this movie with a fiery passion - again, no pun intended - and ranted about it for minutes at a time without interruption, with particular ire directed at the Barabbas scene.

Edited September 22, 2012 by Webslinger

[CoolioD1]

At first I think I was shocked by the torture stuff, but there's so much of it that I eventually just became bored by it. Bad movie.

[acab]

A really bad film. I don't care much about religion but i was always surprised from the fact that this movie is considered deeply religious by some people. I respect everyones opinion but i can't really see what is religious and moving about it. I don't see any point in the film. What exactly is it trying to say? If i knew nothing about Jesus Christ i would just see a poor guy getting tortured in slow motion for 2 hours, a couple of whipping women around him and some kind of supernatural thing following him. Honestly. There is no story. No purpose. It has nothing to say and nowhere to go. I mean where is the spirituality? What is important about this dude? Is he deserving it? Is he innocent? Some cheap 2 minutes flash backs don't help. It makes the film look lazy from a storytelling view. It gets boring after 15 minutes or so. And the shot at the end where the devil (?) turns into some kind of monster or whatever, is one of the most unintentional funny scenes i 've seen.

[Lordmandeep]

TBH this film is overly violent and the only times it was good when they actually told parts of Jesus's life and his story.That is interesting to believers and non believers...That is why I prefer something like King of Kings over this however that guy was like teenage Jesus in that film lol

[The Toymaker]

The Passion of the Christ

This film is brilliant. It doesn't keep within the realms of normal film-making, and that is risky. Mel Gibson knows how to direct and he kept my attention all the way through. I saw this when I was 17 in the cinema, and I was just mesmerised by the story being told in such a way that doesn't glamourise Jesus' ending, like we have been told before in schools and nurseries etc. I got really involved in this film when it came out too. I will always remember reading my Bible, learning about Jesus' life and death, and it never felt real to me until it was shown to me by Mel Gibson in the real world. I will never forget this line, it was so powerful for me: "Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachtani", which basically means "My Lord, My Lord, Why have you forsaken me?". Just beautiful.

A

[Jessie]

This film is a pile of crap disguised as a masterpiece by religious people. It's basically a longer Saw movie with a worse and less believable plot which relied on its uneccessary over the top gore to earn money. If people want to remembers Jesus, then why can't they remember him for all the good he did? I guess Mel Gibson was smart enough to release that Jesus + gore = mega bucks.James caviezal was the only good thing about this movie, then again all he had to do was act in pain for 2 hours.

[baumer]

This film is a pile of crap disguised as a masterpiece by religious people. It's basically a longer Saw movie with a worse and less believable plot which relied on its uneccessary over the top gore to earn money. If people want to remembers Jesus, then why can't they remember him for all the good he did? I guess Mel Gibson was smart enough to release that Jesus + gore = mega bucks.James caviezal was the only good thing about this movie, then again all he had to do was act in pain for 2 hours.

The most famous thing Jesus did was die for our sins. The Bible describes him getting whipped and crucified and the crown of thorns and the thief getting his legs broken and so on. That's why the film shows all the gore and the brutality. In those times, that is what Christ would have went through.

[The Toymaker]

It's probably disguised as a masterpiece by non-believers, actually. When it came out there was talk of it being anti-semetic. But that's nonsense. But Bible bashers are the biggest sheep around.

[Ozymandias]

Religious, atheist, agnostic, it doesn't matter.The Passion of the Christ is an undeniably moving and emotionally galvanizing experience and will indelibly stay in your conscience long after the credits roll. It is now 8 years later, and I saw the film once in the theaters, and I remember it like I saw it yesterday. And this is coming from someone who still hasn't made up his mind about religion. This is a one of a kind film that will affect you as long as you have a pulse. For those jaded enough to just view the film as anti-Semitic or just plain hooey, then perhaps I will stipulate that you will find something wrong with it. But for anyone who at least has a humanitarian side to them, this movie will get inside you and never leave.Mel Gibson has lost much of his credibility when he got drunk one night and went off on Jews. This rant painted him as a hypocrite and that is very unfortunate because this film is one that at least has something to say. If nothing else, it shows us that humanity hasn't changed in 2000 years. We are still as violent as we ever were. We still don't value a human life anymore than we did when Jesus ostensibly walked the Earth. Christ apparently died for our sins and if you believe in this, if you accept the fact that Jesus got tortured more than any living thing should be, then you have to understand that this was done so that we could have our sins wiped away when entering the Kingdom. But it was also done, if you believe in Christianity and/or Catholicism, so that we could become better people. Why else would God allow his only begotten son to succumb to such despicable and inhumane treatment? One would hope that it is to better humanity, not make it worse. Although I didn't live in Biblical times, I can only assume that times are not any better now than it was then. Torture is still prevalent in myriad of countries, and even condoned by the former U.S president himself...the most powerful man in the world. Famine is at an all time high and while the rich countries like the one I live in do little to help wipe it out, there are starving people even on our street corners. Altruism is a word that most people don't know how to spell let alone practice. Greed is everywhere and the opulence that is provided by the very Earth we live on is being destroyed and pillaged by those that should be thanking their lucky stars that we have this great place to live in.What does this all mean? Does this have anything to do with the movie? Of course it does. As I said, if anything this film appeals to the humanitarian in all of us. I don't know how I feel about God, Jesus, John 3:16 and The Bible and so on. But even though I am ambivalent to all of this, I still have emotions and I do respect a human life. And if a man, deity or human, was actually treated this way by a society that existed 2000 years ago or 10 days ago, it is bothersome. If there was a man named Jesus Christ that existed and taught us to be altruistic and benevolent and peaceful, he would be disgusted to see how we all turned out. The Passion of the Christ is about that man. It doesn't matter if he was a God, a spirit or the flesh and blood, this is a film about the power belief. But it is also about the power of corruption and corruption of power. And power can be absolutely corrupting and this is what has turned our world into a cesspool of the rich and dangerous. Because when you watch the film, the fear of this man, the fear of what he represented is what scared everyone.The Passion of the Christ is a masterpiece of film making. I believe it wasn't nominated for anything because the donkeys that run Hollywood are powerfully corrupt as well and there are plenty of powerful figures who just don't agree with the supposed message and supposed anti-semitism. I don't really think Mel cares too much what the rest of Hollywood thinks of him as this film apparently netted him more than 300 million dollars as he funded the film by himself. I say good for him. It's a shame alcohol makes you say such asinine things because Mel damaged his reputation beyond repair when he did so, but that shouldn't take away from the brilliance of this film.James Caviezel is a miracle as the Christ figure. Speaking in an entirely different language he conveys the passion, the fear, the emotion and the spirit of Jesus Christ. I can't imagine another actor playing this part.The Passion of the Christ is one of the most moving motion pictures of all time. It brought me to tears. Tears of anger, tears of sorrow and tears for fear. As I said, this is coming from someone who sits on the fence when it comes to religion. If you are a Christian or a practicing Catholic, this film will move you like no other.9/10 Love it or hate it for what it says, you cannot deny how it will make you feel.

I agree with everything here and I'm not religious either. It was a great film and it was hilarious how much this thing pissed off Hollywood.

[CaptainJackSparrow]

I think this is a great film, even though I am an atheist, it has a great story.5/5

[Lordmandeep]

There is no doubt the passion story is one of the best story ever told but I think this version was not the best.

 

Lol I enjoyed the version from the Bible Tv Series more. 

 

The film strength was the actual story and it sacrificed that for violence. 

Edited September 23, 2013 by Lordmandeep

[ShouldIBeHere]

This movie had nothing to offer... one can tell the story of the passion, even in a way that appeals to atheists and believers alike, imho.

 

But I do not know how this violence orgy adds to the story and its legacy. It actually becomes rather ridiculous as the movie pretends to be soooo realistic in using the "right" languages and the "right" amount of violence - but then casts people who look like the classic European-American images of the characters, not how these characters would have looked liked in that region 30 AC.

 

A good filmmaker may have tried to play with the psychology of the audience and create the violence and the gravity of the violence that way. Gibson, however, was obviously too occupied with his own little religious wet dream.

 

D+

[Omario]

I am still to this day baffled as to why this movie is called anti-semitic. 

[James]

I am still to this day baffled as to why this movie is called anti-semitic. 

I think what you wanted to say was:

 

"Meh

 

C+"

 

[Webslinger]

I am still to this day baffled as to why this movie is called anti-semitic. 

 

Today, it's because of Mel Gibson's infamous 2006 DUI rant. Before that, it was because all of the Jewish authority figures in the film are caricatured almost to the point of absurdity. The extremely controversial "His blood be on us" line (which is omitted from the subtitles, but is still in the movie) doesn't help its case, either.

 

My opinion on the film has softened as the years have passed, but I'm still not a fan despite the extremely laudable makeup and cinematography and the fact that Gibson succeeded at making exactly the film he wanted to make. It's just not a film for me.

[Omario]

Today, it's because of Mel Gibson's infamous 2006 DUI rant. Before that, it was because all of the Jewish authority figures in the film are caricatured almost to the point of absurdity. The extremely controversial "His blood be on us" line (which is omitted from the subtitles, but is still in the movie) doesn't help its case, either.

 

My opinion on the film has softened as the years have passed, but I'm still not a fan despite the extremely laudable makeup and cinematography and the fact that Gibson succeeded at making exactly the film he wanted to make. It's just not a film for me.

 

But those authority figures were responsible for his death (also in the bible no?) so were the Jews expecting them to be omitted from the story?