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The Passion of the Christ (Widescreen Edition) Customer Reviews (127 - 129 of 160 Reviews)

"They shall look upon him whom they have pierced"...
The verse is from Gospel of John(John 19:37).
The entendres are multiple and powerful as resonated throughout an electrifying film produced,written and directed by Catholic Christian,Mel Gibson. St.John[ young, hero-worshiping disciple...only Apostle to stand with Blessed Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene at the foot of the Cross after marching Via Dolorosa to the Crucifixion site of Calvary]is witness to the historical brutality of the unique REDEMPTIVE ACT Gibson brings to the screen.Yet the Spear Roman Legionary Longinus thrust into Jesus' side to ascertain death(and obviate breaking the condemned Christ's legs in fulfillment of Scripture)is only "incidently" cause of what ultimately pierced and killed the Son of God. Mankind's SIN[actual,willful defiance of God] required--according to fundamental tenets of Chrisitan faith and theology--ATONEMENT. Atonement...because of the infinite magnitude of offense against THE HOLY...could only be accomplished by sacrificial immolation of THE LOGOS; the Second Hypostasis of the divinely revealed TRIUNE GODHEAD,incarnated into history as Jesus of Nazareth.To uninformed...or deliberately malicious...critics who misconstrue the nature of Gibson's telling of THE PASSION(Christ's Suffering)it is impossible to emphasize enough: SIN[not political machinations of a Jewish elite; nor LAW & ORDER iron rod Necessity of SPQR]killed THE CHRIST. "By His wounds...we are healed."

As drama, the central cast of James Caviezel as Jesus;Maia Morgenstern as Mother Mary; Monica Belluci as Mary Magdalene and Hristo Jivkov as Apostle John are exemplarly excellent in their humanity and ICONIC in their roles of heroes in the History of Salvation. Franceco De Vito(Peter),and Luca Lionello(Judas) present powerful portraits of men initiated by Christ to serve, yet fail and betray: the former,to seek forgiveness--and find honor in repentance; the latter,to sink in despair and become history's synonym for treachery. Maia Morgenstern is singularly magnificent as Christ's mother. The actress conveys regal dignity and strength(second only to the Lord's in Courage and humble submission to Divine Will)that ILLUMINATES the PASSION until the final moment of victory in THE RESURRECTION. This film is not entertainment. Nor,as many most hostile to the Christian message affect, gratuitously violent.It is,as the Christian philosopher Soren Kierkegaard might have said "in fear and trembling",an edifying cinematic discourse expressed in images and icons a Politically Correct world might understand. The Lord died to overcome evil of SIN(and damning,death-bringing guilt men incurred in consequence);not"inappropriate behavior".This is made clear in Rosalinda Celentano's fascinating(as glamour of wickedness often is),rife with menace and mockery,portrayal of SATAN. Again and again, Gibson's hermaphoditic personification of hatred of God,and mankind's arch foe challenges the Lord's love of men with self-love and self-apotheosis. "You become what you love," St. Augustine of Hippo would assert approximately 400 years after Jesus'death and Resurrection. "GREATER LOVE hath no Man than this: that a Man lay down his life for his friends". Ultimately, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST is about LOVE: God's cosmic love for his precious wounded sons and daughters. Mel Gibson's film is epic telling of this epic blood-ridden LOVE STORY. GOD'S love and forgiveness were re-won at incredible cost. If Director Mel Gibson's masterpiece can...again...stir GRATITUDE among the people "who are called by(HIS)name",it will be success beyond measure that even The Lord Himself may bless in approval...AMGD (10 stars)

What's the real controversy?
The reaction of the moviegoers at the theater when I saw it was, I'm told, typical of many others. Some scattered weeping during the most painful moments and stunned silence at the end of the film by the entire audience.

The idea of actors speaking Aramaic, Hebrew and Latin is brilliant. It increases the illusion of actually being there.

(Remember when all WW2 films had Germans and Japanese speaking English?)

The fact that the leading actors are good but unknown also adds to the illusion of reality, as does the lack of blondness among Jesus and the apostles.

(By way of contrast, one of John Wayne's most embarassing moments was playing the Centurion drawling out the line: 'Truly this was. . .the Son. . . of God' in "The Greatest Story Ever Told" , with Max (I was a Swedish Jesus) Von Sydow as Christ.

Gibson takes you back in a time capsule. The cinematography is superb.

The film is disturbing in that it's a traditional passion play and as such pulls no punches when it comes to the 'Stations of The Cross'--it's blood and gore. As well it should be. To quote Roman Polansky, 'If violence does not upset the audience, then it's merely obscene.'

This one REALLY upsets.

Since we've all heard over and over Jesus was crucified, we seem to have gotten blase with repetition. Much like a surgeon at the sight of blood. Gibson goes out of his way to jolt the audience out of complacency.

The theme, as in all passion plays, is 'Look , this is how much God loved you, that He would suffer, etc. etc.'

Criticisms that the characters are not fleshed out enough are off base. This is 'The Passion' i.e; the last hours of the willing sacrifice of Jesus. It's got to be compact--or to get techniqual, conform to the Aristotelean unity of time. There are flashbacks thrown in, but to keep the focus on the theme you can't have Jesus patting children on the head or healing the sick for half the movie, it wouldn't work.

The film is NOT anti-semitic ( Unless you define anti-semitism as a breakaway Jewish sect, which if true, would invalidate the tenets of mainstream Judaism. i.e; Christianity ) Like Rabbi Lapin I am unsure as to be appalled or merely amused at the attacks against this film by some of the leaders of the Jewish community before the film even came out.

...>No, folks, "The Passion" is not Anti-Semitic, it's Anti-Hollywood.

It took 15 years for a star of Mel Gibson's clout to find a distributor! The others just didn't think it would make any money. After all there are no teenage leads, no hit men as protagonists, no gratuitous nudity for those of us who can't get any, and worst of all it's 'religious'-- which Hollywood equates with 'cornball' and box office death.

It would seem that the power brokers in town are way out of touch with the public. And this, boys and girls is the real controversy.

mediocre, gratuitously violent. deserves an R rating
At times, almost unwatchable for its over-the-top savagery, this film will leave most viewers with a profound impression.

The acting was quality without being Oscar-worthy. Pontius Pilate came across as being a man of conscious who capitulated to the will of the Jewish leaders, who in the film, demanded that Jesus be crucified. He seemed uneasy in discharging duties that would cause harm to Jesus. Was this historically accurate? I don't know.

Gibson wanted to hammer home the point of Jesus' suffering while almost glossing over Jesus' teachings in flashbacks.

The Roman soldiers were portrayed as being ignorant, imbeciles who enjoyed torturing people. The Jewish leaders were portrayed as being bloodthirsty.

This film is not anti-semitic but I can see why some Jews would feel uncomfortable after watching it. I wouldn't recommend this film for young children or anyone, regardless of how strong their faith is, who doesn't want to see the horrific, flesh ripping torture of a human being.

Could Mel Gibson have his point without the endless mind-numbing torture scenes? Others may answer this question should this film spur the creation of other films about Jesus.

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