Okay. I've decided to give this blog a try. Basically it will be my thoughts on a movie I have just seen. It may be a good movie or a bad movie. It may be a new movie or an old movie. The rating system will be explained in detail later on.
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
United States of America
2004
Director: Mel Gibson
Writers: Benedict Fitzgerald, Mel Gibson
Starring: James Caviezel (tiny part in
The Rock), Monica Bellucci (the French guy's girl in
The Matrix: Reloaded and
Revolutions), Claudia Gerini, and Maia Morgenstern
Alot of people are talking about this movie. I didn't really want to see it all that badly but I felt like I needed to in order to understand what the big deal was. To summarize, here is why the deal is so very big. The movie is based almost word for word on the Bible. The Bible has some parts in it that can easily be construed as portraying Jews as Jesus killers. This is the first cause of the big deal: alot of people view this movie as anti-Semetic. Also, the movie is very bloody. Basically, Jesus is tortured throughout. There is alot of blood and sharp things piercing flesh. That is the second reason: the gore.
Let me set a few things straight, here. This movie does not stray from the Bible all that much. In the Bible, the Jewish high priests want Jesus to die. In the Bible, Jesus is tortured in systematic and brutal Roman ways. If you have a problem with these two facts because they're not PC and they make you uncomfortable, go piss up a rope.
If you don't know the story to this movie, you can't call yourself a good Christian. It starts off with Jesus' passion in the garden of Gesthemane in Jerusalem. Judas gets paid 30 silver pieces to betray Jesus. Roman soldiers come and arrest Jesus and take him to the Jewish high priests. They question him and Jesus says he is the son of God. They accuse him of blasphemy and send him to the Roman governor of Palestine, Pontius Pilate. Pilate sends him to the King of Galilee, Herod. Herod sends Jesus back to Pilate who is pressured into ordering Jesus' execution. Jesus is then thoroughly tortured and is crucified. The end (*****SPOILER*****) is Jesus sitting in his tomb all alive and stuff. All through the movie there are flashbacks to different parts of the Bible. The last supper is featured quite a bit and the "cast the first stone" story is shown as a flashback of Mary Magdeline.
The movie is entirely in Armaic (the language Jesus spoke), Latin, and Hebrew. There are subtitles and you will get used to reading them and won't really miss anything. The scenes with the most action have little or no dialogue so you can watch the action. The scenes with the most dialogue have little or no action, so you can read the subtitles.
