By His wounds we are healed...Love is sacrifice.

''You are My friends. There is no greater love than for a man to lay down his life for his friends. I cannot be with you much longer, My friends. You cannot go where I am going. My commandment to you after I am gone is this: Love one another. As I have loved you, so love one another.''

A film detailing the final hours and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

James Caviezel: Jesus

From the enigmatic beginning to the climactic credits, Passion of the Christ demands full control of ones body, mind and emotion. So visually spectacular and physically effecting, Passion had me literally convulsing and writhing in uncomfort. Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, starring Jim Caviezel, is a retelling of the last hours of Jesus Christ. Believe me when I say that this production is more than a story, more than a movie, this film can only be described as an ethereal spiritual experience.

This Passion of the Christ is fantastically brutal, gory and sadistically torturous. From beginning to end, blood drenched flesh is smeared across the screen in a ghastly fashion, putting even SAW or Hostel films to shame. Gibson defends his incredibly graphic depiction by noting that the bible states Jesus was beaten beyond recognition. I assure you, beaten beyond recognition hardly describes soft tissue being torn to the bone as blood drips into puddles on the ground. The violence shown in this film is unlike other Hollywood violence - it's uncomfortably personal, it's in effect unforgiving. The scenes are moving, the violence perhaps repetitive, that the chapters appear to take place in your very mind; imagine before you a man being torn to bloody shreds; you're powerless to intervene, you're reduced to a spectator.

''You have heard it said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. For if you love only those who love you, what reward is there in that?''

As any appreciator of the finer things in film might see, The Passion of the Christ is artistic genius. Mel Gibson stated that his film follows the last 12 hours of Christ in accordance to the Gospel, and although biblical scholars have confirmed this to be true, it is also true that a certain artistic license was taken to particular moments in the story. Nothing anti-biblical was added, but inside a sense deep meaning was inserted through symbols and actions not actually recorded in the gospels. This artistry serves to aid the story and engage the audience - artistically and culturally, expect nothing less that a film superbly crafted. Set your expectations high, this one can handle them.

Addressing accusations of anti-Semitism against this movie: its going to rekindle a hate for Jews, its depicting the Jewish leaders of the day as monsters, and its showing that the Jews were solely responsible for the death of Jesus. I trust that once the movie is seen by the general public all of these statements will fade into memory; this Passion's greatest defense will be itself. It is true that the Jews were involved in the crucifixion of Christ, just as it's said in the bible for nearly two thousand years. Hearing this story doesn't swell up a hatred for the Jewish race, no more than watching Schindlers List makes one hate current day Germans. This film is going to be many things to many people - anti-Semitic is not one of them.

No matter your personal background, no matter your skin colour or race, no matter your beliefs on the afterlife or views on heaven, this Passion needs to be seen. The art, the culture, and the magnificence - see The Passion of the Christ and you will have seen a glimpse of history spanning over a thousand years ago.

''Forgive them, Father. They know not what they do.''

8/10

Comments

PvtCaboose91

Posted : 3 weeks, 1 day ago at Nov 4 8:54

Amen... I still can't forget this film. So powerful.

Added by Alexander 3 weeks ago on 4 November 2009 08:21