I do not consider myself to be sensitive to violence but I was so affected by the flogging of Jesus scene, I was nearly physically sick. I have been haunted by it since and have put the dvd in the bin so as not to subject anyone else to this unnecessary brutality. I could not believe what I was seeing and it just went on and on.
I was appalled. Its by far the most gruesome film I have seen in my life. I understand that Mel Gibson wanted the film to be hard hitting and as close to reality as possible but it needs to be watchable to get the message across. Way over the top and certainly not for the faint hearted!
The only good thing I can say is the acting was certainly believable. I cannot comment further as I would not have been able to watch the film in full even if I had wanted to.