Mel Gibson is a brilliant actor and an equally skilled director. His film The man without a face, where he directs and acts with profound sensitivity, moved me beyond words. So did Braveheart. The Passion of Christ also aroused my interest primarily because it was a film made by Mel Gibson.
As a non-Christian not so well versed with the Bible, I am afraid this review will be more subjective than a treatise covering historical, political and religious aspects of the film.
The film opens with Christ praying in the garden of Gethsemane. The darkness in the opening scene builds up an atmosphere of fear and apprehension. The same is evident from the expressions of Peter and other disciples of Christ. We hear him ask the Lord, ?Can one man suffer for all mankind? Can one man take so much pain?? He prays to hold on to his faith as we all do in our moment of extreme distress.
Satan is there, trying to lure Christ away from the path of Truth. But Christ crushes the serpent under his feet in extreme anger. Such repulsion and rage in Christ is rare indeed! So is the female Satan. Does such a concept exist or did Gibson take a creative licence?
The film shows Jesus as a mortal being holding on to his beliefs with absolute conviction. He suffers pain, sorrow, thirst and humiliation just like any other man. What sets him apart is his inexorable ?passion?-- the belief that he is sent by the Lord to save humanity from suffering. This undying obsession and relentless conviction gradually transforms Jesus the man into Jesus the Christ.
When Pilatus tells Jesus that he has the power to save him, how confidently does Jesus reply that none can save him if the Father does not will so! The extremely tortured man looks into the eyes of the Roman Governor and speaks with such confidence that even Pilatus wonders whether there IS some truth in what he says!
Christ is accused of blasphemy and is put through inhuman torture. The flogging has been graphically depicted with Jesus crying and trembling in pain as any other mortal. Maintaining the faith that he is the one to save mankind under so much suffering is what makes him godly. Again, when he says that loving someone who hates you is the real love, immediately a chord strikes in our heart. We understand the magnitude of the difficult task. When the man carrying the cross with him comes in contact with Jesus? passion, he sees Jesus no more as an ordinary convict but a man with extraordinary faith.
The film?s camera work reminds one of Braveheart, with the same use of grandeur and slow motion. When Mary watches Jesus stumbling over while carrying the cross, the treatment of a flashback of Mother Mary running anxiously to help a young Jesus falling to the ground, inevitably creates a lump in one?s throat.
All the characters acted well though special mention must be given to James Caviezel as Jesus Christ, Maria Morgenstern as Mary and Hristo Shopov as Pilatus.
The choice of Middle Eastern tunes is definitely a positive aspect of the film. So are the make up and special effects. Gibson did a brilliant job in representing the crucified Christ in accordance with the image of Christ embedded in the minds of people all over the world.
Perhaps the only flaw in the film is the overdoing of violence. Any man undergoing the amount of beatings shown in the film is sure to collapse that very day, forget about him standing erect as Jesus does later before the assembly of Jews and Pilatus! I think Gibson was carried away a bit while shooting these scenes.
The Jews are shown ruthlessly torturing Jesus whereas Pilatus is shown as the one more rational and just. But if history corroborates the fact, I don?t understand how Gibson can be accused of being anti-Semitism by showing it. Because in that case, what will we say about all those films depicting Nazi atrocities during Hitler?s regime?