The Passion of the Christ is currently the most talked about film. I’ve seen a few crucifixion movies and none comes closer to this. The Passion doesnt allow you to be indifferent. If you had seen the movie, you surely might have felt something about it. I think the kind of lesson you draw from the movie depends on your religious belief.
James Caviezel plays a very powerful role as Jesus Christ. He stays calm and looks very peaceful during the ten minute lashing drama and the subsequent crucifixion scene. Blood and flesh were flying around during that scene and you can see the soldiers wiping them off from their faces.
Roman leadership is surprisingly portrayed as guardians of justice and their soldiers are shown as barbarians. A balancing act, eh?
According to me, two things stand out. The first and foremost is the violence and the second is the hypocrisy of the priests. The High Priest was totally consumed by the hatred for Jesus. For he thought Jesus would be a big obstacle for his control over the people. I dont think there is any anti-semitism here. It is simply a power game being played out in Judea during the first century.
People with position of power mostly abuse it. It was true 2000 years ago. It is true even now. I guess the Priest Council (sanhedrin) lobbying the superpower of the day to do something that they were not keen about has a parallel in today’s world! :-)
There is a Latin quote by Cicero that says ’’summum ius summa iniuria’’ meaning - ’’The more law, the less justice’’. Probably he might have come to that conclusion after watching sanhedrin in action!
Had Jesus actually received the amount of punishment as portrayed by the movie, he would have died atleast three times before being crucified. After a point, the violence becomes a major irritant. Gibson had made the movie-goers drink blood by gallons from a pump rather than drops from a communion cup.
I would have loved had Jesus, after resurrection, walked straight into the Roman camps and thrashed those guys thoroughly. He wouldn’t do that, for he is Jesus! We are so used to Hollywood stars thrashing the aliens and saving the Planet Earth! No such populism here!
Gibson wanted to send a message to the world that Christ died for people’s sin. I think that message totally got lost in the violence. The fact that Jesus suffered is strongly conveyed by the movie. Unless you are familiar with the scriptures, you wouldn’t know, by seeing this movie, why he suffered so much! No scene in the film emphasized this moot point strongly.
The other highlight of the movie is the cast. There are many unfamiliar faces. It helped the viewer to focus less on the cast and more on the story! Overall, an excellent movie and a must-watch if you can stomach the violence!