The Passion of the Christ

A useful movie for meditation of the 'Way of the Cross'...esp. during Lent. This isn't a pretty movie about the teachings or the life of Jesus...it's about his gory death and ressurection...the title is pretty clear...so no point in blaming the director about a movie that isn't all rainbows and unicorns. It's a historical movie..so why blame the makers of the film, as if the violence is their non-fictional masochistic creation ? Reviewers who think it's a snuff film ,shouldn't go to the movies till they turn 21..okay ? Grow up ,hypocrites !

Most of the reviews I've read that are negative about the film say the same thing. To much horror, to much brutality, to much blood. There should have been more about the message of Jesus. Spoken like true sinners. I just saw the movie Jan. 08. I did not want to see it because I knew how guilty I would feel. I just wanted to know Christ died for my/our sins. That way I could say I was saved but still go ahead and sin but have no guilt. Seeing the way Christ suffered and was scorned by His own people for us really brings it home. To now see just how much God loved us to send His Son to die in that way for us makes us uneasy, defensive, almost angry. We all want to go to heaven, but we think we have time to live the way we want to and get around to Jesus later on. Seeing this movie throws a wrench in your worldly ways. The people that wanted the "Good News", well there's a book out called the bible, and many, many places to hear the word. But like I said your to busy living your worldly life searching for things to fill it. Believe me I know. The time is now, the clock is ticking.

I admire Gibson’s attempt to show us the ‘facts’ of Christ’s Passion,ie just what he had to suffer on our behalf.the physical torment ant torture and scourging with hooked flails.However in concentrating so literally on the brute physical horror with such life-denying certainty,he has cast out the pearl of Jesus’s teaching,the spiritual baby ,the poetry of his grace and the beauty of his News of the Kingdom.All the parables,the Miracles,the prophecies,the love.Gibson is giving us in our secular age a little of the literal fundamentalism lacking from our milk and water creed.A sock in the decadent jaw.Using ancient subtitled languages is his idea of authenticity. However too, he has unbalanced the emphasis and made the Jews the Christ killers of traditional anti-semitism.Pilate gets off lightly.Caphiais is more complex than is represented. Israel was under occupation by the Romans and the Priesthood had to look after the wealthfare and safety of their people.Their idea in the Bible was that it was better for one man to die for the people to survive the terrible wrath of Roman power.Gibson’s vision is so black and white that you remember the anti-semitic drunken rant he made against the police thinking they may have been Jewish ,saying rthey were responsible for all the world’s wars.Also his father is a well known anti-semite.Gibson is as likely to get his Christianty wrong as the largely secularised West and to lash it with a pestilential sensationalism is just as likely to make it lose it’s way. For a better version go to even the BBCs The Passion,on this last week.

I loved this Film it was very well done and James Gavzeil was splendid as Christ. I cried when the beatings started how could I not. This is what Christ went through to save us from our sins. More people should start believeing in Christ and God. The thought of God and Mary haveing to witness their son going through what he did well words cannot describe it. Just because Christ and God cannot be seen does not mean they do not exist. Mel Gibson did excellently.