This is both more and less than a movie. In one sense, it is less a movie than the heartfelt prayer of a gifted film-maker. In another it is a narrow and harrowing perspective on a story that, no matter what your faith, is bigger than any attempt to portray on film.
Mel Gibson has made this movie to convey his view of the last hours of the life of Jesus. It is not history and not drama, though it has elements of both. It is not a full retelling of the Gospels or of the life of Jesus. It is a personal and spiritual statement about the view that the suffering Jesus endured in the last hours of his life demonstrated his divinity and his sacrifice in taking on the sins of the world.
According to the film's website, the use of the word "passion" is taken from the Latin for suffering, but is also used to mean a profound and transcendent love.
Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Ch...
Christ before Pontius Pilate, Mihály Munkácsy, 1...
Antonio Ciseri's depiction of Pontius Pilate prese...The theme of the movie is Jesus' statement, "You are my friends, and the greatest love a person can have for his friends is to give his life for them."
I give this movie a "B" because I have to assign a grade. But truly, there is no way to rate this movie as one would the usual multiplex fodder or quirky indie. Without being a theologian or an historian, all I can do is respond as a movie critic, and urge those who want to see it to use it as an opportunity to consider their own faith and the way that reactions to the film highlight our global struggle for peace and understanding.
As a movie, it has great strengths. It is a respectful and reverent treatment of a story that has probably been...
Nice review
I myself wrote a review of the 'Passion of Christ' But i wrote mine for a newspaper and had to be 2000 words! I liked your start paragraphy stating how you felt abou the movie and how Mel Gibson felt to. Nice job!
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