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...seminal work The Gospel According to St. Matthew, the vast majority of the film is committed to imparting the teachings of Jesus, as he serenely strolls from parable to parable uttering the familiar sacred idioms that have now been fully disseminated into secular vocabulary. Pasolini often floods the screen with the prophet’s unassuming, uni-browed visage, his immobile facial features accentuating the authority of his compassionate words. His crucifixion and subsequent resurrection are terse and understated, barely even serving their proper roles as climax and denouement to the film. In this Gospel, Christ is less...
...endless proselytizing about faithfulness to the Gospels, Gibson strays from the narrow Biblical path quite often. Pontius Pilate is given a disproportionate amount of screen time as he agonizes over his decision to crucify Jesus, while such a conflicted Pilate cannot be found in any of the Gospels. In a blatantly inaccurate flashback to Jesus’ youth, we see an enthusiastic carpenter apparently constructing mankind’s first high table, as Mary remarks, “This will never catch on.” And despite his many triumphant experiments (the film wouldn’t be nearly...
...Though violence is the film’s major theme, what resonates from The Passion of the Christ is not necessarily its brutality, but rather the significance of his sacrifice. There are only glimpses of Christ’s words in the movie, and his resurrection is given minimal screen time, but these are provided in such well-timed respites that their resounding impact is ultimately The Passion’s greatest, most awe-inspiring achievement...
...violence is physically exhausting and, ultimately, numbing. Blood streams off the screen far over the level I’ve ever previously seen in film. At one point, a strip of flesh is actually torn off. The crown of thorns is pressed directly into his forehead. During the crucifixion, the nails are driven through Jesus’ flesh. Each instance of Jesus’ pain is lovingly photographed to make sure the audience doesn’t miss any details. Although that might help accentuate the suffering and thus the holiness of Jesus’ experience, by the end, these...
...many problem as I had with the film, it is easy to see how believers can connect with it. This is the story that they have heard over and over again and now it’s acted on screen. Therefore, Christians have a stake in the fates of the characters and the hour-and-a-half run up to Jesus’ death becomes almost unbearable in its detailed depiction of his glory...