Posted on 02/24/2004 11:28:50 AM PST by Liz
All the world is waiting for the powerful message in Mel Gibson's ground-breaking film, The Passion of Christ.
Post here your own personal reactions after seeing the film set to open tomorrow, Ash Wednesday. Passion has previewed in some areas.
Also post reviews and pertinent comments from your state and area's newspapers and publications.
I agree...At the time when He needed reassurance from God's Spirit to get Him through....
Then at the end when the Lord cried out and ask "Father why have you forsaken Me." I believe at that moment every sin in the world was poured out on Jesus and God could not be in the presence of it...
Question. How does the Hollywarped crowd explain a blockbuster without sex and violence and political correctness?
Answer. They can't.
Oh, yes they can. We all have martyr complexes and thrive on scenes depicting mutilation.
Holocaust Denial and Antisemitism hiding behind a religious cloak ...
Only someone stupid, evil and/or mental ill would attack children for their parents' shortcomings. I have known a number of person who came from bad homes yet grew into honorable and successful adults.
For indeed, Jews ask for signs, and Greeks ask for wisom;The focus of all history is the sacrifice on the cross. Everything from Genesis 1 through Revelation 22 brings us to the sacrifice. We have all sinned, and there is one and only one remedy. Innocent blood must be spilled. Animal sacrifices gave some temporary payment, but only because they were a type of the cross, the Lamb of God that was slain from the foundation of the world.
but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness.
but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
...
And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
Luke 23:34
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Revelation 21:5
"Behold, I make all things new!"
These verses make up the heart of "The Passion." You may have heard them before, but you will never hear them in the same way again.
Theater doesn't reflect a culture as much as precede its future direction. Who controls the theater determines the future direction of society. Why? Because the theater is the greatest of all the arts, in that it so closely imitates life itself, and engages every aspect of human sensibility. For good or evil, the sights and sounds of the theater directly affect the soul. For the theater goer, intellectual examination of what has been taken in may or may not follow. Therefore, it is critical for the health of a society that what its members take in through the theater be moral and uplifting.
At a time when the arts seem to have been captured by the demonic, we have been graced with a movie that conforms with the proper object of the medium. Most importantly, the subject matter of the movie is the greatest story ever told. Secondly, but just as important for the movie's success in changing hearts, the artistic quality of the film is of the highest order.
This movie is brutally honest. The characters are real. The setting is real. The dialogue is real. The pain is real. At no time was I conscious of watching a dramatization. Within a few minutes of the film's opening I felt that I was there with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. I was there with Him at the scourging. I was there with Him at the crowning of thorns. I was there when they crucified my Lord.
There are several keys to the films realism, perhaps the most important being the use of the original languages. Another key is the characterizations of Jesus and Mary. Both are convincing. Unlike previous Jesus movies, Jim Caviezal captured Jesus' dual nature perfectly. Jesus is neither too human nor too otherworldly. Mary's portrayal surpassed my expectations. In her there is no sentimentality. She courageously and stoicly embraces her cross. In one stunning scene Satan moves along the route to Calvary, mirroring Mary's movements. Mel Gibson is contrasting God's two greatest creations, Mary and her evil counterpart. Perhaps for this reason Mel cast a woman as Satan. The androgenous figure is striking not so much for its malevolence but for the fact that Satan appears as a shell of a being, something that once was but is no more.
Further heightening the realism are the many crowd scenes. The camera alternately takes the viewpoint of the crowd and the central characters. This is most effective when Jesus is carrying His cross. The camera alternately places you in Jesus' position and then in the crowd. I could see and feel myself in both positions, sometimes as an innocent victim and sometimes as Jesus' antagonist, sometimes as a helpless bystander and sometimes as someone going along with the crowd.
Perhaps this is what makes the film so effective, in that it forces you to take a hard look at yourself and your own life. This lesson is driven home with the portrayal of Simon of Cyrene. In Gibson's rendition, Simon is singled out by a Roman soldier to help Jesus carry the cross. At first unwilling and proudly indifferent, Simon eventually sympathizes with this man who is being so horribly brutalized. Eventually he summons the courage to defend Jesus against the sadistic soldiers. He is transformed by Jesus' suffering.
But what above all sets this movie apart from all other depictions of Jesus' life is its unflinching portrayal of Jesus' brutalization. Jesus is sadistically beaten with canes, and then with a flagrum by His Roman captors. It's very difficult to watch. I wanted to shout, "God, make it stop." And then when it appeared that Jesus was going to be released by the torturers, they began beating Him again. The effect is stunning. It breaks through your emotional defenses. It breaks you. "No greater love has a man..." The effect continues through the crucifixion, where the words, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" take on new meaning. This is superhuman, supernatural love. It is a transcendent moment, one of many in the greatest movie ever made.
Sounds like "Beavis and Butthead" syndrome. That's frightening. Pray for them.
FR MOVIE REVUE: THE PASSION OF CHRIST (Thread 2)
As always, we will try to the best of our ability to answer your forum quesions. Thanks, AM
Actually, my funeral comment was more about the people outside not the ones coming out. Besides myself, there were about 20-25 other people either standing around, buying tickets etc.
To a person every single conversation stopped as the other people exited the theater. It was literally one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed. I liken it to a movie actually, how the sound will suddenly stop at a key point. That's what this was, it was as if the entire world went silent for about 15 seconds.
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