FR MOVIE REVUE: THE PASSION OF CHRIST (post your comments here)

2/24/04 | FR MOVIE REVIEWERS

[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.

[Liz]

A great review here.


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1086484/posts

[TxBec]

Thanks!

[50sDad]

Best friend from college is a gentile who joined the MJ's, and is now a "rabbinical assistant", which is as high as you can rise without actually being Jewish. He has a very deep faith, and a wonderful mission, bringing Grace and the "fulfillment of the Law" to those who will listen. Very cool.

[pax_et_bonum]

(post 710) "On the cross Jesus was separated from God the Father. As someone who knows (Jesus), that is the definition of alone! He was the only human alive ever truly alone. Without that separation, Jesus could not finish His act of atonement for us."

Jesus was human and divine. Because of His human nature, He felt alone, but by His divine nature, He couldn't be separated from the Father because, as He Himself said,"The Father and I are One."

[editor-surveyor]

"Being whipped, scourged, and crucified for us has always turned me off.....what a peculiar way to demonstrate love."

What a peculiar comment!

The wages of sin are Death, what better way could there be to show his love than to give us life by dying in our place?

[luckystarmom]

From what I know Jesus was separated from the Father when Jesus took our sins and went down to Hell. I know I was taught this, but I don't know where in the Bible it talks about this. It is not in the Gospel account of his death, so I don't know if it is talked about elsewhere in the New Testament.

[sfRummygirl]

This is interesting. So some MJ's are not ethnically born Jewish, and some are. Do they have seperate synagogues, or are they all just mixed in with other people in regular congregations?
I am so amazed at how ignorant most 'regular' jews are at knowing MJ's exist.
Jews for Jesus came to our church last year. They were wonderful people. Most of them were born Jewish, and they received Christ later on. They get a bad rap, because they are evangelical, so most Jews consider them as Hare Krishna's. I left that service with respect for them, though.

[MizRiz9]

I have the same problem with Judas too. He was a tool and then lost his life and his soul.

[50sDad]

So some MJ's are not ethnically born Jewish, and some are. Do they have seperate synagogues, or are they all just mixed in with other people in regular congregations?

I don't know the percentage...he may have been the unusual one. It worked for him, and was his calling, and he really enjoyed it.

I am so amazed at how ignorant most 'regular' jews are at knowing MJ's exist.

Probably the old "blind eye". Sadly, they are quite the outcasts most times.

Jews for Jesus came to our church last year. They were wonderful people. Most of them were born Jewish, and they received Christ later on. They get a bad rap, because they are evangelical, so most Jews consider them as Hare Krishna's. I left that service with respect for them, though.

My friend came to my American Baptist Church and gave a great talk on the symbolism in the Seder dinner as to how it points to Jesus. (The bread, broken, hidden away, recovered with great rejocing...the 3-compartment bag that holds the bread as Father/Son/Holy Spirit...the fact that to swab both sides and the top of the doorway with lambs blood to make the Angel of Death pass the house in Passover, you would make the sign of the Cross.)

I'll dig that up and post it on my web page. Let me get back to you.

[Liz]

I think Mel held back some.....

Mel has said he inserted "escape hatches" in the form of cinematic devices so that the audience would not be overwhelmed with the violence being done to Christ.

Also, Mel had an artistic vision that he allowed to shine through. I think Mel's artistry makes the film a moving work of art. As was stated above, some of the visual effects could be lifted right onto a canvas.

[Liz]

Try to catch the History Channel's rerun of its presentation entitled, " Who Killed Jesus." Contains some interesting material.

The HC show emphasized that Jesus infuriated Caiphas by throwing the moneychangers out of the temple. This was Caiphas' reasoning for bringing Jesus before the chief priests of the temple....aside from the subtect that that Jesus was going around preaching things that Caiphas considered a challenge to his own power.

The chief priests had no civil power to get rid of Jesus. They needed Pilate--and Roman law that prevailed---to do that for them.

But Pilate, as a Roman leader, had no say over Jewish (religious) transgressions and had, in fact, said he thought Jesus was innocent. Pilate was also sensitive to his wife begging him to save Jesus.


Caiphas cleverly changed the charge made against Jesus and appealed to Pilate as a Roman politician. Caiphas made Jesus' crime look to be, not a religious issue, but sedition against Rome: Caiphas told Pilate that Jesus said he was king of the Jews---an affront against Rome--which helped Caiphas turn Pilate against Jesus,

Meanwhile the crowds were demanding Christ's head. Pilate tried to assuage the crowds by giving them a choice between Christ or Barrabas. They chose Christ which led Pilate to command the Crucifixion.

[Dustoff45]

I commend Mr. Gibson for a quality presentation.

There really was quite enough realistic violence. I left the theatre wondering if the production team had held back on further showing the agony of the crucifixion, the subject having to press down on their nail-driven feet to take enough weight off of their chest, just to get a breath.

Liz - You are doing a good job

[Dustoff45]

I agree. The man Simon starts as a selfish by-stander, not wanting to get involved.

In the latter scenes, it is as if Simon is carrying both the cross and Jesus, His arm draped over Simon. Simon encouraging Him, "You are almost there"

At Golgotha, Simon does not want to leave. The man was changed sharing the burden with Jesus.

[Liz]

Thanks for your post.

[dandelion]

My review, posted from my "Rotten Tomatoes" Journal...

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/journal_view.php?username=dandelion


THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST: Critic, or Hypocrit?

MOOD: Ripe

MY CURRENT RATINGS: The Passion of the Christ (2004)

Movie:10/10

Mel Gibson has achieved what every film-maker dreams: a cultural, life-changing phenomenon has sprung from his artistic vision. It's too bad that certain critics have chosen to crucify Gibson for daring to make this film.

In criticising the subject matter and the story, those critics have made the quantum leap from critical to hypocritical.

Case in hypocritical point: Jackson could have made LOTR for Britney Spears fans, but he would have been idiot. Instead, Jackson made LOTR for Tolkien fans, and he followed the books as faithfully as possible to make sure that his audience wouldn't be disappointed. He made appropriate modifications of the books to film, and he followed the bloody and sometimes obtuse storyline as well as could be expected. As a result, Jackson's targeted audience - LOTR fans - rewarded him with millions of dollars; the "big-media" critics and Hollywood have rewarded him with Oscar nominations. Not bad for a movie based on a lengthy tome by a Christian with an interest in obscure languages.

Now Mel Gibson has gone and done the same thing with "The Passion of The Christ". Fans of Jesus - some 86% of the U.S. population - are rewarding Gibson with millions of dollars; but the "big media" critics and Hollywood will not reward Gibson with allocades or nominations. Instead, they are shrieking in horror.

The shrill voices of Gibson's detractors are beginning to assume the high-pitched squeal of sausages being nuked in the microwave, and I have a suspicion that they shall explode in the same messy way when the Box Office numbers come in for the Passion.

I rather like that.

I suppose the horror arises from the gore: no, no that couldn't be it - the critics love Tarantino's bloody flicks. Perhaps the shrieks are birthed by the intrinsic morality of the movie; no, scratch that - they praised "Perdition". It HAS to be the anti-Semitic charges against the movie: no, wait - out of fourteen grants, the critically acclaimed Sundance Documentary Fund has no less than FOUR *potentially* Anti-Semitic films on their grant list.

http://www.indiewire.com/biz/biz_030408sundance.html

NOTE: I say *potentially* anti-Semitic, because I have NOT SEEN THE FILMS, SO I CAN'T MAKE A JUDGMENT. I reserve my judgment until after viewing, just like any other critic; no, wait...

In "The Passion of The Christ", Gibson has done what all the dismal, low-quality, high-budget studio flicks could not: he found his audience, and he gave them what they wanted, and more. He made his target audience weep, feel, and think. He made his target audience want to pay their good money to see his film. He didn't change the film to please those who hate the subject matter, for that would be beyond stupid. He didn't try to rewrite the story to match modern-day interpretations. Instead, Gibson has created a powerful, life-transforming story, true to the Author and the audience for which it was intended. In return for this incredible gift, his devoted audience has rented out entire theaters so they may bring families and friends to watch "The Passion of The Christ" in enraptured silence together.

In a savage response to Gibson's transcendent "Passion", closed-minded critics and the Hollywood sycophants that surround them are screaming about a subject matter for which they have nothing but hate. They do not want a real Jesus, or a real experience for the audience which loves Him. They instead would like an apology for all the sins and ugliness which has been wrought in the name of evil disguised as Christianity.

That apology comes from me, now.

But that apology will never be enough for those who, yet again, wish to crucify Jesus for the sins of His followers.

To them I say: please, allow us to practice our faith the way you say it should be practiced. "The Passion of the Christ" shows us how.

To Mr. Gibson, I offer this: you have delivered to your audience what they wanted, and you were faithful to the book. From this fan, I humbly say, thank you.

[Sally'sConcerns]

Why are you so obsessed with Hutton Gibson?

Obsessed is the word, isn't it? I have read through the whole thread and the only distraction I've had is af_vet_1981's obsession with Mel Gibson's father and Mel Gibson repudiating his father. It's not enough that Mel Gibson has said the Holocaust occurred, nothing will satisfy af_vet_1981 until Mel completely disassociates from his father or forces his father to retract his beliefs.

[Liz]

You left nothing out. It's what we all want to say. Thanks.

[Liz]

Agape Press review here.


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1086976/posts

[Dante3]

Nothing would satisfy some people. Some people just want to babble, they have no life. In any case, if it weren't for the media hysteria and all the criticism, which many curious to see what all the whining was about, this film might not have been quite as successful.

[magdalin1]

I will not be able to see the Movie, I am disabled and I didn't get invited. My brother, his wife, my son (14yrs.old), and my neice are going tomorrow to see it. They are all proclaimed Christians, but did not think about inviting me....hhmmm. Anyway, I will call them tomorrow and get their views on the movie...I mean I will play the roll of a reporter. I will ask alot of questions, so I can post a complete review of their reactions. You would think that they would invite me, I can use a walker to hobble into the theater!! Guess, I will have to wait for the VHS!