Her horns are hiding under the hat. And the sunglasses are hiding her evil eye stare.
Posted on 06/28/2003 2:43:08 PM PDT by Brian Mosely
I SAW THE PASSION
So I was at a private screening at Icon Productions yesterday, and got to see a rough cut of The Passion. There were about twelve people in the room, including Mel Gibson, his producing partner Steve and four or five other Icon staffers. After the screening, we talked to Mel and friends for about an hour. (As cool as that was, the quality of the film was such that the celebrity stuff was completely gone from the moment. I can't explain it really, except that it would be like standing in the Sistine Chapel next to, well, someone like Mel Gibson. Great art is a great leveler....) The rough cut we saw obviously didn't have the final score or special effects, and there were many more sub-titles than they will have in the finished film.
So, here's my take...
The Passion is a stunning work of art. It is a devout, act of worship from Mel and his collaborators - in the way that Handel's Messiah and Notre Dame were artistic acts of worship in previous times.
Let's get the controversy out of the way right at the top. The film is faithful to the Gospel, particularly St. John. It is no more anti-Semitic than is the Gospel. There are at least two members of the Sanhedrin who come forward to protest on Jesus' behalf during the sham trial. The Romans are just as guilty of cruelty and hatred against Jesus in the film. And best of all is a final look right into the camera of Mary, holding her dead Son. She is looking at all of us with a kind of , "Look what you've done"/This is for you" expression. A cinematic Pieta worthy of Michelangelo.
Having seen the film now, I can only marvel that the attacks are pretty much demonic. Hopefully, the devil will end up spitefully biting his own tail on this one-- as he does in The Passion by inciting on the executioners of Christ, and thus being complicit in his own ultimate defeat. The Passion is high art. It is the greatest movie about Jesus ever made. In the discussion following the film, Mel and co. were asking us how mainstream theater audiences would react to the film. I told them, "Who cares? What you have here is so much more than just a product to sell. It will live forever, regardless of whether it is a commercial success for you or not."
For those of us who love Jesus, The Passion is devastating to watch. It is so good, I almost couldn't stand it. There is one moment on the way of the cross sequence, in which the whole tragedy unfolding devolves into a vicious riot of hatred between Romans and Jews with the Savior on the ground in the middle of it getting it from both sides. It was so frenzied and terrible, I wanted to run from the room. But then, the film again finds Mary, Jesus's Mother on the sidelines, and her presence gets us through it. Kind of like how Mary's presence helped Jesus get through it, it seemed to me.
The film is lovingly Marian. Mary is perfectly portrayed here. She is contrasted repeatedly with the really super creepy Satan character, who is also a woman (something for the feminist theologians here? heh heh...).
The film is strongly Eucharistic. There is a beautiful juxtaposition of images that cuts from the stripping on Calvary to the unwrapping of the bread to be used at the last Supper. Fabulous stuff.
Every Christian needs to see this film at least once. Just to remember, in our current comfort zones while evil is closing in, the price that was paid for us. On my way home from the screening, I found myself praying in the car, "Jesus, I'm so sorry, I forgot..." How many films have led you to compunction lately? The Passion is a miracle.
I wonder how the nags are going to react to this portrayl. Anyone have picture of the hildebeast with horns?
Her horns are hiding under the hat. And the sunglasses are hiding her evil eye stare.
Especially my wife...
prisoner6
This is why I don't know if I can actually stand to watch this film: the torture sequence in Braveheart was so traumatic that as much as I love the rest of that movie, I still haven't bought it for my collection. I can vividly imagine the horror of REAL crucifixion, and it gags me---it would do so no matter who was on the cross, but the fact that it is the Savior makes it all the more difficult. I would be interested in seeing how Mel does the Garden sequence, though.
1. The ostensibly evangelical Protestant population of America is pretty large, and I think most every one of them is going to see the film at least once.
2. IF Mel holds to his original idea NOT to put in subtitles, there is a large number of this same population which is going to be familiar enough with the gospel accounts of the passion that they are going to view the film as a kind of puzzle: Can I figure out from simply watching the screen when Jesus is saying this or that? Or Peter is saying so and so? and so forth. It is this part of the experience which I think is going to generate tons of repeat viewings by evangelicals.
3. The Catholic population of America is going to see the film, every one of them at least once, since Catholics (much less Christians generally) seldom get much favorable media attention. Mel is going to become a folk hero for conservative to moderate Catholics (though I expect the liberal Catholics are going to sprout a forest of hemorrhoids over this film).
Again, the more Biblically literate among them are going to watch it multiple times, comparing the film as they watch it with the gospel account which they already know (or read just before seeing the film).
What is going to be REALLY INTERESTING is to watch what happens at the Oscars with this film. How deliscious!! If they praise the film, they damn themselves. If they ignore the film, they damn themselves!! Mel is cooking up a conundrum for them comparable to what Jesus often cooked up for the Pharisees.
Mel Gibson's The Passion opens in movie theaters across the US on Ash Wednesday 2004.
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