Review of The Passion of the Christ (2004) by The V — 18 Apr 2014

Concerning with the last hours of Christ where he was repeatedly tortured and eventually crucified, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ is an extremely violent account of those final moments before his eventual death and resurrection. The movie itself is a tough one to sit through without feeling the pain of what he's going through on the screen. The words Torture Porn have been thrown at this movie because of it's violence, but in the case of The Passion of the Christ it is absolutely essential in order to understand the tragic suffering that befell him. Cupped between such moments of violence are moments that bring a bit of melancholy to these whole proceedings. Brief flash backs of Jesus with his friends, his mother Mary and his words of wisdom before he ends up taking the destined path that is laid before him.

Many have slammed this film for being just a by the book presentation of those last hours, but I get the feeling it's much more than that because of how much detailed is put into it. Mel Gibson really had a passion for this story and wanted to present it very closely. Whether you believe in Jesus or God or whatever you can not escape this movie's powerful way of using violence as a means to present an artistic statement on what Jesus must have went through.

When this film was released back in '04, it received a lot of controversy over some inaccuracies and what some have considered anti-semitism. Gibson himself poured loads of his own cash into making this film and when it was released earned more at the box office than what was put into it. It's not only the most successful independent movie ever made, but also the most highest grossing foreign language film as well.

Overall, there is passion here that may offend, but there is love as well that lasts eternal. (Yeah, yeah, whatever.).