Review of The Passion of the Christ (2004) by Paulf. — 02 Dec 2006

Overall I felt the Passion was a powerful movie that got me all teary eyed several times, especially the love Mary felt for her son and the grief she had to bare watching him suffer the way he did. I was also very impressed that the movie was entirely made in Aramaic and I believe it was Latin the Romans were speaking.

WOW, to trust the general public with subtitles shows a lot of faith in us. I deeply respect the vision and hard work it took to make the movie all that more authentic to the feel of the times. One of my few points of critique were that it seemed overly gory.

I cannot say how historic this was or not but they really laid it on thick. It was pretty much non-stop from his floggings all the way to his death. I was a bit mixed on how they portrayed the Devil. I liked the way they portrayed the devil all bald headed and mysteriously quiet.

It was interesting to see how the demons disguised themselves as children or the Devil using the mother and child as a cloak. However for some reason the devils anguish in hell when Jesus died seemed hokey to me.

I was also disappointed that more wasn't shown after Jesus left the tomb. I thought it a bit hokey you could see right through his hand. I loved the characters of Jesus, Mary, Mary, and Pilot. They really stood out in their performances.

Pilot's reason and compassion but compromisingly worldly position was an interesting conflict. He also was quite existential in his philosophical outlook. In many ways I identified with his character the most.

On a theological interpretive level I thought the way one of the condemned men on the cross and especially Judas was treated in a unduly harsh way. It really seemed Judas was grieved by what he had done.

He even tried to make amends by offering the money back in exchange for Jesus release. Ultimately he did not even take the money (in the movie) and even threw it at the priests feet when they refused to release Jesus.

It also seemed strange that he hanged himself as if I recall rightly in Acts 1:18 Judas falls "headlong" I presume over a cliff. I thought the rope might break and then he would either fall from this or throw himself over a cliff after failing to hang himself.

But the movie makes his hanging seem like the end which seems out of sync with Acts 1:18. My biggest beef with the theology presented is that some are eternally spiritually condemned which IMO is not a compassionate theological positions.

It creates conflict within our souls which says some at some point and to never be loved again. I'm sorry but Godliness is Love, unconditionally. Still the Passion was a powerful movie that I am sure will affect many lives.

It was good that Jesus teachings were flashed back to from time to time. The juxtaposition of his extreme suffering with his teachings on loving ones enemies was quite profound. I just wish there was a bit more of this movie which would have made the experience more well rounded.

But what there was of it I can definitely say this is a good movie to see that I would recommend any adult to see at some point in their lives.