Journeys with Tim

what's it like to see the Passion

Saturday night I finally saw The Passion of the Christ. I had been waiting for over a year to see what I knew would be the best representation of the passion ever put on film. I was not disappointed. The Passion is the film we have been waiting for our whole lives. A work both cinematically gorgeous and yet faithful to the biblical eyewitness accounts. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning.

I stood in line Saturday night with a ticket given to me by a friend who decided that his twelve-year-old daughter was not ready to see it. Wise choice. We were not alone. Several people from his church, a Greek Eastern Orthodox Church, (who he will swear is the original church), were present including the Church leadership, and older congregates, some who looked like they hadn’t been to a movie in years.

Once inside the theatre darkens. No previews, no commercials, just the Icon Productions logo. It begins. Isaiah 53: …by his wounds we are healed. I begin to think about reviews which mention the amount of violence in the film. I feel my body tighten, my jaw clinch. I am ready. After just five seconds I knew immediately this film is better than just about every other "Christian film" ever made. The quality of the movie clearly raises the bar for excellence in Christian filmmaking.

The visuals are stunning. The entire movie has the look of a renaissance painting, (as intended). I love the slow camera speed when the Roman guard is healed in Gethsemane, when Judas is handed his thirty-pieces of silver and when Satan moves through the crowd.

The androgynous Satan character is perfect. The scene when Satan moves through the crowd parallel with Jesus as he walks the Via Dolorosa gave me chills. Satan moves, slowly, deliberately, hauntingly yet only Mary (and Jesus?) could see him/her. Powerful. Not being Catholic I didn’t realize at the time Mel is showing us the Stations of the Cross, but it’s clearly there.

As soon as Pilate decides to hand Jesus over to be flogged I knew things would get rough. The camera pans slowly over the tools that will be used. I brace in my seat. Again I see Satan, this time carrying an "evil" baby, clearly a mockery of the Madonna and Christ child. After it is over, I see the amount of blood on the floor, the blood splattered on the guards faces. I am amazed someone can go through that and still be alive. In a way I wish Jesus were not beaten so badly so soon, because it makes the beatings to come seem not as jolting. I felt as if the flagellation was worse than the crucifixion.

Jesus then begins to carry his cross and at one point he falls. The most touching scene in the film for me was the flashback to Mary running after a young Jesus falls. A brilliant touch. I loved when Mary comes to Jesus’ aid as his picks up his cross, and he says, Behold, I make all things new.

There is no doubt the actual crucifixion was violent. Watching the nails go though the hand was brutal. Yet even here there are inspiring moments. I see Golgotha from above. Then a single drop of rain. A tear from the Father? Jesus crying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? is another powerful moment.

When the crucifixion scene is over, there is a resurrection of sorts, but the movie is over. It is an intense experience, and there is a lot to talk about.

Gibson clearly makes a lot of theological/spiritual statements in the movie. I wish I knew more about Catholic theology and had read the Anne Catherine Emmerich book Gibson used. After seeing the movie it’s hard to see how such a film could spark so much controversy. The hostility generated is so clearly out of proportion. But in the end it doesn’t matter. Whether people are antagonistic or supportive, the bottom line is that people are talking about the Passion, and are asking about Jesus. Not a bad topic of conversation.

Posted by Tim at March 6, 2004 12:03 PM