For the rest of us, however, "The Passion" is a film we should all watch, every year, for the rest of our lives - lest we take it for granted, lest we forget. How much more so should they therefore not be seeing it - especially when the story is this graphic. The Bible, which is written on an eighth-grade level, assumes that most children younger than 13 will not be reading the story for themselves. My husband, a biblical scholar, suggests a guideline for parents. And it continues throughout the film, relentlessly. Just when you think it cannot get any worse, it does. Harder still is the knowledge that this story is true and that it happened to someone I know personally. The unflinching brutality of the Roman soldiers is historically accurate, and it is no wonder that the word "excruciating" shares the same root as "crucifixion." The beatings and torture are savage - more so than anything I have ever seen onscreen. It is also an important film, an epic, but it is not for children. Suddenly, the cost of my salvation is personal, very personal. Yet, it is equally impossible to turn away. My tears, as well as those of the seasoned film critics sitting around me, were copious. One stretches his arm, dislocating a shoulder - and laughing. Finally, at the top of the hill, Jesus crawls onto the cross, where merry soldiers drive nails into his palms and ankles. A reluctant Simon of Cyrene steps in to help. Through the streets and up the hill to Golgotha, a blood-covered, stumbling Jesus carries his cross, as soldiers continue to beat him and the crowds continue to mock him. Hounded by the Jewish leaders for a death sentence and fearful of a revolt, Pilate finally relents, washing his hands to deny all responsibility. Unwilling to condemn Jesus to death, Pilate sends him off for a brutal beating at the hands of his sadistic soldiers. The film moves through the various trials, with the accused being mocked and judged by the high priests of Israel, then Pilate, then Herod, then Pilate again. Peter lops off an ear Jesus restores it, and the stunned Roman guard sits unmoving, wondering what has just occurred. An arrival, a kiss, a betrayal, a tussle. Speaking in Aramaic, Jesus prays to his heavenly father for release from the task that awaits him, even as his disciples slumber and a satanic figure taunts him in the Garden of Gethsemane. But, unlike most, Gibson also has the power - and the money - to bring that message to the rest of the world. Like so many others, Mel Gibson has found his answer in the person of Jesus Christ.
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And when we finally do, just how do we find the answer, in a world where the flow of information - along with the industry that feeds our minds, day and night - is controlled by those who so often deny its very existence?
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It's a question we must all ask, at least once in our lives. "Veritas," mutters Pontius Pilate, in Mel Gibson's epic film, The Passion of the Christ. Rating: R (for sequences of graphic violence)Īctors: Jim Caviezel, Maia Morgenstern and Monica Bellucci Theatrical Release Date: February 25, 2004