The Passion of the Christ

The Passion of the Christ, directed by Mel Gibson, is a graphic depiction of the last twelve hours in the life of Jesus. Although Christ (Jim Caviezel) is shown to have healing powers, the Jewish leaders see him as a trouble-maker and turn him over to the Roman authorities on contrived charges of treason against Caesar. An oft-told story, it is Gibson's vision to focus on the horrific suffering Christ endured on the day of his crucifixion.

Since religion has always been an impassioned issue liable to start wars, the needless controversy surrounding this picture arose before principal shooting had begun. The majority of the film's Jewish characters, caught up in mob mentality, are portrayed as self-righteous and uncaring. The Romans fare worse, with most of them behaving like bloodthirsty boors. Yet, history cannot be rewritten to placate sensitive individuals. If anyone today proclaimed themself a Messiah, would we not condemn him in exactly the same manner?

Sadly, the trite screenplay (co-written by Gibson) assumes we know the antagonists' motivation, and barely touches upon Jesus' teachings of love and forgiveness. It chooses instead to glorify the barbaric atrocities of our race in lengthy scenes of blood-drenched torture.

As the copper-eyed prophet, the usually engaging Caviezel has little to do but gasp in pain, while the two Marys drift through the draining story in tears. Pontius Pilate is depicted as a reluctant judge and Herod a fop, while the sporadic appearance of a female but deep-voiced Satan seems peculiar and out of place.

Gibson also co-produced the film, which was lensed in southern Italy because of its resemblance to ancient Israel. The stained teeth and coarse clothing give the film convincing period detail, but the visuals are drab and without colour. The entire movie is also spoken in the acerbic Aramaic language and accordingly subtitled. This proves to be only mildly distracting -- the rhythmic score and too-frequent sound effects of twittering birds are far more annoying.

Like Michael Cimino's infamous Heaven's Gate, The Passion of the Christ will prove to be Gibson's artistic folly. It lacks the beauty and marvel of past biblical epics, offering no entertainment or educational value. Further, there are far too many slow-motion sequences that merely accentuate the slow-moving narrative. If those opposed would simply ignore rather than protest, the film would come and go soon enough. But the curious will carry it for the first few weeks, until interest dies down and this pointless and uninspiring film is laid to rest in a sepulchre. One can only pray there will be no resurrection this time around. Rating: 2 out of 10.