Note to reader: This article was submitted to farafina-online.com for publication on May 31, 2004. Putting it here for my own records.
Enjoy.
Joybringer.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
It's been said that there are as many of them as there are the number of seconds that have passed since the beginning of time. Now imagine two tears for each of them, a tear for each eye. That’s a lot of tears.
This word picture doesn’t even begin to do justice to the way the angels must have felt 2000 years ago, when Jesus was crucified. I can just see them now, looking down at the spectacle, wings folded, tears welling up in their eyes.
I’m no angel but I can definitely relate after seeing The Passion of The Christ (“TPOTC”). I cried, and I know I wasn’t the only one that shed a tear or two. But then again, I’ve always been a bit of a softy, and am prone to a teary eye when watching movies that fall within the “mushy” category. “The English Patient”, for example, had me wailing better than Bob and the Wailers combined ever did on their most spiritual piece. I exaggerate, but you get the point.
Now, having confirmed that I’m predisposed to getting emotionally attached to emotionally charged movies, let me then state the obvious – I will not be writing an impartial, objective review. Nope. This review is biased, and I feel no shame in admitting that. Nous allons!
TPOTC clocked in at 2 hours 6 minutes in all. It felt like 30 minutes. Mel Gibson has definitely grown as a director. He shows sides of the last days Jesus (pronounced “Ye-sua”) spent on Earth – prior to his resurrection, that is – in ways that’ll show you just how the way we’ve been brought up to see Jesus is totally lacking in reality!
There’s lots of blood in the movie, so I don’t advice taking the younger ones along (unless they’re the sort that grew up on “Doom”, “Zombie Flesheaters” and the like – yuck!). Some critics have criticised the movie for this very fact, claiming it’s too bloody, too violent, and too grotesque to be deep and meaningful.
Case in point: "...Gibson's film is more of a study in brutality than an exploration of Christ's message"...E! Online
They miss the point.
We’ve painted the pain Jesus went through with rosy colours, perhaps in a bid to make smaller what we say we believe he went through for us. Wake up call!
See this movie, and then imagine each seizure, each searing pain, can be traced to a sin you’ve committed. Then go out there and intentionally sin right after seeing this movie. You’ll be a hard one, I tell you!
From the opening shot (in which we see Jesus praying in the garden) to the closing shot (can’t spoil it totally for you now can I?), Mel Gibson and his cast weave a tale we know so well, yet know so little. It got to a point where I had to remind myself to set aside my expectations and be re-introduced to the story afresh.
All this is not to say that TPOTC is perfect though. It is good – quite excellent, actually – but it still left me wanting.
I’ll explain. I appreciate movies that have an easily identifiable, central theme/philosophy. “American Beauty” for example – which by the way is one of those movies the pro critics and I agree on – left me with a desire to appreciate life more. “The English Patient” left me with an idea of the power of love. “Matrix”, oh my goodness, don’t get me started…let’s just say that flick took it to the next level in terms of how conditioned we human beings really are.
While I was really drawn into TPOTC, it left me with no “thump on the table”, no clear message, no clear idea/philosophy to take away from the movie. It was not a religious experience. Not that I expected this movie to give me all the answers – life’s not that simple – but I did it expect it to get me asking the right questions, to get me started thinking along a deeper part.
Perhaps I’m just being too philosophical. Perhaps TPOTC could never have done more than it did (especially as it does what it does so well).
This movie tells a story known to half the earth’s population (A conservative estimate of the number of Christians on the planet puts the figure at 2 billion out of 6. I think it’s safe to say another billion have heard the story, if only for Christmas day).
It tells an all too familiar tale in a way that shows how we’ve conveniently distanced ourselves from the reality of Jesus’ death. We claim he died for us, yet complain when we’re brought face to face with what he had to go through to secure our salvation.
We’re a pain denying culture. I take that back – no, I add to it – we’re also a reality denying culture. We’re like the proverbial ostrich that sticks its head in the sand, wishing its problems would go away. And then we romanticize our common delusion with shared fallacies and deceptions – we have to ride the best cars, regardless of the fact that our roads are more potholes than tarmac. I digress.
Enough of my tirade and ramblings. Go see the movie. Fold your wings (for the angels among us). Cry (for all the others).
