There's this story being circulated in the infotainment world that the Pope, after a special viewing of The Passion, made the remark "It is as it was" as an indication of his approval of the movie... This has been denied vigorously by his Vatican officials who claimed that the Pope would never give judgment on, much less endorse, any work of art. Even the Pope's spokesperson himself, has refused to confirm the supposed quote which thus brings us to the next pertinent question: Was the quote just a typical Hollywood fabrication, to evoke positive public interest over a movie that has otherwise been condemned by most critics & declared anti-semitic by various religious factions???
With so much controversy surrounding this movie, I just HAD to see it... no matter how much I doubt Mel Gibson's directing skills. Fortunately, I'm not so hard-pressed to find something good to say about the show...
The Good
The actors and supporting cast were top-notch: Maria Morgenstern and Monica Belluci (as Mary, Jesus' mother, and Mary Magdalene respectively) in particular, deserved plaudits for giving as much depth as that is ever possible to two female characters who spend almost 100% of their screentime either whimpering or snivelling. James Caviezel's portrayal of Jesus wasnt that marvellous but I think he was hampered more by an inadequate screenplay than his own acting abilities. Still, for such a heavyweight role, he carried himself quite well. The cinematography was excellent and I think Mel Gibson's decision to film The Passion totally in Aramaic (a Semitic dialect) was truly inspired; it entrenched the movie with so much realism that it's almost surreal when coupled with the detailed sets and costumes. I think, visually, the movie was nearly flawless and there were more than a few parts where I was literally at the edge of my seat.
The Bad
At the end of the day though, this is still a MEl Gibson movie and I could discern similar traits reminiscent of such epics like Braveheart & the Patriot. The symptoms??? - Forced melodrama, unabashed violence, and a mediocre screenplay. Understandably, the intended effect of the graphic violence was to depict as accurately as possible, the tremendous suffering Jesus went through for the salvation of mankind and I think it worked for me for the first three-quarters of the show... After that, I just felt de-sensitized by the whole thing and concluded that Mel is up to his usual extreme theatrics again. Seriously though, the main problem I had was with the unforgivably sparse screenplay; I just dont think it had enough engaging power. All the characters were almost written by rote and the few flashback sequences were like mere obligations meant to disrupt the interminable onslaught of blood and gore rather than to have any real significance. Frankly speaking, I'd love to see some sort of character development woven into the storyline to make it seem more.. erm.. credible??
My apologies if I sound anti-Christian so far but I assure you I'm not. I just feel that Mel Gibson, who is a traditionalist & against ecumenism, is not really the right guy for the job... Nevertheless, I think The Passion is still a commendable endeavour, a visual spectacle & feast for the eyes, and a faithful (though not perfect) interpretation of the last twelve hours of Christ. And for the record, I feel that the anti-Semitic claims are totally invalid! ~ 3.8/ 5 stars!
