Passion of The Christ

You may have seen Passion of The Christ, the Mel Gibson blockbuster, in the theaters. But have you bought your own copy? It's out on DVD - Own it now! Plot Synopsis: The Passion of the Christ focuses on the last twelve hours of Jesus of Nazareth's life. The film begins in the Garden of Olives where Jesus has gone to pray after the Last Supper. Jesus must resist the temptations of Satan. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, Jesus is then arrested and taken within the city walls of Jerusalem where leaders of the Pharisees confront him with accusations of blasphemy and his trial results in a condemnation to death. Please read our review ofThe Passion of the Christ, below. To own your own copy of the movie, click on this ad for the Full Screen edition, or click on the ad in the review for the Definitive Edition.

To Relive This PASSION OF THE CHRIST by Lynda Rey   3/25/07 I almost hate to admit it, but the first thing that crosses my mind when I hear about that movie is the grotesque violence. I've seen several movies in the past that have depicted the life of Jesus, from his birth to his death to his resurrection, but never before have I seen a movie based solely on his last hours alive, mainly the gruesome brutality of those last moments. I can't help but cringe when I think of what I saw on the screen, but more importantly, what the main character, Jesus himself, must have gone through. Whether people want to believe in it all or not, the very fact that a person would be willing to go through a torturous death for the sake of everyone else is a pretty powerful declaration. One would have to have a heart of ice to not be moved by it all in some way. Violence aside, you still have superb realism and fantastic acting from actor James Caviezel, who so brilliantly brought to life the person who is Jesus Christ. The usage of a foreign language--in this case Aramaic, Latin, and Hebrew--was actually icing on the cake for me. It truly made me feel like I was witnessing history unfold on screen and made it more believable. Even though the violence is what tends to dominate my memory of this movie, I still try to keep in mind what was beyond the violence. Yes, it's a difficult task to overlook the gore, since director Mel Gibson makes a point to remind the viewing audience just what sort of agony Christ went through, but it's not impossible. There's more behind this passion of Christ than meets the eye, even if one has no biblical knowledge of the actual crucifixion. Cleverly, and of course beautifully, we're reminded of Christ's humanity throughout the film, both in his life and his death, from his days working as a carpenter to the very blood he spilled as a teacher. And it's his humanity that makes his death far more potent, I think. He felt pain and knew what it was, but he willingly endured it without backing down and we all know he very well had the power to flee from it all. And that, to me, is a whole different sort of passion. It's a love in its purest form, selfless and steadfast. This gives humanity worth, though even I can sometimes wonder, "How much worth it can we possibly be?" It's nearly impossible to calmly watch this film. I myself felt both anger and sadness, both in extreme measures. I remember thinking back in the day after I saw the film: "There's just no way anyone won't be affected by this." I still believe that to this day, nearly 3 years after its original theatrical release, people will be stirred. Whether it be anger, hatred, or sadness, something will be stirred in people's hearts. You don't even have to believe to feel that lump in your throat as you try and hold back the tears. Not only was I moved by Christ's unstoppable love, but I also was loving the depiction of Mary his mother, and how torn up she must have been inside to see her son endure such pain while knowing she was unable to save him. It's almost "easy" to forget about Mary, who was brought to life by actress Maia Morgenstern, but this movie makes sure not to let that happen. I believe that Mary's presence in the film is yet another reminder, one that I never realized I needed, of just how human Jesus was, just how much on our level he willingly placed himself. I'm still touched by one particular scene where Jesus fell beneath the weight of his cross, and all Mary could see was a flashback of her young son tripping and falling to the dirt. Motherly instinct tells her to go to him, to save him, to protect him, but this time, there was nothing she could do even when she wanted to. Not only was I in awe of the depth of this film and its biblical origin, I was also quite impressed with the depiction of Satan and his role in the events taking place. It's still hard to believe that a woman by the name of Rosalinda Celentano brought this evil being to life. But the end result was perfect and I can see why a woman was summoned for the role of Satan. No one can bring elegance to the screen as well as a woman can, and her natural beauty had a role all its own. Even with the subtle changes to her face to give her a few masculine traits, you still feel drawn to her, almost as if it's the real world. Even the Bible itself depicts Satan's schemes, always trying to entice people into his world. Satan emanated a sort of "gentle" vibe all throughout the film, luring you into his trickery with his penetrating stares. One could imagine a confrontation with such a creature being quite similar to how it was in 'Passion' - knowing he's evil, but yet not being able to look away. It's almost difficult not to give in to the taunts he pours out in the moments of weakness, as he did with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane during the first scene of 'Passion.' That's exactly how Satan is depicted and it was perfect in its own right. I don't believe that would have been as easily pulled off if he wasn't portrayed by a woman in all her natural femininity to "lure" you in. As beautiful a film as this was, though, I remember I couldn't watch it a second time and I never did, even when we purchased the original release on DVD. It was beautiful but yet too painful. There was a poor absence of Special Features on the original release, and if there's one thing I wanted more of, it was how this awesome movie came to life. I never expected another release, even despite the rumors. Then after a random trip to the store, I spotted it: The Passion of the Christ (Definitive Edition). Without much thought, I purchased it, and am glad I did. Complete with 2 discs, as any DVD release should be, this definitive edition has a lot more to offer. It includes the original theatrical release as well as an edited version, which thankfully eliminates several of the more gruesome scenes of Christ's physical beatings. It makes the film's violence a little more bearable. And of course there's the nice supply of Special Features, which, in comparison to the original release, are almost exploding off the disc. Not only am I grateful to have had the opportunity to view this movie, even despite the immense violence, I can now happily embrace all the efforts that were put into such a memorable and highly successful film. I for one am both happy and proud to be a believer in its message. Lynda is 25 years old, lives in Indiana, and hopes to one day pursue a career working with animals. She enjoys many forms of self-expression, including art, poetry, and writing, which is one of the latter additions to her list of hobbies. Comments

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