The Passion of the Christ (***1/2)
review by Jon Waterman

Most of you know the story of Christ. This film follows him during the end of his life. We watch the arrest, the punishment and the eventual death of the most inspirational figure in history.

I’ll probably be approaching this review differently than most. In my reviews, I tend to focus on the technical side of movies and try to illustrate why certain elements do and do not work. This film’s subject matter makes doing this tougher, but here it goes.

First, I want to talk about the acting. The film is shot in the Aramic language. Although I can’t tell how accurate the dialogue is spoken, I can say that the actors recited their lines with great confidence in their delivery. They all brought out the emotions of the story. Had the film been released without subtitles, it still would have been entirely possible to understand everyone.

Now, that could also be due to the fact that many people out there are familiar with this story. I have to tell you that if you don’t even know the basics, you will be lost. There is no explanation of who Christ is. For that matter, none of the characters are given a background. This is a pretty safe assumption, considering “The Bible” is the best selling book of all time. But, just to warn anyone unfamiliar that nothing will be explained.

The film is shot well. Mel Gibson (director and co-writer with Benedict Fitzgerald) knows how to make movies. The biggest problem I had with it was all the slow motion. I felt that it didn’t add any weight to what was going on, partly because of its overuse. Also nature of the story is inherently intense and slowing down every fall and every knowing look to the side made the movie drag somewhat. It felt more like time filler than dramatization.

I warned about knowing somewhat what’s going on before seeing the film. Also, I should warn that the movie is very graphic. Those that are squeamish about blood and pain should avoid the film. Christ’s body is covered with blood and cuts, from the severe beatings, for most of the film. It really pulls no punches as far as showing the lengths in which Christ suffered.

I think the film does a great job of reaffirming existing faiths. I’m not sure if the film was intended to be used as a promotional tool for the Christian religion, but I don’t think it will really cause a flood of conversions. No matter what your religion, the film has great acting and is full of incredibly powerful emotions. I don’t think it was the best movie in the world, but it is still a great film and deserves to be seen.

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