This page was created on August 2, 2009
This page was last updated on August 2, 2009

I recently attended a screening of the rough cut of The Passion of The Christ. Because it was a rough cut, this shouldn't be considered a true review. There is still work being done, including music and perhaps even some scene additions or deletions. So any true judgment will have to await the finished work.

The film does do a decent job of portraying the biblical events. It does tend to combine the various accounts, but we often do that in our own minds, rather than treating the Passion narrative of each gospel separately. The film is designed to focus on the biblical events, and does so well. It should be noted that the film includes some traditions and legends that are not part of the biblical account, such as stories involving Pilate's wife and St. Veronica.

It needs to be noted that this is a very violent and gruesome film. It will be rated R and rightfully so. The scenes of the scourging, the carrying of the cross and the crucifixion are long and intense. The scourging lasted at least five minutes, the crucifixion at least twenty-five. The intent of this film is to show the Passion as serious suffering.

The controversy around this film. Anti-Semitism (as a form of racism) is often a matter of subtlety. What Jews will see as anti-Semitic may differ from what others think is anti-Semitic. In a post-Holocaust world, we need to be sensitive to how things will be perceived.

That is not to say that Mel Gibson has set out to make an anti-Semitic film. In fact, there are ways that he has tried to make it clear that is not only the Jew leaders involved. Most of the violence, and the most severe violence, takes place at the hands of the Romans.

In an interview after the screening, Gibson made a point of noting that he is not blaming the Jews for the crucifixion. Rather, all humanity and each individual shares the blame for what Jesus went through on our behalf.