I just watched the Passion for the first time

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…and it was very disturbing. I’m not only talking about the scouraging scene that made my heart wrench, but the scenes with Satan really scared me. When those demon boys were taunting Judas, and when Satan was holding that demented child. What was the significance of the child? I’m trying to understand that. Anyway, I almost lost it when Jesus fell and Mary had the flashback when He was a child and she ran to go comfort Him. Gosh, that just really blew me away. It really made me see the Passion in a whole new light. I didn’t realize how violent the earthquake was at the end.

I delayed watching it for so long because I didn’t think I could handle it. But I broke down and bought it last night. I started watching it then, but the Satan scenes upset me and I had to stop it and finish watching it today because I would have had nightmares…

It was an excellent movie! Sorry this thread is over 2 years late. :o
 
Better late than never 🙂

I thought the movie had great value in bringing in the realism of what took place. Because movies have had to develop over the years, both technology and sophistication, I think movies about historical events that were made in the past lacked the gritty realisim that makes you feel like you are really there. Old movies always seem more like “clean” versions of history. Like for example, compare the brutal realism of “Saving Private Ryan” to other D-Day movies – the old movies don’t shock you at all and make you think, hey maybe war isn’t soo bad, but they don’t give a realistic picture of what it was really like, or at least as much of this as a movie can relate (at the end of the day it is only the sense of sight and hearing that experience it, and even that is still limited.)

With the Passion, you finally get to realize, “Hey Jesus really bled…a lot! And it was painful, and he was spat upon and beaten.”

I also thought the use of the languages from the time was a key element in adding realism to the movie.
 
There is so much in the movie … you need to watch it again to see even more.

The disfigured child and Satan is the twisting of the goodness of the mother/child. It shows how Satan takes the good and can pervert it too something terrible. It mocks the mother/child … ergo the Mary/Jesus loving relationship. It shows how Satan perverts inherent goodness to something awful. Also it shows how Satan cannot come up with anything new … all he does is pervert what is already here.

Another scene you must see again is after Jesus is nailed to the cross the soldiers lift it to bend the nails on the other side. They let it fall so Jesus would have to hit face first. Mary Magdelene is beside herself, crying on the ground when she sees this. But the cross never hits the ground … Jesus is suspended on the cross in mid-air. None of the other people see it … watch her eyes as she looks to see if anyone else sees what she is seeing. She can’t believe it. This shows how Jesus always consoles us. She was rapidly losing her mind and maybe faith but when she sees this she becomes stronger. Watch her face. But this was for her eyes only … no one else. Jesus still does this by giving us exactly what we need. It is different for everyone … so the graces each of us receive are different so we should never compare what we have to another’s. I love that scene.
 
I heard this movie was written nearly verbatum from a vision of the passion of Christ that a great Saint had, and wrote down.

For some reason St. Faustina comes to mind…but I really don’t remember
 
The quick flashbacks; the fall, the stoning, etc., were absolutely stunning. The scene of Mary mopping up her Son’s blood was, IMO, one of the strongest visual allegories ever used in a movie. Gibson could have cut back on some of the graphic gore; it was overdone and diminished the movie’s strength.

I think Mel is a simply superb film maker.👍 Too bad his personal views don’t rise the same level.😦
 
ncgolf said:
There is so much in the movie … you need to watch it again to see even more.

(…)

Another scene you must see again is after Jesus is nailed to the cross the soldiers lift it to bend the nails on the other side. They let it fall so Jesus would have to hit face first. Mary Magdelene is beside herself, crying on the ground when she sees this. But the cross never hits the ground … Jesus is suspended on the cross in mid-air. None of the other people see it … watch her eyes as she looks to see if anyone else sees what she is seeing. She can’t believe it. This shows how Jesus always consoles us. She was rapidly losing her mind and maybe faith but when she sees this she becomes stronger. Watch her face. But this was for her eyes only … no one else. Jesus still does this by giving us exactly what we need. It is different for everyone … so the graces each of us receive are different so we should never compare what we have to another’s. I love that scene.
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I have to watch this scene again. I’m very much a global learner and I often miss details like this. And even if I caught it I might not have understood what was going on.
 
Lillith said:
I heard this movie was written nearly verbatum from a vision of the passion of Christ that a great Saint had, and wrote down.

For some reason St. Faustina comes to mind…but I really don’t remember
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That would be the Venerable (Blessed?) Anne Catherine Emmerich who wrote the book on which the movie was based.

For me one of the most powerful scenes was Jesus saying ‘Father forgive them’ … with that pain-wracked voice … I almost lost it at that point, how loving and forgiving he could be in spite of his enormous suffering.
 
The most moving part for me was Jesus taking His Cross and embracing It as He kisses It…:crying:
 
I agree with you about the scene where he falls and his mother runs to help him and has flashbacks of him falling as a child. I almost never cry at movies, but that one gets me every time.
 
My favorite scene is when Jesus is working on the table and Mary comes to check it out. There was so much going on in this scene I don’t know where to start.
 
Bruised_Reed said:
My favorite scene is when Jesus is working on the table and Mary comes to check it out. There was so much going on in this scene I don’t know where to start.
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I loved that scene. I loved how she poured water in His hands and he splashed her, then followed up by a playful kiss on the cheek. It’s neat seeing a “playful” Jesus.
 
  • Peter calling Mary “Mother” and confessing to *her *what he did… powerful reminder that when we’re too scared or too ashamed to confess to “the priest”, go to Mary first, and know that Our Blessed Mother will help us confess to JESUS!
  • Notice that when Simon of Cyrene goes to help Jesus carry the cross… who’s helping who? Another reminder–Jesus always helps us carry our crosses.
Two of the most profoundly moving scenes, in my opinion.
 
Shoshana said:
The most moving part for me was Jesus taking His Cross and embracing It as He kisses It…:crying:
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I always think of that scene when I’m praying the Mystery of the Carrying of the Cross during my Rosary :yup:
 
Peace! Hubby and I watched it when it first came out, and I now watch it during Lent each year (ok, the past 2 years…:o ). We both cried our eyes out!
How much pain and suffering our Savior went through for us, and still He remained merciful towards us. This movie is a powerful reminder of what people are capapble of. The Satan “thing” was creepy, though, I actually DID get nightmares from it. Notice how it doesn’t have eyebrows? That’s what makes it look so creepy. Ew, I usually look away now.
God bless
rk
 
ncgolf said:
Another scene you must see again is after Jesus is nailed to the cross the soldiers lift it to bend the nails on the other side. They let it fall so Jesus would have to hit face first. Mary Magdelene is beside herself, crying on the ground when she sees this. But the cross never hits the ground … Jesus is suspended on the cross in mid-air. None of the other people see it … watch her eyes as she looks to see if anyone else sees what she is seeing. She can’t believe it. This shows how Jesus always consoles us. She was rapidly losing her mind and maybe faith but when she sees this she becomes stronger. Watch her face. But this was for her eyes only … no one else. Jesus still does this by giving us exactly what we need. It is different for everyone … so the graces each of us receive are different so we should never compare what we have to another’s. I love that scene.
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Thank you so much for this. I didn’t specifically notice this when I’ve watched, but as you’re explaining it, I can see it and now I absolutely get it. I will pay attention when I watch it again next Good Friday. Can’t bring myself to watch at any other time, just too gut wrenching. Makes me cry just thinking about it.
 
DWPC said:
I think Mel is a simply superb film maker.👍 Too bad his personal views don’t rise the same level.😦
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He is a work in process, like all of us. And God is Merciful, he will not let us leave this world without giving us an opportunity to work this stuff out.

And as far as his talent as a film maker, well, that movie changed me, profoundly. Brilliant. Good Friday and Easter will never be the same for me, I’ll never be able to breeze through this holiday without understanding to a greater extent what it cost.
 
Another Passion of Christ movie that is moving, it’s a Passion play by a one man stage performace by Doug Barry of RADIX, uses his acting ablitly to teach the youth in a outreach group from Lincoln Nebraska. He puts his whole heart and soul in the performance. They have DVD of the performance and it’s only $5.00 well worth it, since it gets out hearts, both Mom and I have been touched by it.

http://www.excerptsofinri.com/images/radix-passion-banner.jpg

Real Audio clips
This is my Body
excerptsofinri.com/audio/passover.ram
They know not what they do
excerptsofinri.com/audio/on_cross.ram

The Passion of Christ
On stage performance by Doug Barry
Musical score by Eric Genuis.
excerptsofinri.com/radix_the_passsion_of_christ.html
radixguys.com/video/passion.htm
 
Another story line that made me think more deeply is the one with Simon.

When Simon is chosen by the soldier he does not want to go, he resists. He does not want to be identified with the criminal. Notice how Simon when given the Cross takes only one side and Jesus the other. Simon watches Jesus and with each glance is moved. Later on notice Simon is actually carrying the Cross from the middle and Jesus is clinging to Simon. He also defends Jesus at the riducle of both the crowd and the soldiers. Finally when the Cross is delivered to the hilltop and the soldiers tell Simon to leave …he does not want to. He is a different man, he finds Jesus irresistable and the tearing away from Jesus is difficult for Simon. He cannot take his eyes off Jesus and Jesus is always looking at Simon.

I have read that is how it is with us … the Cross Jesus carries is too much of a burden, too hard and it is not popular today to say you are a follower of Christ. Simon stood out by carrying the cross so we will stand out doing the same as Simon. So many try to avoid it. As the burden is carried we become transformed … Simon eventually carries the whole Cross … he carries a burden he never would have thought possible when he started. Where did that strength come from?

Finally as Simon is told to leave the area he finds to be apart from Christ is unbearable. Simon knows exactly where he wants to be … even as Christ is in agony and people hit him … Simon knows the best place to be is on the ground with Christ, to be anywhere else is less. That is the beauty and mystique the Saints have, like Simon, if one is with Christ then they have everything.

I identified with Simon more than any other character in the movie.
 
LittleRose said:
I agree with you about the scene where he falls and his mother runs to help him and has flashbacks of him falling as a child. I almost never cry at movies, but that one gets me every time.
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Both that scene and the part of the scourging made me cry. Another touching part of the flashback scen of Mary helping the stumbled Jesus was that right after Mary reached Jesus, one of the most beautiful verses in the movie is uttered.

“…After this, I will make things anew…”

That movie is the best movie of all. 🙂
 
DWPC said:
The quick flashbacks; the fall, the stoning, etc., were absolutely stunning. The scene of Mary mopping up her Son’s blood was, IMO, one of the strongest visual allegories ever used in a movie. Gibson could have cut back on some of the graphic gore; it was overdone and diminished the movie’s strength.

I think Mel is a simply superb film maker.👍 Too bad his personal views don’t rise the same level.😦
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On the contrary: the gore that so many people object to made it even more meaningful. Consider that Jesus Christ was only one of thousands put to death in that way. The first time I was in Rome, I took a tour which went through part of the Via Appia where both sides of the street had been lined with crucified people. The Romans were experts in torture and execution, just like the Nazis and on and on through the present day… It isn’t easy to watch, but it was the reality of the situation.

I never cared for Gibson’s movies before this one (or since, for that matter), nor do I defend what he said or did, but I have to say the criticism that’s been leveled at him is out of proprtion to his words - especially from the hypocrites in the entertainment industry who don’t bat an eyelash at every manner of perversion that exists. It’s been done to death here so I won’t go into it any further.
 
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