Mel's The Passion of Christ

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Mel Gibson’s movie. A must see?
Peter Kreeft described it as “not a movie but a liturgy”. He said it was a must see for Catholics.
Would you agree? I haven’t seen it yet. I’ve procrastinated about it because I fear it will be too violent, depressing and painful to watch. Watching someone go to their death is not entertaining. Yes. OK. So I shouldn’t be expecting entertainment.
 
It’s a good movie. Can be very moving.

If you’re too sensitive it might be too much. I do remember that a couple people who watched it had a heart attack.
 
It’s not a must-see. I saw it. I was really glad I did. But it’s very…it reaches deep down into your heart. It can be overwhelming. So see it if you want, but if you really don’t I wouldn’t worry about it.
 
Honestly, I don’t much care for it.

It’s kind of weird in how far it goes to be gory… I dunno.
 
I recommend the movie for those who are emotionally able to handle the images of bloody gore and suffering that fill the movie.

For myself, I found the movie very helpful in evoking very strong emotions of compassion and sorrow for the sufferings of my savior. It is a good meditation, to reflect on how my sins caused Jesus to suffer so much.

I think the film should be watched with a disposition of reflection on our own spiritual lives, and how our sins caused Christ’s passion. I have found that it is easy sometimes to be emotionally detached from the reality of the horror of the Passion, and it is helpful to remind ourselves of it on a visceral level.
 
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I enjoyed it greatly. It is violent and graphic. That was the point of that manner of execution. For me, the appearance of the evil one and symbology affected me to a greater extent.
 
Just bought the movie, will be watching it first time Good Friday 🙂
 
Of course it’s a great film, and I think it wasn’t that many. But still
 
A “must see”? Yes. If nothing else, because so many people talk about it, it’s important to see it in order to participate in the conversation.

I found it difficult to watch for 2 reasons.

1 The entire movie is in Aramaic (with a bit of Greek and Latin depending on the speaker) with English subtitles. I can’t watch such movies because it drives my eyes crazy. It’s a mixed bag. The language gives the movie a sense of authenticity because it’s more like being an observer of the events than watching a movie. But for people like me the subtitles are a huge distraction.

2 The violence is sometimes over-done. Even for a movie depicting a crucifixion, it’s just too much. If everything depicted in the movie actually happened to the degree that it’s done in the movie, Christ would have died about 10 times before ever reaching Calvary.

It’s had a huge impact, especially among non-Catholics. Catholics are aware of the events of the Passion because we visualize them quite often–especially when praying the Stations. It has had a huge impact on evangelicals who shun religious art (for the most part) and have no sense of iconography. They’ve only ever read about the Passion so the movie gives them a whole new perspective.

The bottom line is: yes, see it. It’s worth watching. Be prepared for the subtitles and the violence.
 
The violence was actually accurate. That’s why Christ died relatively soon for a crucifixion. A roman scourging is that violent and gory. That’s why the movie is a must see. If you can’t handle violence then maybe you can’t handle truth
 
I have heard that the whipping was done just 1 less than it would take to kill a man.

And indeed, Christ suffered much much much worse than we could ever hope to depict with just physical pain anyhow.
 
Can any human being lose that much blood and still be alive, much less walk and carry a cross?
 
well it makes sense that the romans thought Jesus was going to die during the walk to Calvary and picked out Simon to help carry the cross. What you see in the passion is accurate.
 
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Must we forever walk round feeling unworthy and guilt-ridden? This why people make fun of Catholics, Don’t mean to sound disrespectful btw.
 
A wonderfully moving movie. It is hard to watch at times, but it doesn’t try to sugar-coat the Passion and it comes across as if Mel Gibson has poured out his beliefs, from the heart, into making this movie. It is very Catholic, it is like the Stations of the Cross liturgy acted out on screen with no punches pulled.
 
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