The Passion of the Christ

Wherever you land on the religious spectrum, from devout to agnostic, there's no denying the sheer will and power of Mel Gibson's 2004 blockbuster, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST.

I remember seeing the film in theaters in its original release and feeling like I hadn't seen the film, I'd survived it. The graphic brutality and violence that permeates nearly the entire film, made it a controversial and outlier family film experience. One critic at the time called it "The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre" and he wasn't far off in that opinion.

It's been over twenty years since that first viewing and I wanted to revisit the film this Easter season, especially upon the news that Gibson has started the creation of its long awaited sequel, "Resurrection of The Christ".

Gibson had shopped his original film based on The Gospels to every major studio, where it was soundly refused based on assumptions that there would be no audience for such a film. He financed and released the film himself, investing $30 million of his own funds in his vision.

You can see why studios were reluctant. Gibson wanted the film to be in Aramaic, without subtitles. He eventually changed his mind and added subtitles, but there is no English spoken in the film. He wanted to cast the film without any major movie stars, with every role but the title one filled by foreign actors.

Of course, we know now that his faith in the project was well founded, with the film grossing over $600 million against it's $30 million budget. Gibson personally made over $400 million on the film, giving him complete freedom to make whatever films he wanted for the past two decades.

He's a select filmmaker and his "Apocalypto" is a brilliant film and a personal favorite, while "Braveheart" stands on its own as one of the best historical dramas ever made.

PASSION depicts the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus, (perfectly cast in the form of Jim Caviezel) opening in the Garden of Olives as he finds his apostles asleep and Judas about to betray him.

What follows is a shockingly brutal depiction of Jesus being arrested and savagely beaten, even before his conviction of blasphemy. Roman Governor Pontius Pilate (a superb Hristo Shopov) sees no reason to punish Jesus, questioning why he's even before him. He sends him to King Herod. Herod sees Jesus as a fool and releases him back to Pilate. Having been warned twice about any outbreak or trouble in his city, Pilate seeks every way he can think of to let Jesus go.

When those efforts fail, he washes his hands of his responsibility and lets the rabble decide.

We then watch, real-time the savage whipping and crucifixion of the man who had just arrived to the crowd's cheers days before.

Gibson's mission appears to be to subject the viewer to the visceral torture that Jesus experienced at the hands of his Roman soldiers. His camera never looks away. The film's critics would tell you that the film revels in the worst moments. It is brutal to watch as whips just don't stripe his flesh, they yank huge chunks of flesh off his body. Blood covers every surface.

The crucifixion sequence that follows is excruciating in it's graphic horrors.

Gibson is an excellent filmmaker and he's found the perfect actor for his vision in Caviezel. During filming, the actor experienced a separated shoulder when the 150lb cross was first dropped on his back, was accidentally whipped by one of the actors playing a soldier and was actually struck by lightning filming the sequence on the cross. It's a powerful performance.

Gibson balances some of the most horrific moments with flashbacks to Jesus' childhood with his mother Mary Magdalene (Monica Bellucci), his Sermon on the Mount and the Last Supper with his disciples. These flashbacks give you moments to breathe in the midst of the unrelenting torture.

By the uplifting final moments of the film, which inspired long lasting goosebumps in me thanks to John Debney's music and an uplifting relief from the two hours of tension that went before it, I again felt like I had again "survived" watching the film.

The only other movie that I feel that way about is Spielberg's "Schindler List" which I saw opening night in a theater and have never seen again.

Both are brilliant but tortured experiences to witness.

Gibson makes so many bold choices in this film that pay off.

The Matera location photography by Caleb Deschanel (The Right Stuff, The Natural) is stunning and immerses you in the film. He shot everything at a slightly higher than normal film speed to give the film a dream like feel.

The supernatural scenes with Satan as an androgynous, pale, floating figure are scary, unexpected and powerful.

In the initial interview scene between Pilate and Jesus, there's a clever Easter Egg that most viewers may not notice. Hebrew or Latin speakers will recognize that after Pilate asks Jesus in Aramaic if he is king of the Jews, Jesus answers him in fluent Latin (translated as "Does this question come from you"). The look of surprise on Pilate's face thus makes perfect sense - few if any of his subjects speak Latin. From this point forward, their conversation continues in Latin.

Christian audiences at the time came to theaters in large groups, a first at the time, but now almost commonplace with the nationwide success of Angel Studios and their frequent faith based films.

I watch this film rise to the top of Apple TV rental charts every year around Easter week. Having seen it twice, I don't know that' I'll ever watch this again, but my respect for Gibson as a director and filmmaker hasn't wavered.

Controversy be damned, he's a brilliant film maker.

The film gets a haunting, respectful A.