Saturday, February 28, 2004

The Passionate Eye Is Swollen Shut

Julie & I went to see The Passion Of The Christ today.

Wow. It was an excellent movie, just as a movie, let alone as a graphic depiction of Jesus' final hours.

Brutal is about the only word I can think of to describe the movie. It just doesn't let up for the whole 2 hours or so. Julie said that since she'd heard so much about how graphic it was she was able to watch a little more than she might have had she thought it was just the Jesus video with a budget. That said, she still had to turn away a few times.

I, the gore-hound that I am, didn't. But I must say that it was very, very powerful, just in how brutal (there's that word again) it was. For me, the hardest part to sit through wasn't the crucifixion, it was the scourging. That was probably the most disturbing part of the movie. Very well done, mind you, but very graphic. I mean, they are using metal tipped whips that make large chips in a wooden table on a person.

As for all the controversy, they can just shove it. I'm waiting for the Roman Anti-Defamation League to start a protest. The soldiers are just vicious, but if you use your brain for 3 seconds, you realize that bloodsport is about the only entertainment half of the population has, and the Roman Legionaires (esp. in a backwater like Jerusalem) would not be the pick of the litter. They'd be bloodthirsty soldiers who got to vent their boredom and frustration on a guy who didn't even fight back.

Probably the only bit I could have done without was having the devil wandering around so much. I guess it was ok, but I think the film would have been just as powerful had there just been the one scene near the beginning with the devil and that was it. But what can ya do?

So, I heartily recommend it. Oh, and I was also really impressed by the fact that they didn't subtitle everything. A lot of incidental stuff was left just being said in Latin or Aramaic with no subs, but it didn't matter. I would love to watch the movie without subs just to see if it really would have worked like they planned it.

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