Mel's Passion pure torture
2004-03-17 09:49
Cape Town - Passion - the English word comes from the Latin "to suffer" - and that is exactly what you can expect to do if you decide to endure Mel Gibson's two-hour blood fest The Passion of the Christ.
Crucifixion is by its very nature violent, brutal and inhumane. There is no way to portray it prettily. But this production, preceded by its controversial reputation, is drawing crowds who wouldn't normally choose to sit through such unmitigated gore.
The film opens on a spooky full moon over the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus has gone to pray with three of His disciples. The opening shots are stunningly foreboding. But things go downhill quickly.
We see Jesus already in spiritual agony - human fear. He knows what is coming. Suddenly there appears an androgynous apparition, a hooded creature in a long cloak. I suppose it was some demonic vision, but it looked more like one of Macbeth's witches had wandered onto the wrong set. This creature lets loose a snake (hello, which story is this?) which Jesus, uncharacteristically, steps on and kills.
This evil apparition makes several more inappropriate and unscripted appearances throughout the day, along with a troop of presumably visionary children who add nothing and detract plenty from their scenes.
No stopping it
Along come Judas and the Jewish High Priests to whom he betrays the teacher, and the violence begins. Jesus is beaten, shackled and dragged away to meet his destiny. And He knows it. This is what He has been praying about, and it is His mission. There is no stopping it. It's a moot point who plays what part in the intermediary drama.
From now on, the violence is totally unrelenting. Prior to His final trial, the scourging scene is almost worse than the actual crucifixion. It's bloody, loud, and far too long, leaving the man at the virtual point of death. It requires a massive suspension of disbelief to watch His flayed and bleeding body be clothed, much less burdened with a heavy cross.
Sadly, all the gratuitous violence - too much, too soon - simply detracts from the details of brutality that are documented in the gospel stories. The moment when the crown of thorns is cruelly twisted in place on Jesus' head is brilliantly done, but by then He has already been flogged insensible and its impact drowns in the bloodbath.
Flashbacks
Mel Gibson seems to have borrowed from all the gospel accounts of the passion, but he still manages to make some "factual" errors. For example, during the pre-trial mob scene when Peter famously denies knowing Jesus "three times before the cock crows", the film makes a total cock-up of it.
Peter makes his three denials, but no cock ever crows. Instead, he catches Jesus' eye (Jesus only has one eye already - the other swollen shut by the preliminary beatings) and realises what he has done.
Missing the point is bad enough, but then the faux-pas is illustrated with a flashback to the Last Supper, when Jesus uses the words "before the cock crows".
In another, very silly, flashback, we see Jesus the carpenter making a tall table - presumably an altar - that looks like it came out of modern minimalist Sweden.
Whodunnit?
This is the controversial issue that has given the film a boost to break the bank at the box office.
Pontius Pilate is seen, as in the gospels, as a man stuck between a rock and a hard place, but his wife is given far too much prominence, empathy and involvement.
All the brutality is clearly placed on the well-armoured shoulders of the enthusiastic Roman soldiers. One Jewish leader is pointedly and repeatedly singled out as egging on the crowd, who bay for his blood, in the words used in all four gospels.
When he does speak, Jesus makes it absolutely clear that none of them have the power to take his life - that he chooses to offer it up in accordance with his divine mission.
For most of the story Jesus is too busy being beaten to project the kind of charisma for which He is famous. Or perhaps James Caviezel just doesn't have the charm. Maybe Mel Gibson would have done better to take his passion for the project to its logical conclusion and play the part himself.
Save your money
"Could you not watch with me one hour?" Jesus cries to the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. But they could not. Their eyes were heavy and they slept.
Should you watch with Mel Gibson for two hours as Christ is beaten, battered and bloodied? No, take a cue from the disciples and close your eyes. Save your money and have an early night.
The Passion of the Christ opens in South Africa on 26 March, two weeks before Easter.