Mel Gibson's Jesus movie

[Agalayth]

Originally posted by dawningoftime
Jesus himself said he was the Son of God.

Well gee... if Jesus said that he was the son of God, then it must be true.

The thing about the Passion that seemed quite anti-Semetic to me was that it didn't really show the motives of the Jews. Yes of course, they showed him in a trial, guilty of blasphemy, etc. etc. But it didn't really show what was going on. Of course, being Jewish, I look at this differently than most Christians, because I don't believe he was the son of God. And neither did the Sanhedrin. So, there's this person who's talking about being the son of God and stuff like that, and he's drawing attention to the Romans. If there's some guy who says he's the King of the Jews to the Romans, they're not going to be too kind about it. As you probably know, the Roman empire wasn't very nice to the Jews at all, and if one person says he's the King of the Jews, it may cause them to massacre. This isn't very unrealistic; similar things happened in Nazi Germany and other such empires. So, the Sanhedrin has a choice. It can let this person do this, and have the Romans kill hundreds of people as a very possible result, or have this one person killed. If I were them, it would be a very very tough decision, but because I don't and they didn't believe he was any bit more divine than anyone else, I'd probably have him killed too. In the movie, it makes the Sanhedrin look as if they just want him dead because he's being blasphemous. It goes way beyond blasphemy.

[Millane]

Originally posted by Rosie Gamgee
No, it doesn't say exactly how much of a beating Christ took, but back in the days when the Gospels were written, all the authors had to do was say 'He was flogged', and the readers would automatically know what he was talking about, because the term meant what you see on the film to them. So I would guess that it take a bit of research in order to bring that event onto the screen, and I believe that Mr. Gibson did that.

i dont think that you can really say that people were punished to that extent back then, i agree that it took a lot of effort if Gibson's research went to such an extent that he was portraying fact when he beat Christ nearly to death (before he even picked up his cross ), but what i think is that Gibson is portraying his beliefs as what he thinks Jesus went through for his sins.
A bit of an anticlimax for Jesus to recieve the common punishment, he was after all dying for our sins, he couldve recieved a more memorable beating than some common theif or rapist would get...

I guess everybody has different takes on this movie, and that's fine by me. It is, after all, just a movie. What I care most about is what it's based on- the Bible.

which is also, after all, just a book

[GrayMouser]

Here's one perspective on the trial and involvement of the Sanhedrin:

The idea that Jesus was abandoned by the same Jewish populace who only days earlier had greeted him so enthusiastically upon his entrance into the holy city is a distortion of the historical events. According to John, Jesus was handed over on account of his growing popularity: "If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our [holy] place and our nation" (Jn. 11:48). The leading Sadducean priestly family feared that the popular Galilean teacher would spark a messianic revolt that would result in the Roman destruction of the temple.
The act of Caiaphas and the others was one of political expediency. Their charge against Jesus before Pilate was motivated by political rather than religious considerations (Lk. 23:2). No doubt they also were motivated by self-interest to maintain the status quo. In their collusion with the Roman authorities they acted alone and without the knowledge of the people, which is why we find this Sadducean family concerned later that their act of complicity might become public knowledge (Acts 5:27–28).
One should not exaggerate, therefore, the opposition against Jesus by including the supreme religious council in Jerusalem, the Great Sanhedrin; and even less to extend it to the numerous residents and pilgrims in Jerusalem that fateful Passover.
the trial

http://www.jerusalemperspective.com/...le.asp?ID=1457

[Rosie Gamgee]

Originally posted by Millane
i dont think that you can really say that people were punished to that extent back then,

Actually, Mr. Gibson took it a little easier than research tells. Those whips they used cut so deep that a man's flesh would literally be hanging off of his back, and one could see the victim's insides. It does amaze me that Jesus ever got to Golgotha, but since He had to do it to fulfil prophecy, it's really awesome that He didn't just give up and die before He got there.

A bit of an anticlimax for Jesus to recieve the common punishment, he was after all dying for our sins, he couldve recieved a more memorable beating than some common theif or rapist would get...

That's just the whole point. The Maker of everything in existance humbled Himself not only to become a comparatively insignifigant human being on one tiny speck of space dust in the whole of the universe, He humbled Himself to death, for our punishment- 'even death on a cross'- the worst, cruelest, most degrading punishment at the time.

which is also, after all, just a book

My belief is that the Bible is the written Word of God.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Khamul, regarding the Devil and the demon-babe; I'm pretty sure that that was intended as a satanic parody of the Mother Mary holding the Infant Jesus, a very popular image among historic Christians both Western and Eastern.

[FoolofaTook]

I just saw this so called 'masterpiece' of a movie,and I wasn't impressed at all. It was basically a torture movie, and I felt nothing towards Jesus...except maybe the physical pain he was going through...but I didn't feel that sad or anything when he was crucified. Now I'm not religious, and maybe that's why I didn't enjoy it, but I do have some knowledge of Jesus' story and I could follow what was going on...but I felt no emotional attachment to Jesus. He wasn't developed very well. The direction was very good, however....very good visuals and shots. The gore was the most realistic I've ever seen, and I spent most of the movie wondering how they did it. It just wasn't a good movie. I guess it was more of a documentary (and I use the term very loosely here...seeing as how there is no proof) for religious people. To me it seemed like it was a snuff film with high production value.

P.S. I did find the languages they used interesting though.

[Rosie Gamgee]

I can agree with you on the point of it not being a very developed story in the movie. I mean, me, knowing the story and its backround and what happened before and after, I can understand and appreciate what's going on. But just taking the movie itself at face-value, could be kind of confusing and/or frusterating. Boring, even, perhaps, because there's really nothing in the movie itself to inspire you to really care who this guy being crucified is. It's kind of like, you're just inserted into this part of a person's life, with no real intro to the person, or any kind of intro for the people around him, and what in the world's going on... Thinking about it, I can see why some people are upset that there was not more backround on the Jews, and the religous leaders, because, just taking the movie itself, it could look like they're just some maniacs out to kill one guy for no good reason, when in fact they did have sensible reasons for wanting to get rid of Jesus. But, again, I'd refer anybody to the Bible first, not the movie. There are things in the movie that are switched and changed around, and the director and the editor had to make choices of what was more important to leave in the film, and it might come off as saying something that it doesn't, or that they didn't mean it to. I guess it has to do with view-points, really.

[Insidious Rex]

So are you saying the book was better then the film?

[Rosie Gamgee]

I'm saying the Book is infinately better than the film!

[brownjenkins]

purist!

[Rosie Gamgee]

lol!

[GrayMouser]

(Shuddering at the thought of PJ being involved)

"We've gotta play up the love interest with Mary whats'ername...and maybe make a couple of the disciples comic relief."

[BeardofPants]

*smacks GM with a trout*

don't even joke about, or somehow, somewhere, out of the cracks of the earth, HE will crawl....

[Mercutio]

For those of you wondering how Gibson knew how badly Jesus was flogged, etc.:

In Isaiah 52:13-15, it may have come as an interpretation from this passage:

See, my servant will act wisely ;
he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
Just as there were many who were appalled at him
his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man
and his form marred beyond human likeness-
so will he sprinkle many nations,
and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
and what they have not heard, they will understand.

Some scholars interperate this as saying Jesus will be "marred beyond human likeness"; so hurt and whipped and torn apart that he would be unrecognizable.

[Valandil]

Originally posted by GrayMouser
(Shuddering at the thought of PJ being involved)

"We've gotta play up the love interest with Mary whats'ername...and maybe make a couple of the disciples comic relief."

*disclaimer: I'm one who appreciates the fact that we have the LOTR movies, but my mind has been going to work on this one a bit much, so I thought I'd share the following... maybe to everyone's detriment*

"OK, but wait! There IS a dwarf... that 'Zacchaeus' guy... who had to climb a tree to even see Jesus... let's make him one of the Twelve! THERE'S our comic relief!"

"Do there really have to be twelve? Most of 'em don't even have speaking parts. How 'bout we cut out six, add the short dude and a woman... that Mary Whatzername... that'll make eight."

"And we should really try to get Orlando Bloom again... maybe make him 'John' - then he can jump up on the cross or something."

"You know... this Jesus gets too many of the best lines. Can't we spread them around to the other disciples a bit?"

"How about some additional sound effects at 'The Last Supper'?"

[Ruinel]

Originally posted by Dúnedain
Here is the latest trailer for this movie:

The Passion of The Christ

Excuse me... this movie is rated "R" and so is this trailer, I assume.

[Ruinel]

I don't believe the post of this thread are within the PG-13 bounds. So much violence is being talked about.

This thread should be closed!

[Rían]

Originally posted by Valandil
*disclaimer: I'm one who appreciates the fact that we have the LOTR movies, but my mind has been going to work on this one a bit much, so I thought I'd share the following... maybe to everyone's detriment*

"OK, but wait! There IS a dwarf... that 'Zacchaeus' guy... who had to climb a tree to even see Jesus... let's make him one of the Twelve! THERE'S our comic relief!"

"Do there really have to be twelve? Most of 'em don't even have speaking parts. How 'bout we cut out six, add the short dude and a woman... that Mary Whatzername... that'll make eight."

"And we should really try to get Orlando Bloom again... maybe make him 'John' - then he can jump up on the cross or something."

"You know... this Jesus gets too many of the best lines. Can't we spread them around to the other disciples a bit?"

"How about some additional sound effects at 'The Last Supper'?"

Funny, Val!

[Finrod Felagund]

Ladies and gentlemen, The Passion of the Christ is already the seventh top grossing film of all time.

(RotK is 6th, TTT is 9th, and FotR is 14th)

100 Top Grossing movies of all time!

[tolkienfan]

What was the eye color supposed to symbolize? His eyes were at least 6 different colors during the movie.