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Post by Grim Reaper on Mar 14, 2004 14:53:29 GMT -5
Ok this is a movie that's gonna stir up emotions and opinions as if it were world war 3 but i'm interested to hear views from anyone who has seen this. I myself am not the church goin type but i'll give anyone a chance to express themselves. All i can say is Gibson did one helluva job to make it as realistic as possible...true it's graphic...very graphic!...but if in fact that is how it happened why not show the complete truth...rather then hide it under a rock. No matter what my belief...i say great movie!
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MinaXavier
New Member
"Let the dead bury the dead." ~Matt. 8:22
Posts: 5
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Post by MinaXavier on Mar 17, 2004 18:32:07 GMT -5
Hmmm.
Well, I have to say two things before posting my thoughts on this one.
1- I am a Christian and I believe in the story of the gospel as presented in all 7 bible versions I currently own.
and 2- I am not offended by the thoughts and opinions of people who are not Christian and do not believe it, nor am I offended by questions or debate carried out in a healthy and respectful manner.
The opening week of the movie was odd because most of the showings were bought out by churches and open to the public via free invitation from ticket-holding church members, as an outreach idea. That was how I saw it on the 27th, through my church at a theatre auditorium we'd bought out for the night.
I *could* comment on the big scary controversy over whether or not it's anti-semetic, but then I'd just be rehashing the hype/antihype media debacle that's been all over for the past few months. Frankly I don't care either way. I have a great volume of good friends from all over the world, and many of them are Israeli by family or by birthplace. None of them take offense to me for being Christian nor have they reported any bitter encounters from anyone else who is, so I use their response to me as a barometer for judging just how realistic the concern is over the film's rhetoric.
The film itself was, in a word, visceral. It's very difficult to explain to anyone who is not well aquainted with the cultural details of the era in which it took place, and it is nearly impossible to describe one's own experience with it to anyone not already emotionally invested in the figure of Christ as a real human being.
That having been said, I can say that if you've ever seen any other Jesus flick you're still completely unprepared. The thing about these films (practically their own genre) is that they go far out of their way to give facts and events without forcing the viewer to literally see them. This one picked up where they left off.
I myself found it a disturbing experience and would not recommend it for people with a weak stomach or for anyone hoping to get an uplifting jolt of spiritual catnip. The only jolt you're likely to get from this film is the emotional assault of watching simulated but realistic cruelty and violence to the point, as it did with me, of giving the uncomfortable feeling that you are witnessing a snuff film.
I would also not recommend it to those who are inclined to seek violent movies for the thrill of watching violence. This IS NOT the venue for that.
I've always been a history trivia whiz-kid, so it was edifying to see how much research had gone into the preparation of scenes, landscape, methods of punishment, rituals, government, and even the language. The casting was well done and the ethnicity of the facial features and mannerisms was refreshing since everything I've seen in other films makes them all look like anglo-saxon transplants on a hard-labor tour in the middle east.
The cinematography was excellent. You'll see a face in closeup and then suddenly you notice something reflected in their cornea that's coming in the next split-second scene. The spiritual warfare was aptly displayed in both subtle and in-the-face tactics that were appropriate but still able to shake you up. Serene character stills suddenly turn into out-of-focus demon sightings and hallucinations of netherworld creatures and a hellish hereafter. Satan was played by a female(figures, right?) actor in discreet robing and no eyebrows; she was coy, menacing, deceptively charming and just plain evil. She was perfectly cast.
I really got a kick out of the fact that there were no big name actors, no A-listers, no oscar-fishing industry climbers in this one. Nothing but faces you'd never seen before (except that I recognized Jim Caveziel, who played Christ, from a movie with J-Lo called Angel Eyes), which makes it much easier to melt into the storyline and believe the actors for what they're doing.
All in all, this film was expertly done. Raw, unnerving, uncompromising, and eerie.
I give it both thumbs up with a revering nod to those who sat through it.
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Post by Grim Reaper on Mar 18, 2004 12:04:18 GMT -5
Well said Mina....this is one of those kind of movies you can't slap a label on. It is it's own genre...it's own manifestation...history was remade in this film and will forever go down in it.
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Vampirella
Shadow Dweller
co branch head of PA,NJ,Delaware ShadowLore
Posts: 68
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Post by Vampirella on Mar 19, 2004 12:00:16 GMT -5
well said Grim and Mina ,hands down this is the most realistic movie ,it makes you feel everything christ and his family and followers went through ,this was made based off of the last few days of Christs life ,im born a jew but dont practice it and i have to say those pharises had it out for Jesus from birth ,they just bided their time to get at him and man oh man they did just that ,i have to say i admire herzod and the other roman dictator at that time for their not wanting any parts of christs demise ,im not a religious person at all but dang that movie had me tore up ,no one and no animal deserved treated that way or even put to death ,Jesus did nothing to deserve that kind of beating and torture ,the romans definately were not the cause for his crucifixtion it fell on the pharises doing as they were relentless ,as for the person who played the devil she was very much cast perfectly as was everyone else .,but especially her or him the person was very androgynous looking and i think the persons first name in real life was rosalio not rosalia but in any case that individual played the devil to the hilt! a movie worthy of a good many oscar nominations ,oh just for the record ,being born of the jewish persuasion and not having a choice i gotta say the jews from how they were portrayed in this movie were in the wrong and truly more evil then the devil ,just my thoughts but i do say if your gonna go see it dont eat beforehand if you have a weak stomach ,or for that matter dont see it youll toss your cookies it was beyond graphic ! if you have the stomach bring a big box of kleenex youll need it !
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Post by sigrid on Nov 28, 2004 15:31:28 GMT -5
My mother saw the film and came away feeling rather upset and disturbed, she's a Catholic. She has tried convincing me to watch it, I am very apprehensive about it. It took me some time to get over Schindler's List and merely hearing the violin accompaniment to that film makes me feel very sad. I couldn't even go all the way through the Holocaust Exhibition in the Imperial War Museum in London, I ended up burying my face into my husbands shoulder in an attempt to stifle the sobs that wracked through me, that day I cannot forget and lastly, I had to endure watching my father die slowly and in a lot of pain accompanied by the horrific smells of the illness that was slowly eating away at him and films with a christmassy feel bring me down because I and my family had to spend Christmas Day at the hospital feigning normality at my father and swallowing lumps of christmas cake given to us by the caring nurses to magnify this feeling of cheer and goodwill. I have seen too much blood and monstrous bodily scars to want to watch a film depicting a graphic torture. And I am tired of the way Jewish people get pulled across the hot coals for what happened to Jesus, it was the darned Pharisees who condemned Him to death, the same way the Catholics performed numerous atrocities in the name of God. It is a weighty subject, I just don't have the strength to endure watching such a film... my husband wants to buy the film...
Sigrid
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Post by Mairi on Nov 28, 2004 16:37:28 GMT -5
I'm with you, I can't bear to see the film reguardless of the excellent reviews its gotten. There are certain films that I know will distrub me and this is definately one of them.
Mairi
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Post by Sigrid on Dec 5, 2004 15:58:59 GMT -5
I saw the film. The brutality seethed. The protagonist looked like a tenderised animal, and as for the those that heckled Him relentlessly. Uneasy viewing. Sigrid
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