Reviews — TLG (personal review)

This is the most important movie I have ever seen. To Christians, the film will be riveting from beginning to end. For non-Christians, it should spark questions that will give believers new opportunities to share their faith.

The film is a work of art. Yet it is a very demanding picture and exacts a heavy emotional investment from the viewer. The violence is intense and graphic (though I believe the actual scourging was substantially worse than depicted). Because of the violence, I will not take my 10-year-old to see it, but I will take my 12- and 14-year-olds. Sensitive souls of all ages may want to avoid this. I don’t want to see it too often myself.

Some may find that the script departs from the biblical text, but I believe such protests are ill-founded. The Bible is treated faithfully. Dialogue based on the Scriptures is quoted accurately and in context. The film is not holy Scripture, nor does it presume to usurp the Bible. This is a movie about the crucifixion. The artistic touches applied to the film do not contradict Scripture, but enhance our comprehension and understanding of history’s darkest day.

Examples of these artistic touches include a personification of the devil. This device works wonderfully. I’m repulsed and nauseated by the taunting, slithering, androgynous creature who smugly revels in the death of Christ. It’s a powerful reminder that evil exists, and that the devil was actually at work in the shadows (but not behind the scenes) as the passion transpired.

We see artistic embellishments of the Judas character in his soul-crisis as well. While the details that drove him to his suicide are not provided for us in Scripture, Gibson gives us a chilling reminder of what happens to those who reject Christ fully and finally. The result is a plausible, provocative reenactment of that ominous outcome of Jesus’ betrayal. Judas, too, is real.

Other examples of artistic license include a development of Simon the Cyrene, who was compelled to carry Jesus’ cross. Simon gets a mere verse in three of the gospel accounts, yet the film follows his progression from coerced cross-bearer to full-fledged convert. Did that happen? Perhaps not, but it may be more of a stretch to believe that Simon remained an unbeliever after literally shouldering Christ’s cross. (Incidentally, that cross is shown as the complete cross, and not the crossbeam historically carried prior to executions. This too is likely due to artistic considerations.)

The character I felt was most complex (and most intriguing) was Pilate. Here is a political man embroiled in a conflict vastly greater than he can comprehend. When confronted with the kingdom not of this world, a distraught Pilate chooses political expedience over truth. And we grasp the depths of his turmoil.

To give us respite from the film’s relentless assault on our senses and emotions, Gibson makes effective use of flashbacks. Some of these are straight from Scripture (Christ’s washing of the disciples’ feet; His confrontation with the woman caught in adultery). Others are the director’s conjecture, such as the interactions between a young Jesus and His mother. These are tender, heart-wrenching scenes that portray the close relationship the Lord obviously had with this “most-favored” of all women. They also amplify our own anguish as we see Mary watching her Son in His hour of need. Yet nowhere do I sense an undue veneration of Mary. She is a very human mother whose soul is now pierced as had been promised more than three decades earlier.

Two additional things stand out. One is the purposeful intent with which the Son of God went to the cross. Again, a bit of artistic license is employed. We see a battered Jesus trying to crawl onto the cross. I don’t read this anywhere in Scripture, but when I consider that He intentionally drank of this cup, my heart breaks. Despite His prayer in the garden, He went to the cross with unswerving resolution.

Then too, I gained a new appreciation for the incredible loyalty of those few followers who went to the cross with Him. If two hours on film was too much for me, how anguishing it must have been for Mary and John to stand at the foot of the cross as Jesus spoke these words from an unrecognizably bloodied face: “Behold your son,” and “Behold, your mother.”

Potential viewers should know that the film is in Aramaic and Latin, with a bit of Hebrew. I found the subtitles easy to read, and not a distraction.

As for charges of anti-Semitism in the movie, well, they’re simply untrue. If this film is anti-Jewish, than so is the Bible—and the protagonist of the Bible is Jewish.

A small number of detractors may say, “You shouldn’t do this to the Scriptures.” But Paul said, “I will glory that Christ is preached.” Because of this film, Christ will be preached. Viewers will be confronted with the only question that matters: “Who is this Man who says He’s God?”

— TLG