Wednesday, March 17, 2004
|
Wednesday, March 17, 2004 |
| “It’s only a movie. It’s only a movie” By LINDSAY BIANCHI “The Passion of the Christ,” Mel Gibson’s “You are there” version of the stations of the cross is a film that has to be seen to be believed. Perhaps Mel missed the lesson where it was pointed out that believing without seeing is what faith is all about. Experiencing a movie like this hammered home the excruciating ordeal that Christ endured in His last days, but did nothing but horrify me as a moviegoer. For two hours, I sat wincing, shielding large parts of the screen from my view as Jesus was beaten to a pulp, dragged through the streets and meticulously nailed to a cross. Seconds before the credits roll, beginning with the “Directed by Mel Gibson” credit, (just in case you may have forgotten whose mind this vision emanated from), Jesus steps into the sunlight from the burial tomb, unblemished and free. “Thank God!” I thought to myself. I grabbed my popcorn and soda and got the heck out of there. A fairly large crowd for a Thursday afternoon was still in their seats, too flabbergasted to move. Most of them were older folks who were probably someone’s grandparents. I couldn’t help but wonder what they thought of the ultraviolence on the giant screen. I can’t imagine my grandparents, who were staunch Catholics, staying in their seats after even ten seconds of the 39 lashes. They would have thrown a fit, grumbled inaudibly in Italian and left! I’m used to brutal cinema. I’ve seen “Scarface,” “Casino,” “Goodfellas,” “Taxi Driver,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Dawn of the Dead,” “Day of the Dead,” “Eraserhead” and many other gory movies more times than I care to admit. However, I don’t think I could sit through Gibson’s film even one more time. I wouldn’t want to. It’s just too painful, visually and emotionally. I thought I did hear someone quietly sobbing behind me a couple of times. Were they crying for Jesus’ suffering or for the fact that they spent $8 to get in? If this is what inspirational movie-making has become, then I suggest a good book. Historically accurate? I suppose. Enjoyable ? No way! I guess that’s the point though. Jesus suffered and now you can too! It’s not supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to hurt like H-E-double hockey sticks! Fine. Mission accomplished. The lacerations that burst forth on Jesus’ flesh seem to be the true star of the film. They have the most screen time. They are close up and as visceral as anything on the Surgery Channel. Children should not see this movie at all. It is not the Lamb of God on display. It’s man’s inhumanity to man that shines through. Speaking of man, the crowds that jeer and scream at Christ as he passes chew up what little scenery there is. They are ugly, gap-toothed cretins doing their best rubber faces for the camera. The centurions who are in charge of sadism make sure that they really laugh it up as they flail away at the Savior. Barbarians as far as the eye can see. You do sympathize with the Lord’s plight, really hating all the high priests in those goofy throw rugs on top of their heads. When the temple cracks in half, you’re like, “Good! Not so high and mighty now, are you?” There is a lot to flinch at in this picture. Just when you think it’s safe to look, a dead donkey covered with maggots slides into view until even Judas has had enough, and does what any self-respecting traitor would do. He takes the dead donkey’s rope and hangs himself from a barren tree. In another scene from the Golgotha sequence a big, old crow has one of the juiciest cameos when he lands on one of the lesser crosses and pecks out the eyes of its inhabitant. Nice! Luis Bundle, the great Spanish director, wasn’t even this grim in some of his films. Maybe if he’d had the budget... I am kind of curious though, to see what extras will be on the DVD. I don’t know who in their right mind would want to buy it. What video nut is going to pop in this “pain-athon” over and over? “Run that part where they cram the crown of thorns on His head again, only in double slow motion.” There will probably be a “making of” feature, out-takes, storyboard, deleted scenes, and of course, director’s commentary. “In this scene, I felt, as a director, that deep brilliant red was more dolorous than, say, a cadmium red.” Mel’s movie is making a ton of money and setting box office records. I’m sure, miraculously, the DVD will do the same. Unfortunately, I think it will be one of those movies that sit in your collection gathering dust, like “Schindler’s List” or “Saving Private Ryan,” not because it’s a bad movie, just because it’s too gruesome to watch. If you do decide to put yourself through “The Passion,” just keep repeating the tagline from “Last House on the Left,” another hard to watch film from the sensitive 70’s. “It’s only a movie. It’s only a movie.”
|
