The Passion

The Passion of the Christ (2004)                                                    -R

I watched this movie last night for the second time, and it is one of the only movies that makes me cry every time. If you haven't watched this yet, I highly recommend watching it tonight. This movie is truly incredible. It starts at the Agony in the Garden, with our Lord in distress and the Devil close by, tempting Him. And it goes through a very well done, detailed, and gruesome march from the garden, from one Roman official to another, then to Calvary. The entire movie is cast exceptionally well. The actor (Jim Caviezel) plays my favorite movie Jesus by far. He has a wonderful character, which is seen in the flash backs throughout the movie as Jesus and Mary remember different times during His life before Good Friday- such as The Last Supper, some of His life at home (there are two heart-wrenching scenes of Jesus and Mary- one when He's a little boy and one with Him doing carpenter's work that show what a loving relationship the two of them had), and His ministry. The devil is truly disturbing, though there is nothing physically creepy about the devil himself, his actions are enough. He is cast so that you cannot tell what gender he is, his skin is very pale, he wears a black hooded cloak, and has still, cold eyes. Throughout the movie, demons are portrayed as children with old, wrinkled, or messed up faces, a beast with glowing yellow eyes, and (my least favorite) a baby with an old man's face and horrible, wretched, evil eyes. The demented baby is held by the devil as he gloats over Jesus during the scourging at the pillar- a very violent, horrific scene in the movie. But, these disturbing images are not throughout the whole movie, and during the carrying of the cross there are no devil appearances as the whole attention is on Jesus and Mary. Mary is also cast exceptionally, and is shown as being strong, caring, loving, and supportive of Jesus. When He starts to falter He looks at her and seeing her gives Him strength enough to persevere on His path. Two other truly captivating characters who are with Jesus through the whole movie are Mary Magdalene and John, the beloved disciple.

I could write pages about how wonderful this movie is, but I do not want to give anything away. So please, if you haven't seen this movie yet- and you think you are ready (the R rating is for the intense, bloody scenes of torture and crucifixion) - watch this. We become so desensitized to the great sacrifice God made for us, and this movie helps me to remember how much pain Jesus went through, how hard it was, and how grateful I should be that I have a God who loves me so much.

May you contemplate upon this movie as you prepare for Christ's resurrection...