Sick sick sick!
I saw part of this film in the theater when it first was released. Half of the theater walked out, including me.
shareYeah, right
shareI also doubt it. My wife and I saw it in the theater. Three memories from the viewing:
1) It was two hours of a bloody beating. I learned nothing nor was I entertained (something all films should do).
2) Nobody walked out. Not one. Theater was packed. No one..
3) It was deathly silent as people shuffled out when the lights came up, presumably from the shock of what they saw.
You got nothing from it? Jesus went through what was shown in that film so that your sins could be forgiven and all you can think is it wasn't entertaining like Terminator 2?
shareI've never seen a Terminator movie. Ever.
I learned nothing about the historical life of Jesus that I didn't already know. All I remember is two hours of a bloody beating.
When I learn something new, I find that "entertaining". I don't need a Mel Brooks version of the bible to be entertained. The movie was grim, and I learned nothing except how barbed wire rips skin off a human body.
No thanks.
I've never seen a Terminator movie. Ever.
I learned nothing about the historical life of Jesus that I didn't already know. All I remember is two hours of a bloody beating.
When I learn something new, I find that "entertaining". I don't need a Mel Brooks version of the bible to be entertained. The movie was grim, and I learned nothing except how barbed wire rips skin off a human body.
No thanks.
You should see the first 2 Terminator movies. The rest aren't as good as the first 2. Also I was just giving an example a movie I thought was entertaining. Frankly I don't find the movies Raging Bull and Angela's Ashes entertaining since they are made to show disturbing images that aren't really pleasing to me. Yet both Terminator 1 and 2, and every Arnold movie is really just made to be entertaining. They aren't meant to show you disturbing things from history.
I guess that was the point I was making. I have seen Schindler's List once and I don't wish to see it again. It is a well made movie but I just do not enjoy seeing horrible things happen to people with no avenging at all towards the people doing said horrible things. Frankly the only movie that takes place during the holocaust I like is Inglorious Basterds. Though the actual Holocaust isn't shown, the main characters are going out of their way to punish the people who are responsible for it. share
Fair enough.
shareI think #3 is exactly the response Mel Gibson was looking for. This wasn't a film that was meant to entertain. (and I disagree that all films should be entertaining.)
shareThis wasn't a film that was meant to entertain.
Which is why I didn't like it, why I'm sorry I paid money to see it, and why I recommend against seeing this to friends who ask me about it. Brilliant film makers like Hitchcock didn't need graphic exposition to convey horror.
The word "entertain" has many different connotations. I don't need a song and dance movie to be entertained. For instance, as grim as Schindler's List was, I was "entertained" by it. The story was compelling, the acting superb, and I learned a few things I did not know about an era that is a favorite subject of mine. Hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and children suffered as much during the Holocaust as Jesus did, and we all know about this horror - we just didn't need to see people graphically tortured to get the point. It's a movie I've seen several times.
The Passion of the Christ is more about the gruesomeness of a crucifixion and took great pains to make it as real as possible.
I'll continue to watch The King of Kings (1961) and recommend that film instead to anyone who asks me about Passion. Passions fails miserably against The King of Kings.
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I certainly understand why many find it unwatchable. It is very disturbing. However, I think the point was to emphasize that the Passion, which is often very sanitized in other films, was a bloody, agonizing affair.
That isn't a criticism of other versions. Most of them are focusing on the breadth of Jesus' mission to Earth. POTC is focused solely on the penultimate element of Jesus' mission and the one that many gloss over so people truly do not understand what Jesus willingly suffered.
I wanted to tell the OP that it's better than the blasphemous The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). I saw the passion for the first time and am Christian since 2012. Have to agree there isn't much entertainment from watching bloody beatings. If there was anything to be learned, then it was that Jesus was human, especially when he prays to his Father about what is troubling him. He prays of things that we would pray for in such times. If there was moment of weakness in his perfect being, then we see that wasn't it as he stomps Satan's metaphorical snake's head. We learn from that scene that Satan may be one who appears when we are the weakest. He is the one who wants to hide after all and does a great job of it. Jesus also teaches Peter to not use his dagger. I suppose we can all be reminded of that. Or what about how the rich Jews acted? I suppose hate clouds anybody's thinking, but this was right down to their marrow.
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To be honest, I forgot about 99% of anything in The Passion of Christ other than the beatings. As you described some of the scenes, they started to come back to me. Too bad any quality of the movie was so greatly and thoroughly overshadowed by the graphic portrayal of a crucifixion, at least to both me and my wife, who was similarly offended by the film.
If this film was edited to remove the graphic scenes, it would be 16 minutes long tops...