The Movie Passion of Christ - Essay Example

The movie Passion of Christ achieved the goal of director and co-producer Mel Gibson to portray how painful and horrible the last hours of the man known as Christ. In contrast to the gospel of John, the book narrates the beginning of the word that” became flesh and dwelt among us” ( John 1:14) who is actually Jesus. While the movie begins with the scene of Jesus praying at the garden, the gospel’s first scene is John being questioned by the Levites as “Who are you?” ( v. 19). This leads to the succeeding events in Chapter 1 that shows how John prepared for Jesus so that his disciples may know him. The movie scene in the Passion of Christ only begins in Chapter 18 of the gospel of John. In the gospel, Judas was only mentioned in two verses in Chapter 18, namely verses 2and 3. It just made mentioned that he betrayed Jesus and that he arrived on the garden along with the troops to identify Jesus. In the movie, this was explicitly shown as he kissed Jesus on the cheek. Moreover, the movie focused on the guilt of Judas drove him to his suicide. Images of children who became demons as well as a donkey being eaten by worms tormented him and exacerbated his guilt. Thus, Judas then hanged himself using a rope which was not written in the gospel of John at all. It was only in Acts 1: 18 that Judas ( implied ) by Peter, died by falling into a field and getting disemboweled in the process. The rotting donkey image symbolized the “rotten feeling felt by a person ridden with guilt. The children becoming demons is effective in emphasizing that the demon was behind the decision of Judas. In the movie, images of the demon is constantly showed to establish the struggle between good and evil. Another interesting visual that was portrayed in the film (which is a deviation from the biblical text) was the serpent crawling towards Jesus as he was praying in the garden. The image symbolized temptation similar to that of Eve being tempted by the serpent in a different garden. The demon in the movie was constantly watching Jesus pray, monitoring his reaction to foreboding death. Perhaps, it was one way of showing that human beings are surrounded by supernatural forces whenever they make crucial decisions in life. After all, Gibson’s insertion of images such as demons is an expression of his belief in the supernatural; moreover, he has an artistic license as the co-director and producer of the film. However, the gospel of John does not contain any of these scenes at all. In the movie, Pontius Pilate saw Jesus for the first time as very bloodied due to the scourging. This was in direct contrast to the gospel since the only physical punishment Jesus suffered from was a slap in the face by one of the officers after he answered the high Priest ( 3:22 ) . The gospel narrates that after his interrogation with the Pharisees, he was sent to Praetorium to meet with Pontius Pilate for the first time ( v. 29). It was only after this meeting that Pilate ordered the scourging of Jesus. In fact, the scourging was only mentioned once in the opening of Chapter 19. On the opposite, the film focused lengthily on the scourging of Jesus. The scene of the scourging was downright brutal as the centurions deliberately and ruthlessly performed their tasks. Tragically, bits of flesh were scraped on the back of Christ as the crowds watched in horror. Even one of the soldiers holding a spear could not stand the sight as his face flinched at every beating. This gruesome sight was complemented by sadness of the bystanders especially that of Mary, mother of Jesus. In Chapter 20 of the gospel, a third of the narration focused on the arguments presented by Jesus to Pontius Pilate about his true nature. The crucifixion was only mentioned in verses 15 to 18 in a matter-of-fact attitude. In addition to this, Gibson also inserted an image of the devil watching the scourging, carrying his deformed child. In interviews with Gibson, he justified this addition of a grotesque mother-and-child image to emphasize an over-all distortion of the scene. Again, this scene is extra-biblical and hypothetical. The movie showed that after the scourging, Mary and Mary Magdalene was met by Pilate’s wife ( Claudia ) on the hallway. She gave them linen to wipe the blood of Jesus without saying anything. The meek expression on her face seem to show deep respect and admiration for Mary who was able to withstand the persecution of his son. The actress played the part so well that she showed deep range of emotions without saying a word which is remarkable. Unfortunately, the gospel of John does not mention any of these scenes. The only time that the gospel made mention of Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Mary ( wife of Clopas ) were in verses 25-27 when the women stood by the cross .Then, Jesus presented his mother to John the beloved of which the latter took care of immediately. In the movie, the drama of a mother’s love was illustrated many times like when Mary recollected Jesus as a young boy falling on the stairs. She ran to Jesus when he dropped on his knees due to the weight of the cross and said “ I am here “ to which Jesus responded “ See mother, I will make things new”. The New Testament does not mention at all of any conversation transpiring between mother and son during the crucifixion except for the one quoted above. During the crucifixion, there were many interesting additional visuals that Gibson inserted (although they were extra-biblical) that provided entertainment. One of them was when the crow pecked one of robber’s eye who mocked Jesus. Perhaps, Gibson tired to establish a cause and effect lesson here about undermining the authority of Jesus. However, none of the robbers were mentioned in John 19, the only event related in the scripture was the breaking of the robber’s bones so that they could be hauled down from the cross immediately. This was accurate as the gospel mentioned that act in verse Chapter 19, v.32 stating ”Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him”. In the movie scene where the centurion pierced the side of Jesus, the visual was so violent since the spear went straight to his heart. This was done accordingly by the centurion but not without remorse. In fact, the internal conflict of between compassion and duty was accurately depicted by the soldier’s face as he looked at Mary before he pierced Jesus. The director wanted to establish that he was asking for permission from Mary and he needed apology for doing so. However, he still proceeded into piercing Jesus that eventually caused his death as the spear reached into his heart. The imagery was so powerful that the succeeding scenes such as the earthquake and torn curtain at the temple. Although this was not mentioned in John, this scene was evident in Matthew wherein the “veil of the temple was torn into two from top to the bottom”. (Matthew 27: 50). The book of Matthew is actually the basis of the movie Passion of Christ. Nevertheless, the movie again inserted images depicting remorse such as the Jews beating their breast, seemingly acknowledging the error that they just made. In the comparison being made between the movie and the gospel of John, it is important to clarify the issue regarding the portrayal of Jews. As a background, the movie became controversial since it was branded as “anti-semitic “ by some Jewish groups. On the other hand, some Orthodox Jews and speaker from the Vatican church perceive the movie was truthful but not discriminating. A closer examination of the gospel of John shows that the Pharisees were high priests , as such, they are highly-respected by society at that time. Since they are the guardians of the Jewish Law and scholars of the prophecy, it is expected that they would be inquisitive of anyone who comes forth and challenge their beliefs. The first instance of this was when they sent priests and Levites to ask John if he was a prophet ( Chap.1:21). The Pharisees were perplexed by John’s behavior of baptizing people when he is not even a prophet. Jesus himself encountered these Jews when he got upset at the temple, seeing the holy place transform into a market. Again, the Jews ask him for any signs to prove that he is the Son of God. In the movie, the Jews asked for Christ to be crucified since they do not recognize him as their King. Similarly, the gospel of John states the same account on Chapter 19.v.15 where the chief priests said” we have no king but Caesar”. From here , it can be implied that the Jews wanted Christ to be punished by crucifixion as violation of Roman law – rebellion against the Emperor. The Jews forbid Crucifixion under their own law, so they have to find a justification to do so. In the movie, the Jews were portrayed as scheming, manipulative, and rabble-rousers even at the very beginning when they were asking Judas. Later on, they were depicted as bloodthirsty when they shouted “Crucify Him”. They disowned Jesus as the chief priest asked Pilate to change the title “King of the Jews” to which Pilate declined. Looking at the gospel, the Jews were just doing their role , protecting the beliefs of their people as they interpret it. However, the movie Passion of Christ is a movie, therefore the producers and directors have the prerogative to use artistic license and interpret their beliefs in that film. Also, it is important in movies to exaggerate acting in order to give emphasis to one’s role. This was the difference that a lot of people misinterpreted when they watched the movie. What was missed was the fact that certain characters like Simon of Cyrene, a Jew, who helped Christ in carrying his cross. In the movie, he showed his compassion when he asked the people to stop beating Christ lest he stops carrying for him. Truly , sometimes we only things that we want to see. The gospel did not say anything about the Jew’s personality ;rather , it is upon the reader to interpret the meaning of the conversations between Christ and the High Priests. It is also upon the reader to understand the complexity of the political and social forces surrounding the existence of Christ that time in history. Indeed, although the movie presented many images that were deviation from the Bible it was justifiable for the sake of cinematography and commercial purpose. The important thing is that the pain of Christ was graphically portrayed to teach humanity about the lesson of God’s unconditional love and message of salvation as Gibson approached it. The Passion of Christ mainly focused on Jesus from the time that he prayed at the garden to the time that he was buried. In the end of the movie, it was implied that he overcome the power of darkness since the devil was howling in disbelief. The devil was in a barren, scorched place shouting in his failure, showing frustration in his mission to kill the Messiah. In contrast, the Gospel of John does not end on his death but his resurrection and reunion with his apostles. It is a literary work that factually narrates the important events in the life of Christ. On the other hand, the Passion of Christ relived in all cinematic artistry through the use of graphic scenes the suffering of his Christ before and during his crucifixion. Works Cited : Acts 1:19. Holy Bible. KJV. Matthew 27: 50. Holy Bible . KJV. Read More