A Filmmaker's Review: "The Passion of the Christ" (2004)

"The Passion of the Christ" (2004) is one of the great masterpieces of indie drama/historical cinema. Directed by Mel Gibson, the film entirely comprises of real languages spoken by and at the time of Jesus Christ such as: Aramaic, Hebrew and Latin. It features the last 12 hours of Jesus Christ's life before he is sent to the cross and, through this, has many flashbacks, side-stories and multi-narratives that tell various stories of the disciples, the passion of Jesus Christ and the gospels in a range of forms.

It is one of those films that everyone seems to have a history with I think, whether you've watched it or not - it seems to be everywhere and pretty much was if we travel back to about 2004. I was about 8 years' old in '04 and I still remember the trailer that used to come on TV every now and again, even though I couldn't remember the name of the film. For years, I wouldn't actually know what the film was called even though from the years of 08-12 everyone was citing it as one of the greatest films about Jesus ever made. I watched it, finally, it 2013 - when I was 17 years' old and only remembered the name because at one point, my English Teacher mentioned it in class. It was purely by chance. I then knew that it was the same film I'd seen the trailer to all those years ago and the only reason that trailer stood out is because I thought, at the age of 8 that there was lots and lots of blood.

Over the years from 2013 to about 2018, I would watch this film around 5 or 6 times. It was one of those films I saw sporadically because it was not only in a different language (and I still had many a foreign language film to watch that were new!) But also because it was pretty inaccessible until I got myself on to the Apple iTunes Movie Store. I rented the film, watched it again and again. But very recently, since I have gotten Amazon Prime, I could watch the film without renting it since it's included in the Prime Videos. And last night, that's exactly what I did.

It is still, to me, a visually stunning experience of cinema. The fact that I'm not overly fond of Mel Gibson will not come into it because when it comes to this film - I can really respect that he is quite talented though I may not like him too much. Gibson manages to capture the historic essence of Jesus Christ through the hyper-realism of the historical and geographical setting. First of all, we have the three major languages spoken in the time of and by Jesus Christ. It is most probable that Jesus spoke Aramaic and so, the movie uses a blend between Aramaic, Hebrew and Latin where the various languages fit in with character and setting. It is a brilliant presentation of hyper-realism because not only can you really feel the history, but you can also feel the kinds of problems these people would've had when it came to communication - especially those who didn't share a common language.

The characterisation was brilliant. We have the character of Jesus Christ shaped by experience as we are given glances to look back on in flashbacks that litter the film. One of my favourite flashbacks is when Jesus is making the wooden table because we really get to see a human Jesus rather than the most divine son of God. It's very simple - first of all we have a random man chopping wood off the end of a long piece and then, it flashes back to Jesus making the table. He is pretty playful, but also incredibly precise and through this, we get a look at Jesus in a way that the biblical states could not depict him - as a man. This episode may actually be inspired by the gospel of Thomas, who goes through the history of Jesus Christ as a carpenter.

The film tends to depict flashbacks as being very bright as opposed to the final 12 hours which are brutal, horrid and filled with torment. The final 12 hours are dark and get darker as time progresses. It is a horrible set up but it works when you're trying to portray a man's last day up to his crucifixion. The film's use of light and dark are incredible because of the fact they are used so differently to each other. The lightness is only there to present Jesus as he was, whereas - the darkness is there to compare how Jesus is to the people who are executing him. It is there to depict the wrongs of the people who will crucify Jesus Christ.

All in all, the film is a cinematic masterpiece. It is an experience to watch through all of its violent, gory and often horrific imagery and all of its incredible and ambiguous dialogue. Through its philosophies, its post-modern structure, its brilliant vibrance and its catastrophic darkness - the grandeur of this film is pretty everlasting.