Well, I went to see Mel Gibson’s theological snuff film on Sunday. It was better than I thought it would be, but it was definitely not much to write home about. Best laugh was when one of the Roman soldiers (who historically were probably non-Latin-speaking Syrian recruits) said “Facta non verba.” Other than that, the acting was wooden, the script leaden, and the violence ultra. It dawned on me—somewhere in medias scourging—that what Gibson has made is a religious action film. You know there’s always a part in the action film where the stubborn hero gets the snot beat out of him. (Think Clint in those spaghetti westerns, Bruce dying harder, and even Mel in search of lethal WMD.) Then in the last act, the hero catches his wind and annihilates the villains. I liked Shupov as Pilate, but there was very little for him to work with. And at times Caviezel looked like he’d morphed into Mel. The most daring departure from the story line was having JC fall five times instead of three as in the stations of the cross. My suggestion for those who haven’t seen it yet: rent Scorsese’s Last Temptation for the story or Derek Jarman’s Sebastiane for the Latin.
Posted by jim at April 5, 2004 07:30 AM | TrackBackOn the one hand, the film sounds awful and I have no desire to put money in Mel's pockets.
On the other, I'd love to see Mel get the snot beat out of him. Oh, the dilemma...
Solution: see Die Hard again!
Posted by: language hat on April 5, 2004 11:24 AMOne review I read put it nicely. Mel has created his own genre: the religious art splatter film.
Posted by: Ian Evans on April 6, 2004 01:54 PMYes, Uncajazz, a lot of critics have noticed how often Gibson himself is shown undergoing a secular passion in his films: The torture scene(s) in Lethal Weapon X, the execution in Braveheart, Mel, ludicrously, as a gonzo Hamlet ... his best (possibly only) emotion being the roar of defiant agony. I second the motion on Scorsese's Temptation: It was boycotted by Catholics at the time (I vividly recall a memorable confrontation between nuns and the Holy Sisters of the Gaga Dada outside a theatre in San Francisco) but it really is a very moving, searching exploration of the moral complexities of Christ's humanity, based on the novel by that wild man Kazantzakis. For a bit of vulgar Latin in a (blasphemous, to be sure) ecclesiastical vein, I suggest Buñuel's La Voie Lactée (1969).
Posted by: Colin on April 10, 2004 08:24 AMScorsese's Temptation is a beautiful film, but don't miss Monty Python's Life of Brian which is soon to be re-released!!! The best thing about Temptation is how God and many of the Apostles have New York Jewish or Italian accents. Its exactly how I imagine they would speak!
Posted by: Kerim Friedman on April 10, 2004 03:40 PMYes, indeed. I thought of it after posting, but La Voie lactée and Life of Brian are probably my favorite religious movies. I love the catalog of heresies in the former and Eric Idle's Simon of Cyrenish shtik in the latter. More religion in those two movies than in Mel and the whole Church of Mel. I've also been meaning to finally rent Jesus of Montreal to clean my palate.
Posted by: jim on April 10, 2004 07:34 PMAs an antidote to The Passion of Mel, now's the time you've got to see The Life of Bryan. Suddenly, everything starts making sense.
Posted by: Richard Friedman on June 10, 2004 01:02 AM“The shoe is the sign. Let us follow His example.” Scene 17.
Posted by: jim on June 10, 2004 08:45 AM