The five hundred thousand wounds of Christ
So last night I went to Boston to meet up with Bob and see The Passion of the Christ. First I forgot my cell phone on the way to the train, ran back and got it, ran to the train but missed it anyway, walked back to the dorm and made arrangements with Bob for a different movie time, walked back to the train station, and made it into Boston. Then Bob and I managed to get on the wrong train, which I have never ever done before, so we ended up walking a round a slightly dodgy Lechemere neighborhood before finally making it to the theater.
The movie itself was...interesting. It was very well-made, and they did some really wonderfully creepy things with satan, and the cinematography was outstanding. It was not, however, for everyone. It's easily the most graphic movie I've ever seen. You know the torture scene in Braveheart? Take that and multiply it by a thousand, and stretch it out over an hour and a half. It's a really good display of modern film-making, in that it truly looked like the guy playig Jesus was getting beaten and whipped that much, and it really looked like his ribs sticking out after the skin was flayed away, and it really, really looked like the nails were actually going through his hands...which, by the way, was shown as a camera close-up. Throughout the movie there are little moments set in like little haikus as a break from the unbearable torture scenes, where the character the camera is focusing on sees something that triggers a memory of Christ and his teachings. I think those moments made the movie, personally. Without them it would have been almost impossible to watch. I'm not in the least squeamish, but there were some parts where I just didn't want to see what was happening anymore. The little extra scenes were what made it fascinating and beautiful instead of just gory. They sort of took the place of comic relief.
As far as the antisemetist uproar, I have nothing but a big shrug. The Jews certainly are portrayed as killing Jesus in this movie, but I'd say it's more anti-mob mentality than anti-semetist. There are a lot of Jews in the movie who speak or act on his behalf, and I feel like if this was an antisemitist movie mel gibson wouldn't have included really noble and believably good Jewish characters to offset the religious fanatics and hysterical mob. It also was the best movie adaption of a bible story I think has ever been made, and of course the bible tells us that the Jews killed Christ. Right or wrong, fiction or myth or absolute unshakable fact, the movie shows the story of Jesus' death as we know it.
Anyway, although I can't exactly say I *enjoyed* it, I did like it and I'm glad I saw it. The rest of the night was pleasant, and I got some good laughs and some good times with Bob, my dear tertiary boyfriend. In the absence of Sam which is lasting for-bloody-ever, it's nice to have Bob around. I miss my guy friends. I have a couple here, but it's not the same kind of relationship because I still don't know them that well. Ah, well.
The movie itself was...interesting. It was very well-made, and they did some really wonderfully creepy things with satan, and the cinematography was outstanding. It was not, however, for everyone. It's easily the most graphic movie I've ever seen. You know the torture scene in Braveheart? Take that and multiply it by a thousand, and stretch it out over an hour and a half. It's a really good display of modern film-making, in that it truly looked like the guy playig Jesus was getting beaten and whipped that much, and it really looked like his ribs sticking out after the skin was flayed away, and it really, really looked like the nails were actually going through his hands...which, by the way, was shown as a camera close-up. Throughout the movie there are little moments set in like little haikus as a break from the unbearable torture scenes, where the character the camera is focusing on sees something that triggers a memory of Christ and his teachings. I think those moments made the movie, personally. Without them it would have been almost impossible to watch. I'm not in the least squeamish, but there were some parts where I just didn't want to see what was happening anymore. The little extra scenes were what made it fascinating and beautiful instead of just gory. They sort of took the place of comic relief.
As far as the antisemetist uproar, I have nothing but a big shrug. The Jews certainly are portrayed as killing Jesus in this movie, but I'd say it's more anti-mob mentality than anti-semetist. There are a lot of Jews in the movie who speak or act on his behalf, and I feel like if this was an antisemitist movie mel gibson wouldn't have included really noble and believably good Jewish characters to offset the religious fanatics and hysterical mob. It also was the best movie adaption of a bible story I think has ever been made, and of course the bible tells us that the Jews killed Christ. Right or wrong, fiction or myth or absolute unshakable fact, the movie shows the story of Jesus' death as we know it.
Anyway, although I can't exactly say I *enjoyed* it, I did like it and I'm glad I saw it. The rest of the night was pleasant, and I got some good laughs and some good times with Bob, my dear tertiary boyfriend. In the absence of Sam which is lasting for-bloody-ever, it's nice to have Bob around. I miss my guy friends. I have a couple here, but it's not the same kind of relationship because I still don't know them that well. Ah, well.