Tuesday, March 30, 2004

The Passion...part two...or, it's about time I blogged.

No excuses...let's get into it.

Violence. Yes, it was very violent. Should it have been? I think so. From an artists point of view I have seen so many paintings of Jesus on the Cross where he looks so unhurt as to be comfortable. Was it too much though? No. Did I flinch? YES! (the only scene I couldn't watch was the nailing of the feet) Yet, what was amazing was that at the point where I felt it was almost too much, the scene would change and we'd see Christ washing the deciples feet or his sermon on the mount. The scene changes came at just the right moment.

(interestingly enough, it is the first R rated movie my mother has ever seen...)

Several people have complained that it was too violent, yet Kill Bill and a number of other films are drenched in blood and guts and violence...what stood out to me was the fact that all of this violence was directed at one man...and everyone was guilty.

I think that had the violence been toned down, there would have been less impact...which, uh, is sort of stating the obvious.

I think the real problem I had with the violence in the film was how certain people reacted to it.

Case in point, one of the talk radio guys was griping about the R rating and said that since he had seen "Silence of the Lambs" he swore off R rated movies...yet, he said that he made an exception when it came to "Schindler's List" because that was "an important movie".

I think that "the Passion" is important, yet I still have a hard time refering to it as a movie. I see movies to be entertained...even if it is an informative movie, I still sit there and watch for interesting camera moves, special effects, sound tracks, etc... Not so with Passion... it felt like an event, a meditation. Perhaps upon second viewing or when I see it on DVD my opinions will change...