After all the controversy and rigorous debate has subsided, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ will remain a force to be reckoned with. In the final analysis, "Gibson's Folly" is an act of personal bravery and commitment on the part of its director, who self-financed this $25-30 million production to preserve his artistic goal of creating the Passion of Christ ("Passion" in this context meaning "suffering") as a quite literal, in-your-face interpretation of the final 12 hours in the life of Jesus, scripted almost directly from the gospels (and spoken in Aramaic and Latin with a relative minimum of subtitles) and presented as a relentless, 126-minute ordeal of torture and crucifixion. For Christians and non-Christians alike, this film does not "entertain," and it's not a film that one can "like" or "dislike" in any conventional sense. (It is also emphatically not a film for children or the weak of heart.) Rather, The Passion is a cinematic experience that serves an almost singular purpose: to show the scourging and death of Jesus Christ in such horrifically graphic detail (with Gibson's own hand pounding the nails in the cross) that even non-believers may feel a twinge of sorrow and culpability in witnessing the final moments of the Son of God, played by Jim Caviezel in a performance that's not so much acting as a willful act of submission, so intense that some will weep not only for Christ, but for Caviezel's unparalleled test of endurance. ... dvd : The Passion of the Christ [ read more ]

This exclusive and official companion volume to Mel Gibson's film The Passion of Christ invites readers to ponder some of the most powerful still photographs from the movie. Gibson provides a foreword in which he briefly describes the inspiration for making the film and explains his decision to draw on Scripture and "accepted visions" of the Passion as the sole texts for the screenplay. In the book, relevant Scripture passages (from the New Living Translation, alongside Latin and Aramaic) are juxtaposed against stunning full-color photographs of the film's depiction of Jesus' final 12 hours. We see Jesus kneeling in Gethsemane, bloodied by soldiers, brought before Pontius Pilate, mocked by Herod and nailed to the cross. ... The Passion by Mel Gibson [ read more ]

The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson's controversial telling of the final hours of Jesus' life, is so graphically brutal that many moviegoers may not take notice of the film's score at all. But there surely is a score, and it's a testament to the talents of composer John Debney (Elf, Bruce Almighty) that his music skillfully underpins the film's dramatic grip without becoming a distraction from the compelling story. Debney rightly realized that for a story of such searing intensity, an equally forceful score would be (pardon the term) overkill, yet his atmospheric and evocative music admirably stands on its own. He makes use of only a few elements, recombining them in continual variation and to beautiful effect: Haunting drones, exotic flutes and reeds, wordless vocal cries, beating drums, and soaring strings feature in track after track of ethereal, entrancing music. Of course, there are moments of great power, too, particularly as the film draws near its tragic conclusion. "The Crucifixion" begins with low strings and builds to a grand orchestral climax that flows into an ardent hymn-like theme. Likewise, "Raising the Cross" combines deep, throbbing drums with a wordless chorus accented by distant vocal cries, while piercing calls from an otherworldly horn punctuate "Jesus Is Carried Down." "Resurrection" presents an opportunity for musical word-painting, and appropriately, an upward-climbing theme in the strings and voices joins with pulsating drums at this culminating point in the tale. It's a potent moment on a soundtrack that drives home the enduring story of The Passion of the Christ with subtlety, eloquence, and beauty. EJ Johnson
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Only one other movie soundtrack has made me emotionally moved. And that was Han Zimmer's Gladiator. Well, when I saw the trailer for "The Passion of The Christ," I was moved by it's music and imagery. I pre-ordered the CD before I saw the film, and now that I have it, I'm moved by it. It causes me to recall images from the movie that I found to be the most captivating (and horrifying) ever filmed. This soundtrack is amazing, and I'm so glad I own it.
Reviewer: Joie Mayfield from Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, TN, USA [ read more ]