By Dan Ferris

Mel Gibson’s new film The Passion of the Christ has been greeted with as much controversy and anticipation as any film in years. And though this guarantees the film will make huge sums of money from the curious public, it also allows religion and theological clashes to overshadow what the analysis should be focused upon for any cinematic offering: the filmmaking. In that respect, The Passion of the Christ is very similar to recent critical-favorite Touching the Void. For the former, we see an hour of “real time” scourging, torture and crucifixion. The latter limits itself to about an hour of battling the elements, as a horribly injured man attempts to descend a perilous mountain. The problem in both cases is that an ordeal on film is made to be an ordeal for the audience, as well. Frankly put, too much of the same thing eventually becomes boring.

The film begins with terrific atmosphere, as Jesus (Jim Caviezel), who claims to be the son of God, prays in a mystical forest under the guard of his disciples. Jesus knows that the Jewish authority, the Pharisees, believe he is a blasphemer and want him dead. As such, he prays to God mournfully as the specter of Satan attempts to turn him toward the dark side while Jesus is at his most vulnerable. Eventually, the Pharisees seize Jesus and a brief battle ensues. Jesus shakes the determination of one Jewish guard when he magically restores the guard’s severed ear.

The Pharisees eventually bring Jesus to the Roman ruler of the land, Pontius Pilate, demanding he be crucified for going against their established religious hierarchy. Pilate is extraordinarily conflicted about Jesus, seeming to believe in the qualities Jesus claims to possess. He sends the Pharisees away to seek the rule of Herod instead of his own, though Herod promptly refuses to condemn Jesus and he is sent back to Pilate by the increasingly bloodthirsty mob. Knowing that refusal to follow the will of the people would create a rebellion, Pilate begrudgingly sends Jesus to be scourged. However, even that is not enough for the accusers, led by Caiphas.

What follows is essentially 20 minutes of scourging, 20 minutes of bearing the cross up a hill, and 20 minutes of actual crucifixion. The film currently runs a bit more than two hours and gets tedious; trimming several minutes off the hill walk and a bit from the crucifixion would certainly improve the film’s pacing. The visuals are indeed incredible, making us feel as though we are actually in the time and place of the events (the Director of Photography and Production Designer deserve recognition here), but even imagistic richness is not enough to counter endless repetition of the same thing.

The same criticism can even be levied against Caviezel, as well as Maia Morgenstern and Monica Bellucci (Mary and Mary-Magdalene, respectively). Though Caviezel totally embodies him here, Jesus spends much of the movie wincing, collapsing or heaving. Both Marys have little to do but cry as they watch the torture unfold. Morgenstern has an expressive face and captures the idea of a mother’s grief well, but neither she, nor Bellucci in particular, have a whole lot to do in the movie.

Mel Gibson’s direction is incredible for visual splendor, but his ideas for pacing and variety leave much to be desired. Though the final moments of the film are uplifting ones, as we do see Jesus come back to life after his corpse was entombed, it seems Gibson’s vision for the film was limited to the torture Jesus endured. Though it is no consolation to a bored audience, one can only expect singular focus from such a narrow vision.

Regardless of what people may be saying, The Passion of the Christ is certainly not a life-altering experience. It is quite simply an artist’s interpretation, of writers’ interpretations, of ancient stories. As such, there is no reason for adults to bring children to the film in the guise that it is instructional. This R-rated film is certainly more deserving of an NC-17 than The Dreamers. Far from the stylized mayhem of Kill Bill: Volume 1, this is pure and unadulterated torture that perhaps should have remained limited to the world of nightmares.

Final Grade: B-