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Hollywood.com review

by Leigh Johnson

"Gibson's argument that his film is taken directly from the gospels simply doesn't wash with detractors. Yes, there are biblical passages that implicate the priests of a certain sect of Judaism in turning Jesus over to the Romans, and yes, the story says the Jewish people of the time chose to release from prison the thief Barabbas rather than Jesus. But the Vatican II reforms of 1962-65 absolved Jews from any such responsibility, and placing these dated ideas back into mainstream culture, detractors say, could incite those already inclined to anti-Semitism to new levels of hatred." 

The Passion - what's not in the Bible

The Beliefnet staff explains where Mel Gibson got some material for the film that's not in the Bible. Read the article. Other reviews and commentaries below also address this topic.  Also see Wikipedia's list of Details in the film not present in the Scriptures.  You may also want to read about details in the film, that are present in the Gospels.

Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Comment

"For filmmakers to do justice to the biblical accounts of the passion, they must complement their artistic vision with sound scholarship, which includes knowledge of how the passion accounts have been used historically to disparage and attack Jews and Judaism. Absent such scholarly and theological understanding, productions such as The Passion could likely falsify history and fuel the animus of those who hate Jews."

The Power and The Passion:
Muslim Wakeup review

"Gibson strips Christ of all the Western mythical and cultural baggage to reveal a man who has more in common with someone being bashed by an Israeli soldier than with the soldier. Christ’s female companions are shown as having more in common with the Palestinian girls in Hebron being harassed by Jewish settlers than with the Jewish settlers themselves.

And what language does Christ speak? Is it American English? Is it modern Europeanized Israeli Hebrew? No. It is Aramaic, a cognate language of Arabic (and ancient Hebrew) still spoken in parts of Iraq and Syria by the Assyrian Christians. In fact, all their services are in Aramaic, and their church music and hymns are in Aramaic. A far cry from St. Andrews choir!"

Beyond Bias: The Passion of the Christ

DecentFilms.com

"Although Gibson, unlike his sede-vacantist father Hutter Gibson, appears not to be in schism from Rome, the younger Gibson does have Traditionalist sympathies that worry Foxman [of the ADL], who reasonably enough would like to see modern-day Passion plays be in the spirit of Vatican II and John Paul II."

... "Compared to the gospels, the character of Pontius Pilate in the film is more nuanced and sympathetic than the canonical figure, while Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest, is somewhat less so."

... "Pilate fears a riot, while Caiaphas fears a Roman crackdown."

... "the film omits the canonical line from John’s gospel in which Caiaphas argues that it is better for one man to die for the people that the nation be saved. Had Gibson retained this line, perhaps giving Caiaphas a measure of the inner conflict he gave to Pilate, it could have underscored the similarities between Caiaphas and Pilate and helped defuse the issue of anti-Semitism."

..."at the moment of the crucifixion itself, Mel Gibson’s own hand [is the one that] holds the nail to be driven through Jesus’ hand, symbolizing the director’s acknowledgement that it was finally for his own sins — for the sins of the whole world, not of any one generation or people — that Jesus died."

Hymn to a Savage God

John Dominic Crossan

Mel Gibson uses a 'hidden script' based on visions of a German nun in making his film.

"Gibson manages, actually, to negate every single one of the 1988 U.S. Bishops' Criteria for the Evaluation of Dramatizations of the Passion in adapting his [Anne Catherine] Emmerich script."

Newsweek Movie Review

By David Ansen

"What you remember is the image of a crow plucking out the eyes of the thief on the cross next to Jesus, punished by God for mocking his son. Caviezel gives an eloquent physical performance, but he has little opportunity to show the Messiah's spiritual charisma; this Jesus' most noteworthy trait is his ability to absorb pain.

"... at various moments his images call to mind the paintings of Caravaggio (the grotesque cherubs who hound Judas to suicide), grisly 15th- and 16th-century paintings of the Crucifixion and Pieta, and such horror movies as "The Exorcist" and "Jacob's Ladder."

"Relentlessly savage, "The Passion" plays like the Gospel according to the Marquis de Sade. ... It's the sadism, not the alleged anti-Semitism, that is most striking. ... There's always been a pronounced streak of sadomasochism and martyrdom running through Gibson's movies, both as an actor and as a filmmaker."

"...with its drastically produced presentation of cruelties and atrocities it minimizes the central message of the holy gospel. This applies especially with an audience that is not familiar with Christian faith. It can easily lead to misunderstandings"

   -- Statement by Cardinal Lehmann

Pirated DVDs of ‘The Passion of Christ’ Flood Jeddah

Even Muslim countries are showing interest in seeing the much talked-about film.

The Passion of The Christ Review

Excerpts from an article by Steven D. Greydanus,
for the National Catholic Register

"Notwithstanding at-times exaggerated claims of historical accuracy and fidelity to the gospels from some of the film’s defenders, 'The Passion of the Christ' is not an attempt to depict the sufferings of Christ exactly as described in the New Testament. Rather, while following the basic outline of the passion narratives, the film is an imaginative, at times poetic reflection on the meaning of the gospel story in light of sacred tradition and Catholic theology."

"Consider the following incident: As Jesus is being flogged, Claudia, the wife of Pilate, approaches the Blessed Virgin and Mary Magdalene bearing folded linens, which she gives to them. After Jesus is taken away, the two Marys go down on the flagstones and begin mopping up the blood of Jesus which has been spilled around the pillar."

"This incident, found nowhere in the gospels; comes from the visionary writings of Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich, the 19th-century stigmatic and mystic whose Dolorous Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ significantly influenced the screenplay for The Passion of the Christ."

"The scourging at the pillar is also the occasion of one of Gibson’s own most singular, unnerving imaginative flourishes."

"The depiction of the Jewish mob may be unflattering, but it pales to insignificance beside the unmitigated barbarism of the Roman brute squad. We also see the high priest Caiaphas watching the scourging — not sadistically reveling in the spectacle of Jesus’ sufferings, but clearly troubled, finding it painful to watch. ... this humanizing touch is original to the film."

"... the single most overwhelming aspect of the scourging at the pillar remains its sheer savagery."

"The Passion of the Christ is an artistic expression of the faith, not the faith itself. Yet it is also a preeminently important cinematic expression of the faith — probably one of the most important religious films of all time. It tells only a part of the gospel story, as the passion narratives themselves are only a part of the gospels; but that part is the very crux: that Christ died for us." 

Slate magazine review

By David Edelstein

"The idea that Jesus died for the sins of mankind is one of the central tenets of Christian faith. But Gibson has chosen those sections of the Gospels (especially the Gospel of Matthew) that reflect the tension between Jews and Christians 50 years after the crucifixion, when the new religion's proselytizers were trying to convert, rather than incite, the Roman authorities. This is the sort of passion play that makes people mad."

"Pilate, whom historians identify as a surpassingly cruel ruler responsible for crucifying many thousands to maintain his authority, is portrayed as a sorrowful, even-tempered man whose wife ... shows acts of loving kindness toward Mary ... and Mary Magdalene ... Pilate is shocked by the Jews' brutality and by the determination of the priest Caiphas ... to see this so-called blasphemer executed. While Pilate wrinkles his forehead, searching his tender conscience, sundry Jews lean into the camera and hiss or keen through rotted teeth."

Edelstein calls the movie a "protracted exercise in sadomasochism." 

Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ:
A Challenge to Catholic Teaching

"This combination of the Johannine scourging as Pilate’s effort to free Jesus with Matthew’s scene of Pilate washing his hands of responsibility results in a depiction of Jewish hostility that is more relentless, implacable, and evil than either Gospel on its own conveys." 

Doctrinal Notes on The Passion of The Christ

by the Doctrinal Commission of the French Bishops Conference. 

"From a theological perspective the film’s most problematic aesthetic option lies in the decision to isolate the passion from the teachings of Jesus, on the one hand, and from the resurrection narratives on the other." 

Comments about movie scenes

Scene selections mirror paintings

"The Passion of The Christ" was produced in Italy, with scenes that seem selected to evoke Caravaggio's paintings, grisly 15th -- and 16th-century paintings of the Crucifixion and Pieta.

Tradition and iconography

Many scenes in the movie are inspired by Catholic tradition and iconography, and are not actually part of the New Testament.

Mel Gibson's fake "Passionate" effects

More hold Jews Responsible for Christ's Death

A poll from the Pew Research Center says that more people now think that the Jews were responsible for Jesus' death.

Resources