The Passion Of The Christ

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="06dd8c02dduajq.jpg"> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="11" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="11">   <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="11" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="11">       <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="11" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="11">   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="At The Movies With Lutz"><U><IMG SRC="0660b0b0.png" border=0 width="11" height="11" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="a1eb8040.jpg" border=0 width="184" height="260" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#003333" FACE="Arial" ><B>Judy & Lutz Perschon</B></FONT>     |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Judy Lutz Perschon"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >back to</FONT>  <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="At The Movies With Lutz"><U><B>At The Movies With Lutz</B></U></A></div> <div> The Passion Of The Christ</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="779" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 426 WIDTH="767"><div> The Passion of The Christ is one of those movies that you will either love or hate. There won’t be much middle ground.   There are basically three perspectives from which this movie will be viewed; Christianity, Judaism, and everybody else. </div> <div> For Christians this is a must see. Assuming that the research was properly done, this portrayal of Christ’s suffering before He died will give Christians a new outlook on what Christ actually endured.  But a subtle warning.  Be prepared for seeing a very violent movie. It has an R rating for its violence. One of the controversies surrounding this film is the question - is it too graphic?  Some argue the violence is excessive, and I must admit I agree with them to a point.  However, that’s almost certainly the way it happened.  Whether you believe Christ was who Christianity claims He was, or not, you can’t smooth over historical fact, and floggings and crucifixion under Roman rule were violent.  Perhaps I just didn’t want to accept such things were ever a reality.  On the other hand the Passion Plays of the past may have been portrayed his suffering too lightly, and this movie will balance the scales.</div> <div> The second major controversy surrounding this movie is whether it would motivate anti-Semitic feelings.  It shouldn’t.  But this is the perspective I suspect most of the Jewish community would view it with.   If Christ came to redeem all mankind throughout all ages for their sins, Christians can’t blame the Jews.  People of other faiths don’t believe in Christ as God, so aren’t likely to raise a hue and cry against the Jewish community as a result. There remains the possibility that some could use it for such purposes, but theirs would be in conflict with the film maker’s apparent intent.</div> <div> For those outside the Christian faith community this movie may be hard to understand. If one doesn’t believe Christ was the Son of God, why would one go and see it. Well one might go because of the controversy surrounding the movie, or out of simple curiosity. Unfortunately without the whole story, this movie may raise a whole lot of questions. Without the context of the larger story of Christ’s life, this movie is just a guy taking an unbelievable beating and unjust execution.  Roger Ebert said, “this is the most violent film I have ever seen.”</div> <div> The movie is superbly done with great detail to historical accuracy. That is not to say Mel Gibson didn’t take some artistic license. But the actors are believable in their roles and the fact the film is in the Aramaic language with English subtitles gives it that much more realism. Personally I was distracted by the subtitling, but for many it made the movie that more powerful. Certainly it had to be a great challenge to the actors.</div> <div> I highly recommend you go and see this movie, and listen closely at the start.  We see Satan asking Jesus whether any man can bear this burden he faces. During the movie you may agree that no man could bear that, which of course brings you to the question of whether Christ was God or not. And on that question there is no middle ground either.  [Edited by Mike Perschon with my thanks. LP]</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 51 WIDTH="767"><div> Lutz's Rating <IMG SRC="0fb15150.gif" border=0 width="21" height="21" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <IMG SRC="0fb15150.gif" border=0 width="21" height="21" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Judy's Rating - <IMG SRC="0fb15150.gif" border=0 width="21" height="21" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <IMG SRC="0fb15150.gif" border=0 width="21" height="21" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 82 WIDTH="767"><div> Storyline From Yahoo:  <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="arial" >This film tells the story of the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus (Caviezel), on the day of his crucifixion in Jerusalem. This film's script is based upon several sources, including the diaries of St. Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) as collected in the book, "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ", "The Mystical City of God" by St. Mary of Agreda, and the New Testament books of John, Luke, Mark and Matthew. </FONT></div> <div> <B>Ratings: Critics B-     Users A-</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>