Passion: an irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action
What if Mel Gibson\’s already famous/infamous film, \”The Pasion\”, just doesn\’t turn out to be a big deal? I think that would be the most interesting outcome; lots of people rush out to see it (I probably will), and it\’s just underwhelming.
Oh I know, I \’ve heard people say that nobody, NO BODY, will leave the theater without having had a strong emotional response. But just \’cause they say it don\’t make it so, and I\’ve had similar experiences with other films (see my yet unwritten post about how everyone peed their pants about \”The Lord of The Rings,\” and when I finally went to see it I just felt sleepy).
This review by David Denby in The New Yorker gives me a pretty good impression of what the film is like.
It\’s bloody. Just like \”The Patriot\” and \”Braveheart\” before it. In a way, I guess, it\’s a logical progression. \”The Patriot\” was just \”Braveheart II\” with the men wearing wigs instead of skirts.
And \”The Passion\” sounds like it\’s going to be \”Braveheart III\” with the men wearing robes instead of skirts.
So, basically, Mel Gibson\’s movies have a marked tendency towards blurring gender lines and extreme violence.
And remember that scene in \”Braveheart\” where the whole hard-scrabble army, with Gibson at the fore, turns and moons the evil English? Maybe there\’s a scene like that in this film. I can\’t even bring myself to describe what it would be like.
But I don\’t think you can count on moving audiences by just showing them Jesus and the apostles mooning the Romans. And I don\’t think you can really shock people by showing them a bunch of blood and dismemberment. This stuff is not news to us. We have seen it before.
And if \”The Passion\” ends up being more about the violence of the crucifixion than Jesus himself, it may still be a good movie, but it won\’t be that big of a deal.
Unless they put Jesus in a kilt … now that\’s real cinema.
I\’m telling you, man, kilts!