Gibson's directing robs 'Christ' of passion
The controversial movie
is impeded by a reliance
on unrelated flashbacks
and liberties with the story
By Ryan Nyburg
Senior Pulse Reporter
Making a film about a religious fig
ure is always a difficult task. Trying to
create a cohesive narrative out of the
complex imagery and historical bag
gage collect
MOVIE
REVIEW
ed over
thousands of
years is no
small chore;
filtering it
through the
personal vision of cinema increases the
problems tenfold.
For these reasons alone, "The Pas
sion of the Christ" is one of the most
ambitious projects of the year. But it
takes more than ambition to make
good cinema, something that director
Mel Gibson should have kept in mind.
The film is a depiction of the last 12
hours of the life of Jesus Christ
(played by James Caviezel), from his
betrayal by Judas to his death on the
cross. His resurrection is also briefly
depicted at the end, but the film
makes it feel like an afterthought. The
dialogue is entirely in Aramaic and
Latin, with subtides. This is an appar
ent move toward authenticity, though
that's rather beside the point. With
most of the script citing directly from
the Gospel, which is not the most dia
logue-heavy of texts, there is little for
the actors to actually say.
From a technical perspective, the
film is well-made. Gibson creates a vi
sion of biblical Jerusalem, which feels
like a world unto itself. The cinematog
raphy is of particular note and man
ages to be both stylized but unobtru
sive. For example, there is a "cross-eye
view" shot during the crucifixion scene,
where the camera rises with the cross
as it is raised but always looks down at
the spectators below. It's a great shot —
one that doesn't draw much attention
to itself.
Ihe film's editing is a little more lop
sided. There are some interesting juxta
positions, such as cutting from Pontius
Pilate literally washing his hands of Je
sus' execution to a flashback of Jesus
and his disciples washing their hands
before the last supper. But these cuts
rarely work since they point to connec
tions and deeper meanings that just do
not exist. Gibson also has a fondness
for slow-motion sequences that is at
times infuriating. Much of the film's
126-minute running time is spent ei
ther showing the characters exchang
ing meaningful glances, or on the
equally high number of times Jesus
collapses from his beatings and slowly
rises again. This sort of melodrama
soon wears thin.
These are all problems that a more
judiciously minded editor would have
handled. The problems with the film's
narrative; on the other hand, are what
deter from it the most. Gibson can't
seem to balance artistic license with the
need to stick as close to the source as
possible Because characters in the film
rarely say anything that is not in the
Gospel, very little exposition and hard
ly any character development take
place. Silent filmmakers used to han
dle these problems with imaginative
visual structures, but Gibson seems to
lack this sort of filmmaking skill.
The exposition problem soon be
comes so severe that anyone without a
working knowledge of the Bible will
have trouble figuring out who is who
and why any of this is important. The
audience for the film becomes entirely
regulated to those familiar with the
text, something that would be unfor
givable in a filmmaker adapting, for ex
ample, 'The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
Furthermore, when Gibson takes
artistic license, it is often ill-advised.
Many of his additions to the text are
unnecessary at best and detrimental at
worst. Aside from not being in any
Gospel account a flashback to the time
when Jesus is happily working as a car
penter and being , fussed at by his
mother fits poorly into the film. The
purpose of the scene is probably to
show Jesus as a human being, but it
fails. Throughout the film he seems
like nothing more than a superhuman
glutton for punishment. This is anoth
er area where the overall lack of exposi
tion causes problems. By trying so hard
to depict him as a divine figure — right
down to the golden eyes — Gibson
completely forgets to make Jesus a
character anyone can relate to.
There are two areas of controversy
surrounding the film that are worthy of
discussion. The first is the charge of
anti-Semitism, due the filmmaker's de
piction of the Jews as directly causing Je
sus' death. Since this is how the Gospel
depicted it, the problem can been seen
as being with the source material rather
than the film itself. The film's real prob
lem is that filmmakers don't seem to
know how to depict the Jewish people
they present. There are few distinct Jew
Courtesy
James Caviezel plays Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’s controversial “The Passion of the Christ.”
ish characters, and most Jews in the film
are members of the faceless mob or one
of the high priests. The Jews are so
vaguely portrayed that they never seem
to take on any personality. Those who
are actually depicted as real characters
only really become so after they realize
the divinity of Jesus, which is a rather
preachy attitude for the film to take. It
only amplifies the feeling that this is
nothing more than a two-hour sermon.
The other issue is the film's vio
lence. While it is certainly bloody at
times, this violence is mostly relegat
ed to two sequences. The first is a
nearly 15-minute scene in which Jesus
is beaten and flailed by Roman sol
diers. The other sequence is the cruci
fixion scene, which is at least realistic.
The violence is no worse than what
appears in your average 1980s slasher
film and accusing a crucifixion of be
ing violent seems rather ridiculous.
These issues aside, the film feels like a
wasted effort. While trying so hard to
make his personal vision of Jesus'
death, Gibson forgot to make a film.
Contact the senior Pulse reporter
at ryannyburg@dailyemerald.com.
Folk dance workshop will feature Croatian instructor
Croatian choreographer
Zeljko Jergan will teach
a workshop this weekend
at Mac’s at the Vet’s Club
By Natasha Chilingerian
Pulse Reporter
Each year, Veselo Community
Folk Dancers invite a foreign dance
instructor to share a different cul
ture's moves with Eugene. This time
around, they're presenting the lively,
Eastern European jives of Croatia.
International choreographer and
Croatia native Zeljko Jergan will
teach a workshop during a song and
dance festival this weekend at Mac's
at the Vet's Club, located at 1626
Willamette St.
Veselo Community Folk Dancers
Courtesy
Folk band Chubrrtza will provide Eastern European music for a dance party Saturday night.
Steering Committee Chairman
Shirley Reeves said a Croatian dance
theme was chosen for its upbeat
sights and sounds.
"It's very cheerful music," she
said. "They use mandolins and
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Participants are invited to have
lunch at Mac's at the Vet's Club
restaurant at noon, and the work
shop will resume at 1:30 p.m. and
end at 4:30 p.m. Jergan will discuss
the culture of his country at 11 a.m.
on Sunday, followed by a coffee
break at noon with free snacks.
Workshop participants will then
have a chance to wrap up their les
son during a workshop review from
12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
During Saturday7s lunch break, lo
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Croatia. The seven-member folk
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gene's Saturday Market and has
performed around the Northwest,
sticks to music from the Balkan
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