Just got back from seeing Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ". Wow, what an intense and brutal films. First, let me say I am a non-church-attending Catholic. The movie is probably the most brutally violent film I have ever seen. I was struck with the thought the even if the movie takes 90% creative license with the amount of violence, even the remaining 10% is horrifying to comprehend regardless if you believe Jesus was the son of God or just a Galilean carpenter. I didn't come out feeling that it maliciosusly portrayed the Jews as a whole. The individual temple leaders, especially Caiaphus, came across as politically motivated. In fact the movie portrays some temple council members as being opposed to the "conviction" of Jesus, who were subsequently thrown out from the temple. Anyone looking for an "prejudice" will only find one if they expect to find one. Even Pilate came across as a politically motivated character, who bowed to pressure from the mob.

The movie makes a definite impact, regardless of your beliefs. It's hard to watch the whipping and crucifixion without wincing. In my entire life, I have never seen an audience linger in the lobby quietly. It was surreal. It was as if everyone was waiting to see everyone's reactions. Lots of tears and sobriety.

I think this film succeeded in much the same way "Schindler's List" and "Titanic" did, in terms of the humanity of the story. When you read the bible (or other book) or watch Discovery Channel about these historical events, you often lose the human impact on the individual level. When you visually see all those people drown on the Titanic, live and die in a concentration camp in "Schindler's", or watch the nails impale be driven through the hands of Jesus, you are tapping into the humanity of these events. Often when you just read about them, you lose that connection.

I would like to go see it again in a few days to watch it from a technical perspective. Filmmaking is an extension of story-telling and Gibson should be commended for this project.