ZGram - 7/1/2003 - "Mel Gibson's THE PASSION"

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny:  Now more than ever!

July 1, 2003

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Anything the ADL hates with such undisguised rage, I want to see! 

We all have been aware of the commotion around Mel Gibson's Passion 
in a tangential way, and here is a preview worth reading.  I would 
strongly suggest that we get as many video and CD copies as we can 
get, as soon as they become availalbe, because my feeling is this 
film is going to be holocausted.

Get a feel for The Passion:

[START]

FEATURE: REVIEW OF MEL GIBSON'S NEW FILM!

June 26, 2003
'I Saw the Passion'
Posted by Lew Rockwell at June 26, 2003 02:33 PM
John Zmirak writes: "In case you were wondering what the film will be like..."

I SAW THE PASSION
By Barbara Nicolosi

So I was at a private screening at Icon Productions yesterday, and got to
see a rough cut of The Passion. There were about twelve people in the room,
including Mel Gibson, his producing partner Steve and four or five other
Icon staffers. After the screening, we talked to Mel and friends for about
an hour. (As cool as that was, the quality of the film was such that the
celebrity stuff was completely gone from the moment. I can't explain it
really, except that it would be like standing in the Sistine Chapel next
to, well, someone like Mel Gibson. Great art is a great leveler....) The
rough cut we saw obviously didn't have the final score or special effects,
and there were many more sub-titles than they will have in the finished film.

So, here's my take...


The Passion is a stunning work of art. It is a devout, act of worship from
Mel and his collaborators - in the way that Handel's Messiah and Notre Dame
were artistic acts of worship in previous times.

Let's get the controversy out of the way right at the top. The film is
faithful to the Gospel, particularly St. John. It is no more anti-Semitic
than is the Gospel.

[politicalsoldier.net says: And there's the rub! For groups like the ADL,
the Gospel surely is 'Anti-Semitic'...]

Having seen the film now, I can only marvel that the attacks are pretty
much demonic. Hopefully, the Devil will end up spitefully biting his own
tail on this one-- as he does in The Passion by inciting on the
executioners of Christ, and thus being complicit in his own ultimate
defeat. The Passion is high art. It is the greatest movie about Jesus ever
made. In the discussion following the film, Mel and co. were asking us how
mainstream theater audiences would react to the film. I told them, "Who
cares? What you have here is so much more than just a product to sell. It
will live forever, regardless of whether it is a commercial success for you
or not."

For those of us who love Jesus, The Passion is devastating to watch. It is
so good, I almost couldn't stand it. There is one moment on the way of the
cross sequence, in which the whole tragedy unfolding devolves into a
vicious riot of hatred between Romans and Jews with the Savior on the
ground in the middle of it getting it from both sides. It was so frenzied
and terrible, I wanted to run from the room. But then, the film again finds
Mary, Jesus's Mother on the sidelines, and her presence gets us through it.
Kind of like how Mary's presence helped Jesus get through it, it seemed to me.

The film is lovingly Marian. Mary is perfectly portrayed here. She is
contrasted repeatedly with the really super creepy Satan character, who is
also a woman (something for the feminist theologians here? heh heh...).

The film is strongly Eucharistic. There is a beautiful juxtaposition of
images that cuts from the stripping on Calvary to the unwrapping of the
bread to be used at the last Supper. Fabulous stuff.

Every Christian needs to see this film at least once. Just to remember, in
our current comfort zones while evil is closing in, the price that was paid
for us. On my way home from the screening, I found myself praying in the
car, "Jesus, I'm so sorry, I forgot..." How many films have led you to
compunction lately? The Passion is a miracle.

[END]