Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Politics Fan on August 21, 2003 at 14:17:26

Mel Gibson's new movie "The Passion" is slated for general release of Ash Wenesday.
With dialogue in Aramaic and Latin - subtitled in English - a rough cut was screened on July 21st.

Michael Novak:

"It is the most powerful movie I have ever seen.
In the days since watching that rough cut,
I have not been able to get the film out of my mind.
Although I have read many books on the death of Jesus,
and heard countless sermons dwelling on its details,
I would never have believed a human being could
suffer as much as Gibson's Christ does."

"The sounds of the unfamiliar tongue put the viewer outside
any one time or place, in a kind of timeless, universal space.
The mood "The Passion" generates is meditative and contemplative.
The tone is awe. One finds one's emotions hushed.
For minutes after the film ended, the audience at the showing
I attended did not speak or move.
We felt part of an indescribably important human moment.
We had been drawn into an axial point of silence and wonder."

• Review of "The Passion" by Michael Novak   (Open in New Window)