[LeCercleRouge]

The Passion of the Christ is (or was envisioned) as a silent film. It certainly follows the story of Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) and Gibson seems to be obsessed with the imagery of Christensen's Haxan (1922). The only difference being that Gibson replaced Christensen's demonic imagery with pornographic portrayals of violence.


Agree or Disagree? Should the Passion have inter-titles instead of subtitles?

Is Gibson taking these classic films a step further in his Passion of the Christ? Is Gibson's shocking use of violence similar to Christensen's use of torture in Haxan? Is Gibson's film similar to the films of the masters of the silent era. Is Gibson trying to show that the Elders tortured the Christ in an attempt to get him to recant his claims of divinity... That the Elders abused and savaged Christ in such a way (thankfully unsuccessfully) as to force Christ to renounce his divinity, yet in the end no amount of pain could force Christ to renounce his LOVE for mankind. I mean, in Gibson's film, it is the Elders who grow tired of the torture and walk off, while Christ stands up and asks for more scourging.

Just typing out loud.


On the excessive use of violence
But didn’t Dreyer’s imagery of Joan burning at the stake spark controversy? Is immolation and demonic possession any more objectionable than violence? Why do critics hail these silent films as masterpieces but attack Gibson’s movie as meaningless, pornographic, sadomasochistic, homo-erotic, and devoid of spiritual revelation?