Reviews
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
A Gospel story done Hollywood-style
Mel Gibson has made a super-violent version of the Gospel story of the Passion (ie. the suffering) of Christ. It recounts the story of Jesus's judgement by Pilate, the stations of the Cross and the crucificion itself.
The movie emphasises (some would say exaggerates!) the physical suffering of Jesus, but the question i kept asking myself during the movie was 'so what?'. Sure I felt a strong emotion - (ie. disgust) at the level of brutality, and some level of empathy with Jesus - but i'm not going to confuse this with feelings of spirituality!
If the movie was meant to be purely fictional - most reviewers would probably say it had a weak plot (the main character is condemned and then dies nailed to a cross, where's the plot there?) and it's only the violence that holds the movie together. There is very little dialogue and it's difficult to understand the motives of the characters.
Also I think it's fair to say the movie takes a lot of 'artistic' license with the Gospel stories (and the legend of the Stations of the Cross - which originated much later).
Some Hollywood-style additions include some horror-style special effects - a bunch of monster-children tormenting Peter, a giant raven (reminiscent of 'The Omen') that appears at the end to pluck out the eyes of one the criminals being crucified with Jesus not to mention the frequent appearance of a cloaked Devil-himself!
To finish on a more philosophical note. As an agnostic - i wonder if a Christian's faith is based partly on meditating about the huge physical sacrafice Jesus made - then i think the faith is built on shaky ground indeed, since crucificion and flogging were widespread back Roman times - yes it was very barbaric but thousands of people crucified (many who also claimed were prophets incidently). There was nothing 'special' about what happened to Jesus. True most of these people didn't died on their Cross forgiving the people who put them up there - but Jesus's message of love and forgiveness were common themes in much older religions. (eg Bhudda preached the same thing in 600BC!)
Confessions of a Burning Man (2003)
A good effort 8/10
This documentary comes off better than some of the previous ones on Burning Man.
One of the strongest aspects of the film is in capturing the amazing visual experience of the festival - with some great cinematography, also the soundtrack was excellent too.
The film also does a good job of touching on the spiritual side of the festival. A lot of Burners come seeking something - either a better knowledge of themselves or the world in general. I liked how it focused on the personal growth aspect instead of the usual nakedness, drugs & sex.
A major weakness though is the focus on the specific group of first-time Burners. These people didn't add a lot to the film I found and weren't really representative - they never seemed to really catch the Burner spirit. At best their stories were just boring - and at worst they remind me of self-absorbed winers they get on Survivor or the Real world (especially since they seemed to be a purposely diverse group thrown together in a rather contrived way). For me it would have been more interesting if the filmmakers included more dialog with Larry Harvey or others who could intelligently articulate something about the philosophies behind BM.
Overall though, an enjoyable and skillfully made documentary.
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
A Gospel story done Hollywood-style
Mel Gibson has made a super-violent version of the Gospel story of the Passion (ie. the suffering) of Christ. It recounts the story of Jesus's judgement by Pilate, the stations of the Cross and the crucificion itself.
The movie emphasises (some would say exaggerates!) the physical suffering of Jesus, but the question i kept asking myself during the movie was 'so what?'. Sure I felt a strong emotion - (ie. disgust) at the level of brutality, and some level of empathy with Jesus - but i'm not going to confuse this with feelings of spirituality!
If the movie was meant to be purely fictional - most reviewers would probably say it had a weak plot (the main character is condemned and then dies nailed to a cross, where's the plot there?) and it's only the violence that holds the movie together. There is very little dialogue and it's difficult to understand the motives of the characters.
Also I think it's fair to say the movie takes a lot of 'artistic' license with the Gospel stories (and the legend of the Stations of the Cross - which originated much later).
Some Hollywood-style additions include some horror-style special effects - a bunch of monster-children tormenting Peter, a giant raven (reminiscent of 'The Omen') that appears at the end to pluck out the eyes of one the criminals being crucified with Jesus not to mention the frequent appearance of a cloaked Devil-himself!
To finish on a more philosophical note. As an agnostic - i wonder if a Christian's faith is based partly on meditating about the huge physical sacrafice Jesus made - then i think the faith is built on shaky ground indeed, since crucificion and flogging were widespread back Roman times - yes it was very barbaric but thousands of people crucified (many who also claimed were prophets incidently). There was nothing 'special' about what happened to Jesus. True most of these people didn't died on their Cross forgiving the people who put them up there - but Jesus's message of love and forgiveness were common themes in much older religions. (eg Bhudda preached the same thing in 600BC!)