The Passion

This miniseries was hard to find. I read about it years ago in a magazine and it sounded really interesting. It's a British production that was never shown in the United States. I was able to get a copy of the DVD from Greece of all places, via Ebay. Most DVD versions won't play on American DVD players, thankfully this one does.

After watching it I think it's a good miniseries. Obviously, it will be compared with Mel Gibson's film. Gibson's film packed an emotional wallop that this film didn't. I view Gibson's film as the Stations of the Cross and the Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary put on film focusing on the suffering of Jesus. This film focuses on the political and religious milieu of the first century Judea that lead to Jesus' death.

This film begins on Palm Sunday and the events of Holy Week. Joseph Mawle makes a good Jesus, but as not as good as other actors like Jim Caviezel or Robert Powell. The supporting cast was really good. The production values were good, too. I thought the script was mostly good, but there were times that could've been better. I think if writer had stayed closer to scriptures concerning Jesus dialogue that would have been better. I had mixed feelings about how Mary, Jesus' mother was portrayed. The actress did a good job but some of her lines I thought could've been better. The writing could have been better in spots, but it wasn't terrible by any means.

I liked the fact they made Caiaphas a three dimensional person, played by Ben Daniels, who did a good job in the role. James Nesbit made a good Pilate despite his Irish accent.

The crucifixion scenes were effective and somewhat graphic, but nowhere near as graphic as Gibson's film. I also liked the resurrection scenes, which can be tricky to do, but they did a good job on them.

It's definitely worthwhile seeing once, if you haven't seen it.

The Passion tells the story of the last week of Jesus' life from three points of view: that of religious leaders with Caiaphas (Ben Daniels), Annas (Denis Lawson), Sagan (John Lynch); that of the Romans with Pilate (James Nesbitt) as starring, and , of course, that of Jesus (Joseph Mawle) and his disciples: Apostle Marcus (Mark Lewis Jones), Apostle Matthew (Daniel Evans) Apostle Peter (Darren Morfitt), Apostle John (Jamie Sives), Apostle Thaddaeus (Steve Morphew), Apostle Thomas (Lewis Clay), Apostle Philip (Tom Ellis), as well as Mary (Penelope Wilton) and Mary Magdalene (Paloma Baeza). Meantime, Barrabbas (Stephen Graham) and followers struggle to deal with seek the best course of resistance to Roman oppression embodied by the political savvy Pontius Pilate . Throughout we follow the well-known incidents in the last days of Jesus' life. In the Garden of Gethsemane near the Mount of Olives, Jesus and betrayed by Judas (Paul Nicholls). Jesus is condemned to death for blasphemy and brought before Pontius Pilate the Roman governor of Judea, for sentencing. The roaring crowd demand his death, so Pilate orders his crucifixion. Jesus is severely beaten and made to carry his cross up to Golgotha, the hill outside Jerusalem, where he is nailed to the cross. This is a highly regarded epic dealing with a dramatic recreation of the life of Christ from the Crucifixion and Resurrection , through the Ascention .

This is a decent transposition of life in the tragic last week of Jesus' life, which is considered the Passion of Christ, and Holy Week. Filmed on a relatively medium scale by director Michael Offer, written by Frank Deasy and being efficiently produced by the prestigious HBO and BBC. The series, in six thirty-minute episodes, looks quite good; it follows the biblical canon, barely deviating from the rigid religious canon, which I believe is how it should be. Anyone who wants inventive convolutions, blasphemies, or dramatic flourishes should watch the far worse "The Last Temptation of Christ."

The series is developed under three points of view: First, 'the Jew' whose main representation is Caiaphas, he convinces the Temple council such a revolutionary is too great a danger: Jesus must be arrested, tried and if unrepentant handed to the Romans for execution. Second, 'The Romans' with Pilate who tries to avoid pronouncing a crucifixion as Jesus denies the claim of earthly power, so he offers the people his release or that of vile murderer Jesus Barabbas. Third viewpoint , 'Jesus and his apostles', as Jesus keeps preaching, not only to his disciples during the Passover preparations and Last Supper itself, but also in public, against the established order; while reluctant informer Judas is pressed to betray his master, who just foretold this and his sacrifice, by a kiss.

The main novelties of the film with respect to other stories portraying this divine figure are the following: that the cross of the crucified Jesus - together with those of the other two crucified men: Dimas and Gestas - does not have the shape of a Latin cross, but rather a 'T shape'; the sensitive background song in oriental style when Jesus is taken down from the cross and that Joseph of Arimathea, well played by David David Oyelowo , is a black man. And the narrow streets in which Jesus has to carry the wood (not in the form of a cross) on which he is to be crucified, being carried through the streets of Ouarzazate, Morocco. The latter is a location where many biblical epics have been set since ancient times.

Other pictures dealing with his divine presence are the following : ¨King of Kings¨ (released in 1927) , first silent version by Cecil B. DeMille with H. B. Wagner ; ¨King of Kings¨(1961) by Nicholas Ray with Jeffrey Hunter, Harry Guardino, Robert Ryan, Ron Randell, Carmen Sevilla, this is the yardstick by which all Jesus movies are to be measure .¨The greatest story ever told¨ (1965) by George Stevens with Max Von Sidow , Charlton Heston , Jose Ferrer , Sidney Poitier , Claude Rains ; ¨Gospel according to Matthew¨ by Pier Paolo Pasolini with Enrique Irazoqui as Jesus ; ¨Jesus Christ Superstar¨(1977) by Norman Jewison with Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson ; ¨Jesus de Nazareth¨(1977) by Franco Zeffirelli with Robert Powell , Olivia Hussey , James Mason , Laurence Olivier , Anne Brancfort , Fernando Rey ; ¨Last temptation of Christ¨ by Martin Scorsese with Willem Dafoe , David Bowie , Harvey Keitel , Ian Holm , Harry Dean Staton ; and ¨The Passion of the Christ¨ (2004) by Mel Gibson with James Cazievel , Maia Morgenstern and Monica Belucci .

I have just bought this on DVD from Amazon after years of failing to find it on Netflix, Prime or youtube. In my opinion it's a really wonderful dramatisation of the Easter story - and Joseph Mawle is the best Jesus I've ever seen. He looks very similar to the image on the Turin Shroud, and I wonder if this was deliberate? That face . . . those eyes. But he also manages to portray a man who is also a son of God, which is no mean feat. All in all, a fantastic production that seems to have not got as many plaudits as it deserves - for anyone wanting to watch something at Easter to remind them of what it is really all about, you can't go wrong with this :)

This HBO/BBC production has some good things like the production itself, the acting and the scenery, but if you want to see a mini series that brings you closer to the Passion of Jesus, this is not an option.

As a Catholic I'm really disappointed that it left out so many key moments that are crucial in the account of the Passion found in the Bible, moments that explain and reaffirm Jesus' holiness. It feels that the writer was in a hurry to tell a part of the story and be done with it, cutting out what he personally felt was not important.

Nice try, but I would never see it again, specially when there are other productions that better depict the Passion and its true value.