Le jour où le Christ est mort

No doubt Mel Gibson watched this movie before he made his Passion, the similarities are clear. But what a joke! As a Jew who is NOT a Christian, but is a historian. I can tell you that I have never seen such a bad movie on the Jesus myth. Also, why is the Sanhedrin, the body of Jewish rabbis shown as a group of bumbling fools? The Sanhedrin were the top of the top of the intellectuals and scholars. If anything, the Romans who had near no education should have been the ones who looked like fools. Why are these Jews from ancient times wearing modern Jewish prayer cloths (Talletot)? And to have them hanging over their left shoulder only? Makes no sense at all. Also, the Sanhedrin is standing in a room surrounded by 9th century Morrish woodcut motifs. I would call this "Passion-Lite" because it is just as inaccurate as Gibson's movie, only it was done 24 years earlier.

This movie is not as good as all the movies of Christ I've ever seen. And I'm quite amazed that in this story Pilate wants to finish Jesus, when the Scriptures (as well the other movies) state differently. It lacks also a very important issue: The Resurrection.. None of the other movies skip this very important part: the faith of all of us Christians lies in this very event. As Paul says in one of his letters "If Christ did not rise from the dead, our faith is vain". A very impressive scene for me in this movie was seeing on the streets the remains of the palms that were used when Jesus entered Jerusalem.

Finally, and in opposition to my Jewish co-commentator, Jesus WAS NOT a myth. And as a matter of fact, he was also a JEW. There are plenty of documents (relgious and secular) that prove the existence of this extraordinary man(or should I said, God become a man) that indeed changed mankind. I strongly advise him(given he is a historian) to read about Flavius Josephus, the most brilliant Jewish commentator of the 1st. Century.

I enjoyed the interweaving of the story from the scriptures and the untold story that went on around and behind the history that we have recorded. I found it creative and certainly possible. Since the overwhelming interest in the recent Mel Gibson Movie, 'The Passion of the Christ' has stirred up interest in the biblical story; it is interesting to see what some previous filmed points of view have been. This movie brings up some possible conversations, manipulations and intrigues that went on among various characters present at the time of Christ. I found many of their insights both intuitive and highly probable. The writers leave the end up to the watcher as to what you believe, but the interesting perspective on what was going on 'off camera' so to speak gave me lots to think about. Watch it to widen your perspective about some of the unwritten possibilities - I found it very interesting.

Perspective from an 8-year old kid: This wasn't a Jesus portrayal I expected. In Catholic school, we're taught about a photogenic, almost hippie- resembling Jesus. (Jeffrey Hunter) or an almost tragically- beautiful Jesus (Robert Powell.) Even a strange-looking Max Von Sydow was acceptable. The reality of Chris Sarandon as Jesus made the suffering in the film all the more real to an 8-year old. This Jesus had fun, played around, joked, had friends, and didn't have the divine strength to ensure the suffering--he was truly about terrified about the ordeal he was about to undergo. My own suffering is watching a whipping (book of Luke) to an actual shooting (book of Matthew.) This deserves some explaining.

I try and face my fears, whether it be watching zombie movies, or Jesus-scourging scenes, to the point of studying details in the hopes of lessening the impact of those scenes. To no avail. (I still haven't watched the Passion.)

In Luke, Jesus gets whipped. By Israelites.40 minus one, law of Moses (Jesus Christ Superstar.) He doesn't even get whipped in John, which became my favorite gospel.

But in Matthew, he gets scourged by Romans, which was more horrific. Basically what Mel Gibson depicted. The Day Christ Died was definitely traumatizing to watch. Until then, Jesus seemed almost stoic and dignified in his suffering.

From the perspective of an adult: I cannot even WATCH any scourging/whipping Jesus scenes anymore. I fast-forward or skip them altogether, and I will NEVER ward by the Passion past the first 10 minutes. So I researched the details about scourging, from the flagellum construction, to ancient texts on the matter. For those of you criticizing how the film wasn't like the angelic, surreal Jesus of your dreams, read the actual book, which is based- off Matthew if I remember correctly. It is sobering to actually empathize, rather than sympathize with Jesus'suffering, which is what most Jesus flicks want you to do. I hope by writing this, I give someone else with the same fear I have, the strength to face it.

P.S. I just realized this Easter is the 33rd year since I saw it for the first and only time. Happy Easter today!

After seeing this movie once,I really respected Jesus Christ much more than I used to. Even though others may compare this movie a failed attempt with other biblical movies, I enjoyed Sarandon's portrayal of Christ.