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For someone that is undecided on the existence of a God I've always had a strange interest in Religions, so when The Passion of the Christ first came out it was something that I really wanted to see, but I never got around to actually going out to see it, and never felt in the mood to rent it, so when my Sister came home from work having borrowed it we made the effort to sit down to watch it.

Obviously all of the negative press the film got on it's release - and that Mel Gibson has had since - is playing about in the back of your mind as you watch it, but I have to say it didn't detract from watching it, and neither did the fact that it's not in English, to be honest, I think the film would have got it's message across with no dialogue at all. It was not as graphically violent as I - and I think the public in general - was lead to believe although it showed a lot of violence, it wasn't what I would call 'graphic' and it actually got quite boring that much of the film was taken up with the beating of Christ.

Another annoying point was that as the film was about the last days of Christ it didn't really feel as though it started properly, you were thrown in just before Judas betrayed Christ and led the Priests to him, and it was certainly not a structured story in the vein of more commercial films, there was no time taken to teach the viewer who the characters were but as it's such a well known story that wasn't really necessary and would have ruined the film.

After Jesus was sentenced to Death by Crucifixion, you watch him carrying the cross to Calvary, and to say this part of the film was dragged out would be putting it mildly, I lost count of the times he dropped the cross due to being whipped by the soldiers, only to gain the inner strength to pick it up and carry on again, even when given help due to his weakness he kept on collapsing over and over, and even though it is over long watching it you do kind of get a "Come on Jesus, show them how strong you are" in your gut, I guess in the same way you do for any film's hero'.

I'd waited a long time to watch this film, and if you asked me was it worth the wait I'd say no, and that I was certainly glad that I never paid to watch it - It was certainly not the emotional, ultra-violent, anti-Semitic journey that most people seemed to believe (at least not for me) - but having said that, I didn't dislike it either, it's a strange film that had it not been about the final hours of Christ, I'd have probably stopped watching within the first thirty minutes, I'd have much rather have this whole film condensed into the last half-hour or so of a similarly made story of Christ's entire life.

I think that everyone will take this film differently, and it certainly has a different feel to any other film I've watched. It was strangely compelling, but certainly not the best in entertainment.

Learn more about this author, Lee Compton.
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