The Recovering Choir Director

Article by Raymond Arroyo of EWTN in the Wall Street Journal on Mel Gibson’s portrayal of the Passion of Jesus Christ. While some folks care to discuss Mr. Dreher’s article which appears in the same edition of the WSJ, I find it preferable to dwell on this project and the inspiration behind it. It’s particularly fitting at this time of the year to do so.

Some noteworthy quotes from the article:

…Mr. Gibson’s current project was conceived during a reappraisal of his life 13 years ago. “I read the New and Old Testaments and tried to just focus on that to maintain myself,” he says. Reflecting on Catholic theological works and the sacrifice of Christ, he found various images surfacing. “I began to imagine what that must have been like,” Mr. Gibson says. “I mean really like. No mere man could have survived this torture.”

…To underscore Christ’s physical sacrifice, Mr. Gibson and special-effects artists have created some of the most graphic scenes ever committed to celluloid. To become the brutalized Jesus, actor Jim Caviezel (”The Count of Monte Cristo”) often spent up to eight hours a day in the makeup truck. Buried under a wig and prosthesis, he may be the most Semitic-looking Jesus ever on screen. He endured 15 days on a cross in freezing weather, a separated shoulder, the flu and literal scourging for the role. “One day they missed the board on my back and hit me full on. It hurt so badly I couldn’t find my voice to scream,” Mr. Caviezel says. “I see people pulling Jesus off the cross these days. They just don’t want to see how he suffered, but this is what happened.”

…”The Passion” is being shot in Aramaic, Latin and Hebrew with no subtitles–a point of honor for Mr. Gibson. “There is power and mystery in these dead languages, and this is what was spoken at the time,” he says. The movie will rely on its visuals to tell the tale…

Here are some photos taken at the set of the film, courtesy of Seattle Catholic. A sanitized Passion this is certainly not!