Satan in the Passion of the Christ

When asked why he portrayed Satan—an androgynous, almost beautiful being played by Rosalinda Celentano—the way he did, Gibson replied: "I believe the Devil is real, but I don't believe he shows up too often with horns and smoke and a forked tail. The devil is smarter than that. Evil is alluring, attractive. It looks almost normal, almost good—but not quite.

"That's what I tried to do with the Devil in the film. The actor's face is symmetric, beautiful in a certain sense, but not completely. For example, we shaved her eyebrows. Then we shot her almost in slow motion so you don't see her blink—that's not normal. We dubbed in a man's voice in Gethsemane even though the actor is a woman … That's what evil is about, taking something that's good and twisting it a little bit."

But what about the ugly baby?

"Again," said Gibson, "it's evil distorting what's good. What is more tender and beautiful than a mother and a child? So the Devil takes that and distorts it just a little bit. Instead of a normal mother and child you have an androgynous figure holding a 40-year-old 'baby' with hair on his back. It is weird, it is shocking, it's almost too much—just like turning Jesus over to continue scourging him on his chest is shocking and almost too much, which is the exact moment when this appearance of the Devil and the baby takes place."

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'The Passion': A 'deeply moving spiritual experience'

By Cardinal Roger M. Mahony

While in Rome last week, I had the opportunity to view the film, "The Passion of the Christ."

Having read so many conflicting reviews about the film, I --- like so many others --- did not know how this portrayal of the last 12 hours of Jesus' life would affect me. When the film began, the various movie reviews were lurking in the back of my mind: Would the film be too violent? Was there too much emphasis on Jesus' sufferings? Did hints of anti-Semitism creep in?

Amazingly, all of the film reviews and questions quickly receded into the background. In their place, I found myself somehow absorbed into that band of disciples who were with Jesus that dreadful night and the next day. The person of Jesus seemed so real --- so close to all of those images which prayer and meditation created over the years. I felt transported into the scenes, not as a viewer, but as a friend of Jesus, one who was terrified and mystified by each tragic event that blended into the next.

"The Passion of the Christ" became for me a deeply moving spiritual experience, a time of prayer. Immersed into the sacrifice of Jesus for the redemption of us all, one refrain echoed in my soul: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me" (Mark 8:34). That call to authentic discipleship was never so real to me.

Scene by scene, I was struck by the meekness, the humility and the generous love of Jesus for us all. His emphasis on the love of neighbor, especially of enemies and those who persecute us, became so genuine when you beheld the badly beaten Son of God never waver. Mary, His mother, John the disciple and Mary Magdalene seemed to reach out and draw me into their small circle of disciples. Together, we recoiled in fright at what was happening to Jesus, we tried desperately to get near Him, to let Him know that we were now with Him --- as He is with us when we carry our crosses.

For me, "The Passion" had a deep, spiritual impact that will long endure. The total surrender of Jesus into His Father's hands, His gestures of forgiveness spoken from the heart in the midst of excruciating suffering, and His modeling of the redemptive power of suffering --- absorbed me powerfully. As I reflected back on the crosses I have had to embrace over the years --- practically none carried with the generosity of Jesus --- I discovered a new strength, even a zeal, to accept my own present crosses.

The film connects well the Last Supper with the sacrifice of Jesus upon the Cross. While I had always understood that the celebration of the Eucharist was the celebration of the sufferings, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the film has given me a deeper appreciation of that truth. Each time I celebrate the Eucharist, I will be immersed into the mystery of our redemption and salvation in a fuller way than before.

As "The Passion of the Christ" concluded with a simple scene of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, I did not feel sadness nor remorse; the brutal scenes did not linger. Rather, I felt the power of Jesus' words: "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13).

My Friend had laid down His life for me, and I had been there. I walked out into the cold Rome night a renewed disciple of Jesus, and I was not alone --- my Friend was walking alongside me, reassuring me that He would always be there for me and with me. Somehow my own crosses seemed so much lighter now.

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Fr. Longenecker and Mel

"OK then, here's the Mel Gibson story:

I was living in London, and it was the year before Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ came out. There was some doubt as to whether Gibson would be able to get backers to help with the distribution of the film. He came to London to meet with Catholics involved in film and media as well as some potential financial backers to show us a rough cut of the movie.

Since I was writing film reviews at the time for Catholic papers I got an invitation. We saw the film in a little cinema in Soho in London, and afterward Mel Gibson appeared on stage to ask for our opinion and for any comments and suggestions.

I said that I liked the way he referenced famous Catholic art with his composition of shots and directorial style, and was this intentional. He admitted that it was, and I then said I would have liked to have seen a reference to the famous Salvador Dali crucifixion based on a vision of St John of the Cross in which we see the crucified Lord from the viewpoint of heaven.

Steve--a friend of mine piped up, "I would have liked to have seen some sign of God the Father's grief at the death of his son." Mel took all this on board. We packed up and some of us went off to dinner at a well to do Catholic's home. On the terrace I had the chance to talk personally with Mel Gibson about his Catholic faith and his commitment to the Church.

About a year later, after the film was released, Steve called me and said, "Dwight, have you seen Mel's movie?"

"Not yet," I replied.

"You got to go see it. He put our scenes in."

"What do you mean?"

"You know you said you wanted to see the crucifixion from God's perspective and I wanted to see a sign of the Father's grief?"

"Yes."

"Both scenes are now in the picture."

Sure enough. After Our Lord dies the camera zooms up to view Calvary from the celestial perspective, and then there is a clap of thunder and a single drop of rain--like a teardrop from heaven--falls in slow motion to the earth and the earthquake begins and the torrent starts to fall."

Those two short scenes were not in the rough cut of the movie we saw in London."

Posted by Fr. Dwight Longenecker at Sunday, September 28, 2008

h/t to Mulier Fortis

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