The Passion of the Christ - Some Quick Thoughts

I went to see the film, today. I'm still overwhelmed, and I have other things going on, so I will share some brief thoughts. I'm not very good at writing reviews, but I'll try to write some more on it later.

I'm putting these thoughts in the extended entry, so if you don't want to read "spoilers", you don't have to.

• There were news cameras and photographers at the theater. I tried to avoid them as much as possible.
• Weird event at the showing: as the movie was starting, with the shot of the moon, it suddenly stopped. Technical difficulties, apparently. After about 30 seconds to a minute, it started again.
• I didn't see any children in the theater - thank goodness, because it would not be appropriate. The youngest I saw was maybe early teens.
• The movie begins with Jesus' agonized prayer in Gethsemane. It ends with the stone rolled away, the empty wrappings, and the Resurrected Christ -- wounds healed, but with the nail mark on His hand.
• The film is not anti-Semitic. It is neither anti-Semitic nor anti-Roman. There are evil and good actions by both.
• Pilate's wife acts as his conscience. He doesn't listen. He is a cynical man, a politician who is trying to save his skin.
• The Roman soldiers have a mindless, giggling, thug-like brutality.
• Herod and his court are bizarre and decadent.
• The priests' brutality comes from desperation - they are desperate men trying to protect the status quo.
• Judas' inner torment and guilt were demonstrated very well, with the demonic children chasing him, with Satan lurking.
• Satan, represented as an androgynous woman, is a presence throughout. She haunts and tempts Christ at Gethsemane. She watches Christ as He goes through His agony. She screams in outrage after He dies on the cross.
• The significance of the foot stomping the snake becomes apparent at Gethsemane. I believe that scene with Satan was showing Christ's inner turmoil, His dread and fear. Christ's stomping of the snake, Satan's snake, was a resolution, as if He is saying, "Yes, I will go through with this."
• Yes, the movie is bloody, but this is not gratuitous. It is necessary...absolutely necessary. It's harrowing, but it should be. This is the unsanitized telling of Christ's crucifixion.
• Another presence throughout the film is Mary, Jesus' mother. Along with Christ's unimaginable agony, we see the unimaginable torment of a mother seeing her child die. After Jesus is taken down from the cross, He is laid across her. She has the saddest look in her eyes. Others have said that this look is saying, "Look what you've done." That is exactly what her haunting look said to me.
• Most of the events in this film are taken from the Gospels. Those that aren't are dramatizations that flesh out the story, or demonstrate an inner struggle. As pointed out by others, this is a work of art, not a documentary or propaganda.
• The film is well made and well acted.

That's all for now. I'll post some more on this later. It may even be tomorrow or this weekend before I can write more. I think I may have to keep from reading other people's thoughts on the film until I've had a chance to let everything sink in. Also, I don't think I can be patient with people nitpicking this film now that I've seen it. The nitpicking drove me crazy before, it'll really drive me crazy now.