I just read this. It sounds interesting to me but also really risky. Gibson is planning on doing the whole film in two "dead languages", Aramaic and Latin (not really a dead language, Latin is still taught today). The fact that he's attempting to do it without subtitles is even more risky -- it will be truly amazing if he can tell a good story without (to most people) understandable dialogue.
I find this an interesting idea for a movie, and could be one of the biggest things to happen to cinema in a while, good or bad. I admit, I'm not a religious man, but I think this could work, with the right director. Now to tell a story visually is a hard thing to do - one movie that springs to mind is '2001: A Space Odyssey' - imagine that movie without dialogue, and that's pretty much what we'll have here, or so I predict. But Gibson, as a director, is no Kubrick but even amazing directors, and I'm talking natural-born directors (Scorsese, Fellini, Lang) would find this an extremely difficult, if not impossible task.
Quote:
Gibson's Feature About Christ To Be Filmed In "Dead" Languages
Mel Gibson says that he plans to produce and direct a film about the last 12 hours in the life of Christ -- entirely in Latin and Aramaic, with no subtitles. "For me, that's more real, and hopefully I'll be able to transcend language barriers with filmic storytelling. If I fail, I'll put subtitles on it, though I don't want to.'' Gibson told a news conference at Rome's Cinecitta Studios on Friday. He added: "No one wants to touch something in two dead languages. They think I'm insane -- maybe I am." Gibson said that he does not plan to appear in the movie himself. Christ, he said, will be played by Jim Caviezel (High Crimes). The other principal actors will be Italians, he indicated. The actor-producer-director ducked a question about the film's budget. A devout Catholic, he replied: "It is a project good for the soul, not the wallet."
|
So there are several debates there:
1. Subtitles or no subtitles.
2. Accuracy of a dead language.
3. Religious accuracy according to which faith/belief.
4. Casting.
I imagine religious accuracy would be their biggest problem. Whichever way they go, someone can be offended. Probably not to the extent of The Last Temptation of Christ, but any movie about the death of Jesus is bound to encounter a bit of hostility from one group or another.
In the end this is an intriguing idea. I think a reason this may work is that many (even non-believers) are very familiar with events in Jesus' life. Even if you can't understand the dialouge, you should be able to figure out exactly what is going on. And anyway, isn't the mark of a truly accomplished director one who can communicate a story without anyone having to say a single word? Unfortunately Gibson is NOT a "truly accomplished director" so this film could either bomb or do supriseingly well.
What do you think about this movie?
"The Passion of The Christ" gets released on Feduary 23 2004
Official site:
http://www.thepassionofthechrist.com