Quentin Tarantino “laughed a lot” when he first saw Mel Gibson's film in 2004. Passion of Christ“,” he says in a new podcast, in which he also calls the film one of his favorites of this century.
Note that Tarantino did not laugh throughout the entire film: only during the parts where Jesus is mistreated.
“The extreme violence is just funny to me,” Tarantino said in the series' final episode. Bret Easton Ellis Podcast. “And when you go that far beyond the extremes, it gets funnier and funnier, okay?”
Tarantino joined the podcast to share his list of his 20 favorite films of this century. Passion of Christ was No. 15. You can listen to the full podcast episode to hear the rest of the first half of Tarantino's top 20, with the second half to be released soon.
Ellis recalled that he first saw the film in a completely packed theater, where many were crying. Tarantino had a very different viewing experience: he watched the print with his girlfriend at the time in his own theater.
“To see this movie jam-packed, especially this movie, would be exciting,” Tarantino said. “But I had such a special time with my friend. We laughed a lot during the movie, not because we were just trying to be perverted, laughing about Jesus screwing up.”
He explained that they “we just moaned and laughed about how fucked up it was,” especially because they knew more violence was coming.
“It just turned out to be an extremely enjoyable experience. But now it sounds like I'm just a pervert, but no, I actually, I thought he kind of did huge director's work.”
He praised Gibson for capturing the ancient time period in the film and added:
“I love the fact that he's never really picked one tone and gone all the way with it. There are scenes where you feel like you're watching the most realistic biblical movie you've ever seen. Then suddenly it turns into a religious picture and becomes completely avant-garde and surreal. And then there's the horror movie imagery that he puts a lot of money into. And then there's the political shit. You really see the political situation of Pontius Pilate in a really amazing way, and all these actors seem just amazing because they don't speak English and it seems so convincing.”
Quentin Tarantino described Mel Gibson looking at him as a “nut” because of his Passion of Christ Reaction
Tarantino said he found one moment in the film “incredibly memorable” and said he once told Gibson about it in person.
“I told him about it and he looked at me like I was crazy,” Tarantino said. “Of course he doesn’t understand what I’m getting at, and I don’t know if anyone else will.”
Particularly memorable is the scene in which the Roman soldiers beat Jesus. Tarantino noted that Gibson really expands the scope of the spanking and that the Romans act like real “mothers” even before the spanking begins.
“I mean, they just look like the worst cops you've ever seen in your life. And they test it, and they hand it out – you go, 'Oh my God, this is going to be fucking terrible.' And he stretches it out and stretches it out – and then it starts happening.
“And then it's like boom. And you feel This. And then there's another one boom. And then three, four, five times, and you feel every damn blow.
“By the sixth strike, I switched places,” Tarantino said. “And now I was a Roman. And I started to get kind of excited by the beating. But I'm not Jesus being beaten… I became a Roman, and suddenly the beating – it started to get me high. And I couldn't believe I was feeling it. But I felt it.”
Ellis, author of very violent American Psychoadded that he is affected by on-screen violence and that the scene was “one of the most upsetting scenes I remember.”
Tarantino continued: “I loved that it tapped into a sadomasochistic side of me that I didn't even know I had, and it kind of turned me on… I didn't know I was going to change horses. I just did it.”
Tarantino Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affairwhich combines his masterful Kill Bill Tom. 1 And 2will hit theaters on December 5th, and Gibson plans to release a two-part sequel to the film. Passion of Christ, called Resurrection of Christfor release in 2026 and 2027.
Interestingly, Tarantino is not the first to see the connection between the cinematic violence depicted in his films and Gibson's violence.
When Christoph Waltz, Tarantino star Inglourious Basterds And Django Unchainedposted Saturday Night Live In 2013, the series reimagined the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ as a Tarantino-style revenge thriller. Jesus uncrossed. Enjoy:
Main image: Jim Caviezel Passion of Christ. Newmarket Films.
