From the first scene of “The Passion of the Christ,” when Jesus prays to God in a misty garden, knowing his death is near, Kailoni Moody was wiping her eyes with a pink tissue.
When the Romans began scourging Jesus with nail-studded whips, ripping his skin nearly to the bone, Moody and her friend Greg Rhodea took out a small Bible and recited to themselves a verse from Isaiah: “The punishment that brought us peace was upon him.”
By the time they left the downtown Chicago theater, they felt their lives had changed forever.
“I just want to rush home and pray and pour my heart out to the Lord,” said Rhodea, a 21-year-old evangelical. “I can’t think about all his love in the same way, now that I have seen this movie.”
Mel Gibson’s R-rated film about Christ’s crucifixion opened Ash Wednesday in about 3,000 theaters to audiences who have eagerly awaited its debut. In a remarkable intersection of pop culture and religion, some of those viewers said they hoped the film will spark a widespread spiritual awakening.
Already the $25 million film has taken in an estimated $15 million to $20 million, the Associated Press reported.
In the Chicago area, many moviegoers said seeing “The Passion” brought them closer to God. Others vowed to attend church services more frequently, and a few planned to host discussion groups in their homes about Christ’s suffering.
Christians recite or hear the story of the crucifixion regularly in churches and Bible classes. But for many, Gibson’s brutal depiction brought to life parts of the Gospels that previously had been left to the imagination.
Some went so far to say that it should be required viewing for the faithful.
“It will change your life,” said Danny Bruno, 58, of Bensenville. “It made me feel bad for every sin I ever committed. I did many bad things. This has shown me I can’t live my life like that anymore.
“If a person is a Christian, he has to see this movie,” he said.
After seeing the movie, Bruno and a friend stood on the sidewalk outside the Yorktown theaters in Lombard, encouraging passers-by to see it.
The movie also inspired some viewers to consider renewing their faith. Tom O’Hara abandoned the Roman Catholic Church 25 years ago, believing it was too focused on money. But after seeing “The Passion” in Addison, he said he might be getting back in touch.
“There’s always been this thing since I was a kid that drew me to Jesus. To me, I thought he was the greatest guy to walk the earth,” said O’Hara, 46, of Lombard.
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“It made me want to look at [my spiritual life], not so much go back to church. I don’t think church is the answer. It’s more a `get together with Jesus’ sort of thing.”
For the movie’s first showing at a theater in south suburban Country Club Hills, the parking lot was full–a rarity for a midday, midweek movie.
“It’s one thing to read it; it’s another to see it come alive on the screen,” said Debra Rogers-Parker of Chicago, pastor at Revealed Word Ministries. “You just come out wanting to spread love even more.”
That sentiment was echoed as filmgoers streamed out into the afternoon sunshine.
“I’m already Christian, delivered and set free,” said Armosha Sturdivant, of Dolton, also a minister. “This made me fall in love all over again. … It just made me more evangelistic and want to save more souls.”
At a showing in Skokie, Stella Wierzchon left the theater wiping away tears with her scarf. Wierzchon, a Roman Catholic, said she expects the film to turn the hearts of spiritual seekers.
“How can you look on someone who suffers and not cry?” said Wierzchon. “This is your master, your God.”
Rev. Richard Jakubik went to see the film after attending an Ash Wednesday mass at St. Francis Xavier Church. Although he plans to take friends and perhaps parishioners, he wanted the first viewing to be a personal experience. He sat through the credits to regain composure before walking out.
“It connected me to people’s suffering in the world,” said the priest. “The various ways people go through the death of a loved one, having an opportunity to say goodbye to the people they love.”
Some Christians were more ambivalent. Jackie DeThorne, 68, a lifelong Catholic from Westchester and the leader of a Bible study group, said she was conflicted as she left the Addison theater. The movie, she said, “was very well done.”
At the same time, “It probably was the most violent thing I’ve ever seen,” she said. “It was an experience. I will certainly not be going to see it again.”
The film has provoked controversy among some Jewish leaders who say it holds Jews collectively responsible for the death of Christ. On Wednesday Joanne Stein, a member of a Skokie synagogue, said she left the theater angry.
“I’m Jewish. I wanted to decide for myself,” said Stein, of Wilmette. “I don’t know how anyone could come out of there and not feel like the Jews are responsible. It was over and over and over. He hit you over the head with it.”
Stein added: “It couldn’t happen at a worse time at this point in history, with all the growing anti-Semitism in Europe.”
At least one prominent African-American clergyman also has objected to Gibson’s vision. Rev. Albert Sampson of Fernwood United Methodist Church in Chicago called on the African-American faithful to boycott the film because a white actor was cast as Christ.
“I am appalled that in the year 2004, you are producing a white Jesus in a white dominated film,” Sampson wrote in an open letter to the director. He went on to ask why Gibson hadn’t cast Danny Glover–Gibson’s sidekick in the “Lethal Weapon” series–as the lead.
Several African-Americans interviewed Wednesday said they felt race was irrelevant to appreciating the movie.
“The last thing you think about is the color of anyone,” said Rogers-Parker. “You just think about getting hold of this incredible love.”
Already, the film is causing a flurry of activity. Church groups in Chicago and nationwide are planning to stage passion plays over the coming months in hopes of inspiring a broad-based evangelical awakening. Pamphlets were distributed outside theaters for those looking for a quick study.
“My hope is that when people see the movie they will realize this was an act of God to forgive man’s sins,” said Michael McDonough, 46, who attended a private screening organized by Willow Creek and about 30 other area churches. “The movie is a vehicle to draw people to the right issues.”
But as much as many felt their lives might be transformed, some wondered if it was Gibson’s skill as a filmmaker that made the difference, or if people longing for a tool to evangelize would seize on any opportunity.
“People are searching for something,” Maureen Collins, 65, said at the church-organized screening. “People are tired of all the materialism and secularism in the world. They are waiting for something to change their lives.”