Remember back when the most interesting thing about The Passion of the Christ was that it was supposed to be in Aramaic with no subtitles, and the most controversial thing about it was that maybe those Roman soliders should be speaking Greek instead of Latin? Surprisingly enough, few of the reviews mention either issue, although I believe that subtitles have, in fact, been added. Which was probably inevitable; after all, we wouldn't want the audience to miss any important plot points, right?

As for the movie itself, I generally feel the same way about it as I did when Irreversible first came out. As a cultural critic, I'm probably going to see this movie eventually, but in a year when I haven't even seen Bertolucci's The Dreamers yet, I can't actually envision myself walking into the theater to see what Roger Ebert describes as "the most violent film I have ever seen." He also notes:

I said the film is the most violent I have ever seen. It will probably be the most violent you have ever seen. This is not a criticism but an observation; the film is unsuitable for younger viewers, but works powerfully for those who can endure it. The MPAA's R rating is definitive proof that the organization either will never give the NC-17 rating for violence alone, or was intimidated by the subject matter. If it had been anyone other than Jesus up on that cross, I have a feeling that NC-17 would have been automatic.

It's a shame, because there really aren't enough Monica Bellucci films to go around, and I've already decided to avoid two of them. Well, three, if you count Tears of the Sun.