“....in Mel Gibson’s The Passion Of The Christ....”
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I don’t think that the scene of Christ and PP in Mel Gibson’s movie can ever be equaled or exceeded.
There is a very subtle but powerful aspect to that scene. When Pilate is questioning Christ, Christ effortlessly shifts his responses to Pilate from Aramaic to Latin. The look on Pilate's face morphs instantly from a supreme position of power and confidence to one of awe and fear as he realizes he is not dealing with a mere heretic or insurrectionist, but something completely different and unknown.
Agreed. That was a fantastic film (if deeply disturbing), and the portrayal of Pilate was an acting clinic unto itself. Pilate was indifferent, almost sympathetic to Christ and His predicament. He was furious that they almost killed Him during the scourging.
IOW, Pilate was shown to be a more complex man than some blood-soaked Jesus-hating villain-for-all-time.
So true. The scene was so realistic. Pitt would make a very good Pontius Pilate. Hope they don't make the guy into a hero of some sort.
The scenes that made me sob, though, were the ones where Mary was seeing Jesus as a child. Now that I think about it I sobbed through much of the latter part of the film. Not a movie that is easy to be seen more than once.
I thought Basil Rathbone made an effectively dastardly, aristocratic Pilate in THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII.