Variations on a theme… "The Passion of The Christ"
It seems like Mel wanted to out-Braveheart… well… Braveheart.
However, in Braveheart, the end, where the guy is totured to death is left to your imagination.
In “The Passion” he puts it in your face.
The part with the cat o’ nine tails sticking in JC’s flesh. Come on now… That’s just stupid.
First, there is no historical basis for that.
Secondly, the most effective fimlmaking is not showing some things. I.E. the torture scene in Braveheart. The shower scene in Psycho.
It is basically a and he was just trying to gross you out.
For example, he could have used the Kuleshov Effect. A basic part of filmmaking that uses the viewers intution to make assumptions about the actions in the film.
That tearing flesh buisness was just to be a provocateur.