I've got to give it to Mel Gibson. I really hoe he sticks to his guns and is able to pull this project off. Mainstream film needs something like this to help prove that we're not in a creative tailspin. That we're not just playing to the lowest common denominator. That we still reward vision and heart.

What is this I am talking about? It's called The Passion, an innovative movie idea to say the least.

In The Passion, Mel Gibson wants to make a movie about the last 12 hours of Jesus Christ.

Big deal. So what? What's new about that?

Well, he wants to make thee movie completely in Latin and the ancient hebrew common language of Aramaic. Oh, and he doesn't want to use subtitles *at all*.

A lot of people are questioning if that will ever play to an American audience. An American audience that, supposedly, will never go see a movie where they can't understand what is being said.

To this I say "Bah!" I'd go see it in a split second. Why? Because more than likely, the acting and the raw emotions will be enough to capture the audience. Anyone ever heard of opera? Pantomime? Watching sports with the sound turned off so you don't have to listen to the god-aweful Captain Obvious voice of John Madden?

The point is, all of these come through in the visual. Oh, you say that movies are different? Well, maybe you don't, but let's say that my argument so far has not thus persuaded you...

What about the classic Sci-Fi tale of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey? This movie, arguable one of the most if not the most celebrated of sci-fi movies, the moviegoer sits through a two-hour, nineteen minute movie and hears a total of 45 minutes of dialogue. The first spoken line comes almost 26 minutes into the movie! 2001 was really almost completely devoid of sound. For example, there is never any music or any other major noise in the film when someone is speaking.

And from this out-of-the-ordinary movie, what did we get? We got a paradigm shift in sci-fi. Without 2001, we would still be watching Buck Rodgers stories...

Am I saying that The Passion will have the same effect? No. What I am saying is that it can be pulled off and peoplee will still enjoy it. It's not like there's going to be very little dialogue, it's just that most people won't be able to understand it. But in the same way of 2001, the experience will be gotten through the emotions of the actors and the audience than the dialogue itself.

Plus, I am certain that learning a few Latin and Aramaic words from watching this movie will all do us some good.