The Passion of the Christ (2004)

A film detailing the final hours and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Director:

Mel Gibson

Writers:

Benedict Fitzgerald (screenplay), Mel Gibson (screenplay)

Stars:

Jim Caviezel, Maia Morgenstern, Christo Jivkov

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 22 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Caviezel	...	Jesus
Maia Morgenstern	...	Mary
Christo Jivkov	...	John
Francesco De Vito	...	Peter
Monica Bellucci	...	Magdalen
Mattia Sbragia	...	Caiphas
Toni Bertorelli	...	Annas
Luca Lionello	...	Judas
Hristo Shopov	...	Pontius Pilate (as Hristo Naumov Shopov)
Claudia Gerini	...	Claudia Procles
Fabio Sartor	...	Abenader
Giacinto Ferro	...	Joseph of Arimathea
Aleksander Mincer	...	Nicodemus (as Olek Mincer)
Sheila Mokhtari	...	Woman in Audience
Lucio Allocca	...	Old Temple Guard

Storyline

A depiction of the last twelve hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, on the day of his crucifixion in Jerusalem. The story opens in the Garden of Olives where Jesus has gone to pray after the Last Supper. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, the controversial Jesus--who has performed 'miracles' and has publicly announced that he is 'the Son of God'--is arrested and taken back within the city walls of Jerusalem. There, the leaders of the Pharisees confront him with accusations of blasphemy; subsequently, his trial results with the leaders condemning him to his death. Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Palestine, for his sentencing. Pilate listens to the accusations leveled at Jesus by the Pharisees. Realizing that his own decision will cause him to become embroiled in a political conflict, Pilate defers to King Herod in deciding the matter of how to persecute Jesus. However, Herod returns Jesus to Pilate who, in turn, gives the crowd a choice between which prisoner ...

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Plot Keywords:

jerusalem | trial | judas | roman | last supper | 

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Taglines:

12 Hours That Changed the World

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sequences of graphic violence

Details

Official Sites:

Aurum [es] Official site [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

Aramaic Latin Hebrew

Release Date:

25 February 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Passion

Filming Locations:

Basilicata, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$379,618 (Japan) (7 May 2004)

Gross:

$499,263 (USA) (25 March 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Icon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min 120 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A year after the film's initial release, a "toned-down" version retitled as "The Passion Recut" was released. Though some of the more graphic elements were removed, the MPAA still assigned the movie an "R" rating - so the version was distributed to theaters as "unrated".

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Goofs

In the flashback scene where Jesus kneels to draw a line in the sand, he reaches across with his right hand. The hand that actually draws the line is a left hand, with the palm facing away.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jesus: Peter. You could not watch even one hour with me?

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Crazy Credits

The movie doesn't begin with credits, but only with a verse from the Bible: "He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; by His wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53; 700 B.C.

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Connections

Spoofed in Passion to the Max (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Azeri"
Written by Goksel Baktagir and Yurdal Tokcan
Performed by Goksel Baktagir and Yurdal Tokcan

User Reviews

A Biblical Story With Extreme Violence

The problem Christianity has in western civilization is that it lacks any sort of street wise credibility . By this I mean that the impression I have of the average Christian minister is some happy clappy vicar with a permanent gormless grin, an effete voice and mannerism , and whose idea of excitement is flower arranging . There not the sort of people to sit down and watch hours upon hours of video nasties , or indeed any type of movie involving much violence . So when I heard the reviews of Mel Gibson's THE PASSION OF THE Christ I thought the critics were over reacting in their condemnation of the violence so I didn't bother seeing the movie until it was broadcast on television tonight .

Right from the opening I was struck by how well done the miss-en-scene was . Cinematography , editing , production design , costumes and non diagetic music were interesting , though in some parts John Debney score sounded rather similar to Hans Zimmer contribution to BLACK HAWK DOWN . Right from the very start I appreciated how much work had gone in to the movie and at no point did I ever feel myself wishing that the film had been made in the English language . The fact that this movie made so much money across the English speaking world is something of a compliment to audiences often decried for being low brow

As a devout radical atheist the one thing I do congratulate this film for is the ambiguity involving Christ . There are some people who will watch this and think to themselves that Gibson is indeed saying that Christ was the son of God . But others like myself will think that perhaps he is more portrayed as a schizophrenic and it was this delusions that led to him being executed . Certainly James Caviezel gives probably the greatest performance of an actor to have played Jesus Christ and I wonder how much Christian spirit he felt when the Oscar voters didn't give him a nomination for best actor for this role

Alas there is one serious problem with the film and that is the violence . Not so much the violence itself but more to do with there's not a lot to the story itself apart from the violence . Perhaps that's why the film didn't receive much in the way of awards from prestigious ceremonies , when people got home from the cinemas they couldn't remember aspects like acting , costume design etc but couldn't forget the graphic violence . Mind you the very few things I remember from the bible was the amount of sex and violence in it so perhaps if people want less violence and a quieter life they should become atheists should they not ? And I'm sure Alfred Rosenberg would have loved this movie