The Passion of the Christ (2004)

Depicts the final twelve hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, on the day of his crucifixion in Jerusalem.

Director:

Mel Gibson

Writers:

Benedict Fitzgerald (screenplay), Mel Gibson (screenplay)

Stars:

Jim Caviezel, Monica Bellucci, Maia Morgenstern

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 28 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Caviezel	...	Jesus
Maia Morgenstern	...	Mary
Christo Jivkov	...	John (as Hristo Jivkov)
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 prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, 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 ...

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Plot Keywords:

suffering | torture | brutality | whipping | violence | 

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Taglines:

One man changed the world forever.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sequences of graphic violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

Aramaic Latin Hebrew

Release Date:

25 February 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Passion

Filming Locations:

Basilicata, Italy

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

It would usually take over 10 hours to put Jim Caviezel into the scourged makeup. On some of those days, it would happen that the weather conditions turned out to be unsuitable for filming. To avoid spending more hours to have it removed and re-applied the next day, he kept it on and went to bed in full make-up.

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Goofs

The lead Roman soldier's teeth are yellow during the flogging scenes, white and perfect along the route to Golgotha as Jesus is carries the cross, and yellow again during the crucifixion scene.

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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

Referenced in South Park: Up the Down Steroid (2004)

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Soundtracks

Azeri
Written by Göksel Baktagir (as Goksel Baktagir) and Yurdal Tokcan
Performed by Göksel Baktagir (as Goksel Baktagir) and Yurdal Tokcan

User Reviews

This picture did what it was intended to do.

A lot of critics I have heard disliked or even dismissed this movie. They seemed to think that the movie should have focused on Christ's ministry and his teachings, and not on the crucifixion and the events leading up to it. These critics miss the point of this movie. As with all movies, The Passion was directed at a target audience, in this case Christians. The point of the movie was simply this: to make Christians understand, in a visceral way, what they knew intellectually from reading the bible: that Christ endured a horrible and brutal death in order to save us from our sins. It was completely successful in this, and was, perhaps, the most powerful movie I have ever seen.