The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film co-produced and directed by Mel Gibson from a screenplay he wrote with Benedict Fitzgerald. It is the first installment of The Passion of the Christ film series. The film stars Jim Caviezel as Jesus, Maia Morgenstern as his mother Mary, and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene. It depicts the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus, largely according to the canonical gospels as well as additional accounts such as the purported mystical visions by Anne Catherine Emmerich and the Friday of Sorrows.
The film primarily covers the final twelve hours before Jesus Christ's death, known as "the Passion". It begins with the Agony in the Garden of Olives (i.e., Gethsemane), continues with the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, the Flagellation of Christ, the suffering of Mary as prophesied by Simeon, the crucifixion and death of Jesus, and ends with a brief depiction of his resurrection. The narrative is interspersed with moments in Jesus's life, such as the Last Supper and the Sermon on the Mount, and moments of Jesus' early life. The film was mostly shot in Italy."The Passion of the Christ". Movie-Locations The dialogue is entirely in reconstructed Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin. Although Gibson was initially against it, the film is subtitled.
The Passion of the Christ was released theatrically by Newmarket Films on February 25, 2004. Critical reception was polarized; some critics called the film a religious and holy experience, praising the performances, Mel Gibson’s direction, production values, and John Debney's score, others criticized its graphic depiction of violence, arguing that the brutality was excessive, while some found it antisemitic, prompting widespread debate and controversy.
The film grossed $622.3 million worldwide against a $30 million budget, and became the fifth highest-grossing film of 2004 internationally at the end of its theatrical run. It is the highest-grossing Christian film of all time (inflation unadjusted), as well as the highest-grossing independent film of all time and the fifth highest-grossing biographical film. It was the highest-grossing R-rated film in the US, at $370.8 million, a record which remained unbroken for 20 years. It received multiple awards and nominations including three nominations at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005, for Best Makeup, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score.
Two sequels, The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One and Part Two, are due to be released in 2027 and 2028, with a new cast.
Plot
On the night of Passover, Jesus prays in Gethsemane, asking for his father to protect him as his followers Peter, James and John fall asleep. After Jesus rebukes Satan for tempting him to escape his fate, another of his followers, Judas Iscariot, having been bribed by Caiaphas and the Pharisees with thirty pieces of silver, leads temple guards to the garden and betrays Jesus' identity. The guards arrest Jesus and beat him on the way to the Sanhedrin. John informs Jesus' mother, Mary, and Mary Magdalene of the arrest, and they reunite with Peter, who has followed Jesus and his captors.
Caiaphas tries Jesus, where false accusations are made against him, while Pharisees who secretly support Jesus and object to the trial are expelled from the court. Jesus claims he is the divine Son of Man, causing Caiaphas to angrily condemn him to death for blasphemy. As Jesus is brutally beaten, Peter is confronted by the mob and he denies being a follower of Jesus; remembering Jesus precisely predicted this, he weeps bitterly. Guilt-ridden, Judas attempts to return the money to have Jesus freed, but is refused by the priests. Haunted by demons in the form of children, Judas hangs himself outside Jerusalem.
Jesus is brought to be condemned to death by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. At the urging of his wife, Claudia, Pilate questions Jesus and finds no fault in him, transferring him to the court of Herod Antipas since Jesus is from Antipas' domain of Galilee. When Antipas deems Jesus harmless and returns him, Pilate offers the crowd the choice of freeing Jesus or the convicted murderer Barabbas. When the crowd demands Barabbas be freed and Jesus crucified, Pilate attempts to appease the crowd by ordering Jesus flogged, and he is brutally scourged by the Roman guards. Using cloths provided by Claudia, Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene clean up his blood, where Mary Magdalene reminisces on Jesus saving her from a stoning.
The guards hurl insults at Jesus and place a crown of thorns on his head. Pilate presents him to the crowd and Caiphas, who all again demand that he be crucified. Unwilling to instigate unrest, Pilate orders Jesus' crucifixion, claiming no responsibility. Jesus carries a heavy wooden cross on the road to Golgotha with two thieves, Dismas and Gesmas, following behind. Along the way, he is harassed by the guards and rampant mob, is momentarily comforted by his mother and replenished by a woman who wipes his bloodied face with her veil. An unwilling Simon of Cyrene is pressed with helping Jesus carry the cross to Golgotha, where Jesus is crucified with Mary, Magdalene, John, and others witnessing.
Jesus prays to God to forgive his tormentors who mock him for not being able to come down from the cross, and he also provides salvation to Dismas, crucified beside him, for the latter’s faith and repentance, and comforts his own mother. Finally succumbing to his wounds, Jesus surrenders his spirit and dies. A single droplet of rain falls, triggering an earthquake which damages the Second Temple and rips the veil covering the Holy of Holies, to the horror of Caiaphas and the Pharisees. The guards seek to expedite the thieves' deaths by breaking their legs and, upon seeing Jesus dead, order tribune Cassius to spear his side to be sure. As Satan screams in defeat in a distorted hellscape, Jesus' body is taken down from the cross and entombed; on the third day, he rises from the dead and exits the tomb.
Cast
Jim Caviezel as Jesus Andrea Refuto as Young Jesus Maia Morgenstern as Mary, mother of Jesus Christo Jivkov as John Francesco De Vito as Peter Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene Mattia Sbragia as Caiaphas Toni Bertorelli as Annas Luca Lionello as Judas Iscariot Hristo Naumov Shopov as Pontius Pilate Claudia Gerini as Claudia Procles Fabio Sartor as Abenader Giacinto Ferro as Joseph of Arimathea Olek Mincer as Nicodemus Sheila Mokhtari as Woman in audience Sergio Rubini as Dismas Roberto Bestazoni as Malchus Francesco Cabras as Gestas Giovanni Capalbo as Cassius Rosalinda Celentano as Satan Emilio De Marchi as Scornful Roman Lello Giulivo as Brutish Roman Abel Jafry as 2nd Temple officer Jarreth Merz as Simon of Cyrene Matt Patresi as Janus Roberto Visconti as Scornful Roman Luca De Dominicis as Herod Ántipas Chokri Ben Zagden as James Sabrina Impacciatore as Seraphia Pietro Sarubbi as Barabbas Ted Rusoff as Chief Elder Giuseppe Loconsole and Dario D'Ambrosi as Roman Soldiers who flog Jesus
Themes In The Passion: Photography from the Movie "The Passion of the Christ", director Mel Gibson says, "This is a movie about love, hope, faith and forgiveness. Jesus died for all mankind, suffered for all of us. It's time to get back to that basic message. The world has gone nuts. We could all use a little more love, faith, hope and forgiveness." Scholars and critics have interpreted The Passion of the Christ as mainly concerned with suffering, sacrifice, redemption, and the theological significance of the crucifixion. Film critic Roger Ebert described suffering as central to the film, noting that its title invokes the older meaning of "passion" as suffering and pain, while Christian theology connects Christ's suffering with his love for humanity and willingness to die for human sin. The Passion narrative is also presented within the broader themes of death and resurrection. Biblical scholar Adele Reinhartz notes that the Passion occupies a central position in both the canonical Gospels and films about Jesus, arguing that Jesus' death and subsequent resurrection give theological meaning to his life and messianic identity.
Source material
Biblical canon According to Mel Gibson, the primary source material for The Passion of the Christ is the four canonical Gospel narratives of Christ's passion. The film includes a trial of Jesus at Herod's court, which is only found in the Gospel of Luke. The film also draws from other parts of the New Testament. One line spoken by Jesus in the film, "I make all things new", is found in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 21, verse 5.
The film also refers to the Old Testament. The film begins with an epigraph from the Fourth Song of the Suffering Servant from Isaiah. In the opening scene set in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus crushes a serpent's head in direct visual allusion to Genesis 3:15. Throughout the film, Jesus quotes from the Psalms, beyond the instances recorded in the New Testament.
Traditional iconography and stories Many of the depictions in the film deliberately mirror traditional representations of the Passion in art. For example, the 14 Stations of the Cross are central to the depiction of the Via Dolorosa in The Passion of the Christ. All the stations are portrayed except for the eighth station (Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem, a deleted scene on the DVD) and the fourteenth station (Jesus is laid in the tomb). Gibson was inspired by the representation of Jesus on the Shroud of Turin.
At the suggestion of actress Maia Morgenstern, the Passover Seder is quoted early in the film. Mary asks "Why is this night different from other nights?", and Mary Magdalene replies with the traditional response: "Because once we were slaves, and we are slaves no longer." The conflation of Mary Magdalene with the adulteress saved from stoning by Jesus has some precedent in Catholic tradition, and according to the director was done for dramatic reasons. The names of some characters in the film are traditional and extra-Scriptural, such as the thieves crucified alongside the Christ, Dismas and Gesmas (also Gestas).
The film also took some inspiration from visions from Catholic visionaries such as Mary of Jesus of Ágreda and Anne Catherine Emmerich. The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a book by Clemens Brentano that details the visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich, was particularly inspiring to Gibson because it provided vivid descriptions of the crucifixion, as well as additional roles played by Mary, Jesus' mother. The depiction of Veronica wiping the face of Jesus is from a Catholic tradition and relates to a relic known as the Veil of Veronica. The film slightly showed the veil bearing the image of the face of Jesus. Its origin lies in the sixth Station of the Cross, in which Saint Veronica wipes Jesus's face with her veil after he encounters her along the Via Dolorosa to Calvary.
Production Script and language Gibson originally announced that he would use two old languages without subtitles as he believed "the image will overcome the language barrier". Because the story of the Passion is so well known, Gibson felt the need to avoid vernacular languages in order to surprise audiences: "I think it's almost counterproductive to say some of these things in a modern language. It makes you want to stand up and shout out the next line, like when you hear 'To be or not to be' and you instinctively say to yourself, 'That is the question.'" The script was written in English by Gibson and Benedict Fitzgerald, then translated by William Fulco, S.J., a professor at Loyola Marymount University, into Latin and reconstructed Aramaic. Fulco sometimes incorporated deliberate errors in pronunciations and word endings when the characters were speaking a language unfamiliar to them, and some of the crude language used by the Roman soldiers was not translated in the subtitles.