text:
The Passion of the Christ
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about the film. For the passions of Jesus Christ, see Passion of Jesus. For the set of paintings, see The Passion of Christ (Strasbourg).
The Passion of the Christ
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Mel Gibson
Produced by
Bruce Davey
Mel Gibson
Stephen McEveety
Screenplay by
Mel Gibson
Benedict Fitzgerald
Translation:
William Fulco
Based on
The Passion in the New Testament of the Bible and The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Anne Catherine Emmerich
Starring
Jim Caviezel
Monica Bellucci
Claudia Gerini
Maia Morgenstern
Sergio Rubini
Music by
John Debney
Cinematography
Caleb Deschanel
Edited by
John Wright
Steve Mirkovich
Production
company
Icon Productions
Distributed by
Newmarket Films
Release date
February 25, 2004 (2004-02-25)
Running time
126 minutes[1]
Country
United States
Language
Aramaic
Latin
Budget
$30 million[2]
Box office
$611.9 million[2]
The Passion of the Christ (also known simply as The Passion)[3] is a 2004 American biblical drama film directed by Mel Gibson, written by Gibson and Benedict Fitzgerald, and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus Christ, Maia Morgenstern as the Virgin Mary, and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It also draws on pious accounts such as the Friday of Sorrows along with other devotional writings, such as the reputed Marian apparitions attributed to Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich.[4][5][6][7]
The film primarily covers the final twelve hours of Jesus' life, beginning with the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, the insomnia and grievance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the brutal scourge and crucifixion, ending with a brief depiction of his resurrection.
The film has been controversial and received mixed reviews, with some critics finding the extreme violence distracting and excessive, as well as claiming that the film subliminally promoted antisemitism.[8][9][10] The film grossed $612 million during its theatrical release.[11] It received three Academy Award nominations in 2005.[12] It remains the highest grossing non-English language film of all time.
Contents
[hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Themes
4 Source material
4.1 New Testament
4.2 Tanakh
4.3 Traditional iconography and stories
4.4 Catholic devotional writings
5 Differences from traditional Passion story
6 Production
6.1 Script and language
6.2 Filming
6.3 Music
7 Post-production
7.1 Title change
7.2 Distribution and marketing
7.3 Evangelical support
8 Release
8.1 Box office
8.2 Theatrical re-release
8.3 Home media
8.4 Television broadcast
9 Reception
9.1 Critical response
9.2 Independent promotion and discussion
9.3 Accolades
10 Controversies
10.1 Questions of historical and biblical accuracy
10.2 Disputed papal endorsement
10.3 Allegations of antisemitism
10.4 Criticism of excessive violence
11 Sequel
12 See also[111]
13 References
14 External links
Plot[edit]
In the late hours of night at the forested garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ (Caviezel), at the height of his cause, prays while his disciples Peter, James, and John (James's brother) sleep. After he wakes them and tells them to pray, Jesus walks to a secluded portion of the forest wherein during his prayer, Satan appears in a hooded ghost-like androgynous, albino form, and tempts him with reasonable doubt, stating - "it is not right for one man to die for their (humanity's) sins." Ignoring it and praying on, Jesus' sweat turns into blood and drips to the ground while a snake emerges from Satan's guise. Jesus hears his disciples call out for him, and he rebukes Satan by crushing the snake's head with his heel, and Satan vanishes.
Meanwhile, Judas Iscariot, another of Jesus' disciples, having receiving a bribe of thirty pieces of silver, leads a group of temple guards to the forest and betrays Jesus (by confirmation of his identity) with a simple kiss on the cheek. As the armed guards move in to arrest Jesus, Peter draws his dagger and slashes off the ear of Malchus, one of the guards and a servant of the high priest Caiaphas. Jesus, in turn, heals the ear as he reprimands Peter for his actions. As the disciples flee, the guards secure Jesus, and beat him during the journey to the Sanhedrin.
John informs Mary, mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene of the arrest, while Peter follows Jesus and his captors at a distance. Caiaphas holds trial over the objection of some of the other priests, who are expelled from the court. When questioned by Caiaphas if he is the Son of God, Jesus replies, "I am". A horrified Caiaphas tears his robes in outrage and Jesus is condemned to death for blasphemy. Peter, secretly watching, is confronted by the surrounding mob for being a follower of Jesus, and he angrily denies this three times. But after cursing at the mob during the third denial, a sobbing Peter flees after remembering that Jesus had foretold this coping of a defense. At the same time, a guilt-ridden Judas attempts to return the money he was paid to have Jesus freed, but is refused by the priests. Tormented by demons, he flees the city, finds solitude. By sunrise, he hangs himself from a tree with a rope he finds on a decaying donkey corpse.
Caiaphas brings Jesus before Pontius Pilate to be condemned to death, but after questioning Jesus and finding no fault, a sympathetic Pilate instead relays him to the court of Herod Antipas, as Jesus is from Antipas' ruling town of Nazareth, Galilee. After Jesus is again found not guilty and returned, Pilate offers the crowd options for either him to chastise Jesus, or release him. He then attempts to have Jesus freed by the peoples' choice, between Jesus and a violent criminal Barabbas. To his dismay and anger, the crowd demands to have Barabbas freed and Jesus killed. In an attempt to appease the moment, Pilate orders that he simply be punished but not killed. Jesus is brutally scourged, abused, and mocked by the Roman guards as "king of the Jews" with a crown of thorns until Abenader, the general, angrily stops them. However, Caiaphas, with the crowds' verbal backing, continues to demand that Jesus be crucified as a heretic and Barabbas released. Admonished, Pilate washes his hands, takes no responsibility of the incident, and reluctantly orders Jesus' crucifixion. During the course of events, Satan watches Jesus' bloody sufferings with great interest. A dismayed Pilate watches the march, while his wife Claudia, who knows of Jesus' status as a holy man, comforts him.
As Jesus labors to carry a heavy wooden cross along the Via Dolorosa to Calvary, a woman avoids the escort of soldiers, and wipes Jesus' face with her veil. Jesus is beaten and pressed by the guards until the unwilling Simon of Cyrene is forced into carrying the cross with him. At the end of their travel, with his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and others witnessing, Jesus is crucified. The very act seems to affect the weather conditions of the earth itself.
Hanging from the cross, Jesus prays to God asking forgiveness for the people who did this to him, and redeems a criminal as a saint who is crucified beside him. Succumbing to impending death, Jesus gives up his spirit and dies. A single droplet of rain falls from the sky to the ground, triggering a sudden earthquake which destroys the temple and rips the cloth covering the Holy of Holies in two, to the horror of Caiaphas and the other priests. Satan is shown screaming in agonized defeat. Jesus' lifeless body is taken down from the cross, and entombed. In the end, the healed body of Jesus rises from the dead and exits the tomb resurrected.
Cast[edit]
Jim Caviezel as Jesus Christ
Maia Morgenstern as Mary
Hristo Zhivkov as John
Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene
Francesco De Vito as Peter
Mattia Sbragia as Caiphas
Toni Bertorelli as Annas ben Seth
Luca Lionello as Judas Iscariot
Hristo Shopov as Pontius Pilate
Rosalinda Celentano as Satan
Claudia Gerini as Claudia Procles
Fabio Sartor as Abenader
Luca De Dominicis as Herod Ántipas
Chokri Ben Zagden as James
Jarreth Merz as Simon of Cyrene
Sergio Rubini as Dismas
Francesco Cabras as Gesmas
Giovanni Capalbo as Cassius
Roberto Bestazoni as Malchus
Sabrina Impacciatore as Seraphia
Pietro Sarubbi as Barabbas
Matt Patresi as Janus
Ted Rusoff as Chief Elder
Giacinto Ferro as Joseph of Arimathea
Aleksander Mincer as Nicodemus
Themes[edit]
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. He [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."
Source material[edit]
New Testament[edit]
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. Many of the utterances from Jesus in the film cannot be directly sourced to the Gospel and are part of a wider Christian narrative. The film also draws from other parts of the New Testament. The line spoken by Jesus in the film, "I make all things new," is found in the Book of Revelation.[13]
Tanakh[edit]
The film also refers to the Tanakh. The film begins with an epigraph from the Fourth Song of the Suffering Servant from Isaiah.[14] In the opening scene set in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus crushes a serpent's head in direct visual allusion to Genesis 3:15.[15] Throughout the film, Jesus quotes from the Psalms, beyond the instances recorded in the New Testament.
Traditional iconography and stories[edit]
Many of the depictions in the film deliberately mirror traditional representations of the Passion in art. For example, the fourteen 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 also visually inspired by the representation of Jesus on the Shroud of Turin.[16]
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".[17]
The conflation of Mary Magdalene with the adulteress saved from stoning by Jesus has some precedent in 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).
Catholic devotional writings[edit]
Screenwriters Gibson and Benedict Fitzgerald said that they read many accounts of Christ's Passion for inspiration, including the devotional writings of Roman Catholic mystics. A principal source is The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ[18] the visions of the stigmatic German nun Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774–1824), as written by the poet Clemens Brentano.[5][6][7] A careful reading of Emmerich's book shows the film's high level of dependence on it.[5][6][19]
However, Brentano's attribution of the book The Dolorous Passion to Emmerich has been subject to dispute, with allegations that Brentano wrote much of the book himself; a Vatican investigation concluding that: "It is absolutely not certain that she ever wrote this".[20][21][22] In his review of the movie in the Catholic publication America, Jesuit priest John O' Malley used the terms "devout fiction" and "well-intentioned fraud" to refer to the writings of Clemens Brentano.[4][20]
Among the many elements taken from The Dolorous Passion are scenes such as the suspension of Jesus from a bridge after his arrest by the Temple guards, the torment of Judas by demons after he had handed over Jesus to the Sanhedrin, the wiping up of the blood of Jesus after his scourging, and the dislocation of Jesus' shoulder so that his palm would reach the hole bored for the nail.[18]
Differences from traditional Passion story[edit]
Certain elements of The Passion of the Christ do not have precedent in earlier depictions of the Passion. In the Garden of Gethsemane scene at the beginning of the movie, Satan appears and attempts to distract Jesus while he is praying. Jesus then crushes a serpent beneath his heel (a reference to the protoevangelium, Genesis 3:15 – a prophecy of Messiah); this does not occur in any of the gospels. In another example, Judas Iscariot is tormented by children who appear as demons to him. The film gives focus to the fragile relationship of Tiberius Caesar with Pontius Pilate through Pilate's discussion with his wife about imperial orders to avert further Judean revolts. The movie clearly identifies Simon of Cyrene as Jewish, although the Synoptic Gospels provide only his name and place of origin. In the film, a Roman soldier derides Simon (who helps Jesus bear the cross) by derisively calling him Jew. In contrast, Simon is described as a pagan in The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.[18] Another major difference that passes most unnoticed is the INRI titulus on Christ's cross which is written only in two languages (however occupying three lines), instead of three as mentioned in the Gospels.
Other scenes unique to the film include the one in which the crucified thief who taunted Christ has his eye pecked out by a crow (in some Catholic iconography a crow is represented above the bad thief and a dove or angel above the good thief) and the flashback of Christ at an earlier time building an elevated, four-legged table for a Roman. The scene of Satan carrying a demonic baby during Christ's flogging has been construed as a perversion of traditional depictions of the Madonna and Child, and also as a representation of Satan and the Antichrist. Gibson described this scene:
It's evil distorting what's good. What is more tender and beautiful than a mother and a child? So the Devil takes that and distorts it just a little bit. Instead of a normal mother and child you have an androgynous figure holding a 40-year-old 'baby' with hair on his back. It is weird, it is shocking, it's almost too much – just like turning Jesus over to continue scourging him on his chest is shocking and almost too much, which is the exact moment when this appearance of the Devil and the baby takes place.[23]
Production[edit]
Script and language[edit]
Gibson originally announced that he would use two old languages without subtitles and rely on "filmic storytelling". 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.'"[24] 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. Gibson chose to use Latin instead of Greek, which was the lingua franca of that particular part of the Roman Empire at the time, since there is no source for the Koine Greek spoken in that region. The street Greek spoken in the ancient Levant region of Jesus' day is not the exact Greek language used in the Bible.[25] 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.[26]
Filming[edit]
Old city of Matera
The film was produced independently and shot in Italy, primarily at Cinecittà Studios in Rome, in the old city of Matera, and in the ghost town of Craco (Basilicata).[27] The estimated US$30 million production cost, plus an additional estimated $15 million in marketing costs, were fully borne by Gibson and his company, Icon Productions. According to the DVD Special Feature, Martin Scorsese had recently finished his film, Gangs of New York, and Gibson and his production designers constructed part of their set using Scorsese's set. This saved Gibson a lot of time and money.
Gibson's film was released on Ash Wednesday, February 25, 2004. It was rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for "sequences of graphic violence". Icon Entertainment distributed the theatrical version of the film, and 20th Century Fox distributed the VHS/DVD/Blu-ray version of the film.
Gibson consulted several theological advisers during filming, including Fr. Jonathan Morris. During filming, assistant director Jan Michelini was struck twice by lightning. Minutes later, Jim Caviezel was also struck.[28][29][30]
Music[edit]
Three albums were released with Mel Gibson's co-operation: (1) the film soundtrack of John Debney's original orchestral score conducted by Nick Ingman; (2) The Passion of the Christ: Songs, by producers Mark Joseph and Tim Cook, with original compositions by various artists, and (3) The Passion of the Christ: Songs Inspired By. The first two albums each received a 2005 Dove award, and the soundtrack received an Academy Award nomination of Best Original Music Score.
A preliminary score was composed and recorded by Lisa Gerrard and Patrick Cassidy, but was incomplete at film's release. Jack Lenz was the primary musical researcher and one of the composers;[31] several clips of his compositions have been posted online.[32]
Post-production[edit]
Title change[edit]
Although Mel Gibson wanted to call his film The Passion, on October 16, 2003, his spokesman announced that the title used in the United States would be The Passion of Christ because Miramax Films had already registered the title The Passion with the MPAA for the 1987 novel by Jeanette Winterson.[33] Later, the title was changed again to The Passion of the Christ for all markets.
Distribution and marketing[edit]
Gibson began production on his film without securing outside funding or distribution. In 2002, he explained why he could not get backing from the Hollywood studios: "This is a film about something that nobody wants to touch, shot in two dead languages. In Los Angeles they think I am insane, and maybe I am."[34] Gibson and his Icon Productions company provided the film's sole backing, spending about $30 million on production costs and an estimated $15 million on marketing.[35] After early accusations of anti-Semitism, it became difficult for Gibson to find an American distribution company. 20th Century Fox had a first-look deal with Icon and passed on the film in response to public protests.[36] In order to avoid the spectacle of other studios turning down the film and to avoid subjecting the distributor to the same intense public criticism he had received, Gibson decided to distribute the movie in the United States himself, with Newmarket Films.[37]
Gibson departed from the usual film marketing formula. He employed a small-scale television advertising campaign with no press junkets.[38] The Passion of the Christ was heavily promoted by many church groups, both within their organizations and to the public.[39] The United Methodist Church stated that many of its members, like other Christians, felt that the movie was a good way to evangelize non-believers.[40] As a result, many congregations planned to be at the theaters, some of whom set up tables to answer questions and share prayers.[40] Rev. John Tanner, pastor of Cove United Methodist Church, Hampton Cove, Alabama has said: "They feel the film presents a unique opportunity to share Christianity in a way today's public can identify with."[40]
Evangelical support[edit]
The Passion of the Christ received enthusiastic support from the American evangelical community.[41] Prior to the film's release, Gibson actively reached out to evangelical leaders seeking their support and feedback.[42] With their help, Gibson organized and attended a series of prerelease screenings for evangelical audiences and discussed the making of the film and his personal faith. In June 2003 he screened the film for 800 pastors attending a leadership conference at New Life Church, pastored by Ted Haggard, then president of the National Association of Evangelicals.[43] Gibson gave similar showings at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church, Greg Laurie's Harvest Christian Fellowship, and to 3,600 pastors at a conference at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in Lake Forest.[44] From the summer of 2003 to the film's release in February 2004, portions or rough cuts of the film were shown to over eighty audiences—many of which were evangelical audiences.[45] Gibson received numerous public endorsements from evangelical leaders, including Billy Graham, Robert Schuller, Darrell Bock, and David Neff, editor of Christianity Today.[45] In an open letter published prior to the film's release, James Dobson, the founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, endorsed the film and defended it against its detractors.[46] Similar public endorsements of the film were received from evangelical leaders Pat Robertson, Rick Warren, Lee Strobel, Jerry Falwell, Max Lucado, Tim LaHaye and Chuck Colson.[47]
Release[edit]
Box office[edit]
The Passion of the Christ opened in the United States on February 25, 2004 (Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent). It earned $83,848,082 in its opening weekend, ranking it fourth overall in domestic opening weekend earnings for 2004. It went on to earn $370,782,930 overall in the United States,[2] and remained the highest grossing R-rated film in the domestic market. (U.S. & Canada).[48][49][50][51][52] The film sold an estimated 59,625,500 tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run.[53]
In Malaysia, government censors initially banned it completely, but after Christian leaders protested, the restriction was lifted, but only for Christian audiences, allowing them to view the film in specially designated theatres.[54] In Israel, the film was not banned. However, it never received theatrical distribution because no Israeli distributor would market the movie.[55]
Despite the various controversies and refusals of certain governments to allow the film to be viewed in wide release, The Passion of the Christ earned $611,899,420 worldwide.[2] The film was also a relative success in certain countries with large Muslim populations,[56] such as in Egypt, where it ranked 20th overall in its box office numbers for 2004.[57] The film remains the highest grossing non-English-language film of all time.[58]
Theatrical re-release[edit]
An edited version titled The Passion Recut was released on March 11, 2005, with five minutes of the most explicit violence deleted to broaden the audience. Gibson explained his reasoning for the new version of the film:
“ After the initial run in movie theaters, I received numerous letters from people all across the country. Many told me they wanted to share the experience with loved ones but were concerned that the harsher images of the film would be too intense for them to bear. In light of this I decided to re-edit The Passion of the Christ.[59] ”
Despite the attempt to tone down the content, the Motion Picture Association of America deemed the film too violent to rate PG-13, so Gibson released it as unrated.[59] The re-release showed for three weeks.[60]
Home media[edit]
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
On August 31, 2004, the film was released on DVD,[61] VHS, and later D-VHS in North America by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. As with the original theatrical release, the film's release on home video formats proved to be very popular. Early reports indicated that over 2.4 million copies of the film were sold by the middle of the day. The film was available on DVD with English and Spanish subtitles and on VHS tape with English subtitles. The film was released on Blu-ray in North America as a two-disc Definitive Edition set on February 17, 2009.[62] It was also released on Blu-ray in Australia a week before Easter.[citation needed]
Although the original DVD release sold well, it contained no extra materials other than soundtrack language selections. The no-frills edition provoked speculation about when a special edition would be released. On January 30, 2007, a two-disc Definitive Edition was released in the North American markets, and March 26 elsewhere. It contains several documentaries, soundtrack commentaries, deleted scenes, outtakes, the 2005 unrated version, and the original 2004 theatrical version.[63]
The British version of the two-disc DVD contains two additional deleted scenes. In the first, Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem (at the eighth station of the cross) and falls to the ground as the women wail around him, and Simon of Cyrene attempts to hold up the cross and help up Jesus simultaneously. Afterwards, while both are holding up the cross, Jesus says to the women weeping for him, "Do not weep for me, but for yourselves and for your children". In the second, Pilate washes his hands, turns to Caiaphas, and says: "Look you to it" (i.e., the Pharisees wish to have Jesus crucified). Pilate then turns to Abanader and says: "Do as they wish". The scene next shows Pilate calling to his servant, who is carrying a wooden board on which Pilate writes, "Jesus of Nazareth king of the Jews", in Latin and Hebrew. He[who?] then holds the board above his head in full view of Caiaphas, who after reading it challenges Pilate on its content. Pilate replies angrily to Caiaphas in non-subtitled Hebrew. The disc contains only two deleted scenes in total. No other scenes from the movie are shown on disc 2.[64]
On February 7, 2017, 20th Century Fox re-released the film on Blu-Ray and DVD featuring both cuts. Only the original theatrical version is dubbed in English,Spanish[65] this marks the first time the film has ever been dubbed in another language.
Television broadcast[edit]
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
On April 17, 2011 (Palm Sunday), Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) presented a world television premiere of the film at 7:30 pm ET/PT, with multiple showings scheduled. The network has continued to air the film throughout the year, and particularly around Easter.[66]
On March 29, 2013 (Good Friday), as a part of their special Holy Week programming, TV5 presented the Filipino-dubbed version of the film at 2:00 pm (PST, UTC+8) in the Philippines. Its total broadcast ran for two hours, but excluding the advertisements, it would only run up for approximately one hour instead of its full run time of two hours and six minutes. It ended exactly at 4:00 p.m. It has been rated SPG by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) for themes, language and violence with some scenes censored for television. TV5 is the first broadcast network outside of the United States and dubbed the Vernacular Hebrew and Latin language to Filipino (through translating its supplied English subtitles).
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
The Passion of the Christ polarized critics: Jim Caviezel's performance, the musical score, the sound, the makeup, and the cinematography were praised, while the film's graphic violence and alleged antisemitic undertones were singled out for criticism. The film has a "rotten" rating of 49% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 268 reviews with an average score of 5.9 out of 10. The consensus states "The graphic details of Jesus' torture make the movie tough to sit through and obscure whatever message it is trying to convey."[67] The film's Metacritic score of 47 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicates "mixed or average reviews".[68] CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film a rare "A+" grade.[69]
In a positive review for Time, Richard Corliss called The Passion of the Christ "a serious, handsome, excruciating film that radiates total commitment."[68] New York Press film critic Armond White praised Gibson's direction, comparing him to Carl Theodor Dreyer in how he transformed art into spirituality.[70] Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times gave the movie four out of four stars, calling it "the most violent film [he] ha[s] ever seen" as well as reflecting on how the film personally impacted him as a former altar boy saying "What Gibson has provided for me, for the first time in my life, is a visceral idea of what the Passion consisted of. That his film is superficial in terms of the surrounding message -- that we get only a few passing references to the teachings of Jesus -- is, I suppose, not the point. This is not a sermon or a homily, but a visualization of the central event in the Christian religion. Take it or leave it."[71] In a negative review, Slate magazine's David Edelstein called it "a two-hour-and-six-minute snuff movie",[72] while Jami Bernard of the New York Daily News felt it was "the most virulently anti-Semitic movie made since the German propaganda films of World War II".[73] Writing for the Dallas Observer, Robert Wilonsky said he found the movie "too turgid to awe the nonbelievers, too zealous to inspire and often too silly to take seriously, with its demonic hallucinations that look like escapees from a David Lynch film; I swear I couldn't find the devil carrying around a hairy-backed midget anywhere in the text I read."[68]
The June 2006 issue of Entertainment Weekly named The Passion of the Christ the most controversial film of all time, followed by Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971).[8] In 2010, Time listed it as one of the most "ridiculously violent" films of all time.[74]
Independent promotion and discussion[edit]
A number of independent websites such as MyLifeAfter.com and Passion-Movie.com were launched to promote the film and its message and to allow people to discuss the film's effect on their lives. Documentaries such as Changed Lives: Miracles of the Passion chronicled stories of miraculous savings, forgiveness, new-found faith, and the story of a man who confessed to murdering his girlfriend after authorities determined her death was due to suicide.[75] Another documentary, Impact: The Passion of the Christ, chronicled the popular response of the film in the United States, India, and Japan and examined the claims of antisemitism against Mel Gibson and the film.[citation needed]
Accolades[edit]
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Wins
National Board of Review – Freedom of Expression (tie)
People's Choice Awards – Favorite Motion Picture Drama
Satellite Awards – Best Director
Moviefone Moviegoer Awards – Best Picture[citation needed]
Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy (EMMA Awards) – Best Film Actress – Maia Morgenstern
Motion Picture Sound Editors (Golden Reel Awards) – Best Sound Editing in a Feature Film – Music – Michael T. Ryan
Golden Knight Film Festival – Grand Prix – Mel Gibson; Best Actor – Hristo Shopov[citation needed]
ShoWest / USA Today / Coca-Cola – Consumers Choice for Favorite Movie Award[citation needed]
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers – ASCAP Henry Mancini Award – John Debney[citation needed]
Hollywood Film Festival, USA – Hollywood Producer of the Year – Mel Gibson[citation needed]
Catholics in Media Associates – Film Award – Mel Gibson[citation needed]
Cinema Writers Circle Awards – Spain – Best Foreign Film[citation needed]
GMA Dove Award, The Passion of the Christ Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, Instrumental Album of the Year
Nominations
Academy Awards
Best Cinematography – Caleb Deschanel
Best Makeup – Keith Vanderlaan, Christien Tinsley
Best Original Score – John Debney
American Society of Cinematographers – Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases – Caleb Deschanel
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards – Best Popular Movie
Irish Film and Television Awards – Jameson People's Choice Award for Best International Film
MTV Movie Awards – Best male performance – Jim Caviezel
Other honors The film was nominated in the following categories for American Film Institute recognition:
2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated[76]
2008: AFI's 10 Top 10: – Nominated Epic Film[77]
Controversies[edit]
Questions of historical and biblical accuracy[edit]
Despite criticisms that Gibson deliberately added additional material to the historical accounts of first-century Judea and biblical accounts of Christ's crucifixion, some scholars defend the film as not being primarily concerned with historical accuracy. Biblical scholar Mark Goodacre protested that he could not find one documented example of Gibson explicitly claiming the film to be historically accurate.[78][79] Gibson has been quoted as saying: "I think that my first duty is to be as faithful as possible in telling the story so that it doesn't contradict the Scriptures. Now, so long as it didn't do that, I felt that I had a pretty wide berth for artistic interpretation, and to fill in some of the spaces with logic, with imagination, with various other readings."[80]
When asked about the film's faithfulness to the account given in the New Testament, Father Augustine Di Noia of the Vatican's Doctrinal Congregation replied: "Mel Gibson's film is not a documentary... but remains faithful to the fundamental structure common to all four accounts [of the Gospels]" and "Gibson's film is entirely faithful to the New Testament".[81]
Disputed papal endorsement[edit]
In early December 2003, Passion of the Christ co-producer Stephen McEveety provided the film to Archbishop Stanisław Dziwisz, the pope's secretary. Archbishop Dziwisz returned the film to McEveety and said he had watched it with John Paul II. On December 16, Daily Variety reported that the pope had seen the film, and on December 17, The Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan reported that John Paul II had said: "It is as it was," sourcing McEveety, who said he heard it from Dziwisz.[3] National Catholic Reporter journalist John Allen published a similar account on the same day, quoting an unnamed senior Vatican official.[82] The following day, Reuters and the Associated Press each independently confirmed the story, citing Vatican sources.[82][83] On December 24, an anonymous Vatican official told Catholic News Service, "There was no declaration, no judgment from the pope." On January 9, John Allen defended his earlier reporting, saying that his official source was adamant about the veracity of the original story.[84] In a January 18 column, Frank Rich interviewed the Italian translator who quoted Dziwisz as saying that the pope called the film "incredible" and said "it is as it was." Rich attacked the marketing of the film and suggested Dziwisz wielded too much influence over the pope. The next day Archbishop Dziwisz told CNS, "The Holy Father told no one his opinion of this film."[85] This denial resulted in a round of commentators who accused the film producers of fabricating a papal quote to market their movie.
However, the Icon Productions spokesman stood by the story, and a source close to the situation said McEveety had asked for and received Vatican officials' permission to repeat the "It is as it was" statement before speaking to Noonan.[86] Journalist Rod Dreher reported that McEveety had received an e-mail from papal spokesman Dr. Joaquin Navarro-Valls on December 28, backing the Noonan account and ending: "I would try to make the words 'It is as it was' the leit motive [sic] in any discusion [sic] on the film. Repeat the words again and again and again."[87]
Peggy Noonan had also received e-mail confirmation of the quote from Navarro-Valls before writing her December 17 column. Complicating the situation, Navarro-Valls told Dreher that the e-mail sent to McEveety was not genuine, suggesting it was fabricated. However, Noonan later verified that all of the Navarro-Valls e-mails came from the same Vatican IP address.[83] The Los Angeles Times reported that they had previously confirmed the accuracy of the quote from Navarro-Valls when the story first broke. On CNN, John Allen reported Vatican sources who claim to have heard Dziwisz on other occasions affirm the accuracy of the quotation.[88]
On January 22, Navarro-Valls released the following official statement:
The film is a cinematographic transposition of the historical event of the Passion of Jesus Christ according to the accounts of the Gospel. It is a common practice of the Holy Father not to express public opinions on artistic works, opinions that are always open to different evaluations of aesthetic character.[82]
Allegations of antisemitism[edit]
Before the film was released, there were prominent criticisms of perceived antisemitic content in the film. 20th Century Fox told New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind they had passed on distributing the film in response to a protest outside the News Corporation building. Hikind warned other companies that "they should not distribute this film. This is unhealthy for Jews all over the world."[36]
A joint committee of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Department of Inter-religious Affairs of the Anti-Defamation League obtained a version of the script before it was released in theaters. They released a statement, calling it
one of the most troublesome texts, relative to anti-Semitic potential, that any of us had seen in twenty-five years. It must be emphasized that the main storyline presented Jesus as having been relentlessly pursued by an evil cabal of Jews, headed by the high priest Caiaphas, who finally blackmailed a weak-kneed Pilate into putting Jesus to death. This is precisely the storyline that fueled centuries of anti-Semitism within Christian societies. This is also a storyline rejected by the Roman Catholic Church at Vatican II in its document Nostra aetate, and by nearly all mainline Protestant churches in parallel documents. ... Unless this basic storyline has been altered by Mr. Gibson, a fringe Catholic who is building his own church in the Los Angeles area and who apparently accepts neither the teachings of Vatican II nor modern biblical scholarship, The Passion of the Christ retains a real potential for undermining the repudiation of classical Christian anti-Semitism by the churches in the last forty years.[89]
The ADL itself also released a statement about the yet-to-be-released film:
For filmmakers to do justice to the biblical accounts of the passion, they must complement their artistic vision with sound scholarship, which includes knowledge of how the passion accounts have been used historically to disparage and attack Jews and Judaism. Absent such scholarly and theological understanding, productions such as The Passion could likely falsify history and fuel the animus of those who hate Jews.[90]
Rabbi Daniel Lapin, the head of the Toward Tradition organization, criticized this statement, and said of Abraham Foxman, the head of the ADL, "what he is saying is that the only way to escape the wrath of Foxman is to repudiate your faith".[91]
In The Nation, reviewer Katha Pollitt said: "Gibson has violated just about every precept of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops own 1988 'Criteria' for the portrayal of Jews in dramatizations of the Passion (no bloodthirsty Jews, no rabble, no use of Scripture that reinforces negative stereotypes of Jews, etc.) [...] The priests have big noses and gnarly faces, lumpish bodies, yellow teeth; Herod Antipas and his court are a bizarre collection of oily-haired, epicene perverts. The 'good Jews' look like Italian movie stars (Italian sex symbol Monica Bellucci is Mary Magdalene); Jesus's mother, who would have been around 50 and appeared 70, could pass for a ripe 35."[92] Jesuit priest Fr. William Fulco, S.J., of Loyola Marymount University—and the film's Hebrew dialogue translator—specifically disagreed with that assessment, and disagreed with concerns that the film accused the Jewish community of deicide.[93]
One specific scene in the film perceived as an example of anti-Semitism was in the dialogue of Caiaphas, when he states "His blood [is] on us and on our children!", a quote historically interpreted by some as a curse taken upon by the Jewish people. Certain Jewish groups asked this be removed from the film. However, only the subtitles were removed; the original dialogue remains in the Hebrew soundtrack.[94] When asked about this scene, Gibson said: "I wanted it in. My brother said I was wimping out if I didn't include it. But, man, if I included that in there, they'd be coming after me at my house. They'd come to kill me."[95] In another interview when asked about the scene, he said, "It's one little passage, and I believe it, but I don't and never have believed it refers to Jews, and implicates them in any sort of curse. It's directed at all of us, all men who were there, and all that came after. His blood is on us, and that's what Jesus wanted. But I finally had to admit that one of the reasons I felt strongly about keeping it, aside from the fact it's true, is that I didn't want to let someone else dictate what could or couldn't be said."[96]
Additionally, the film's suggestion that the Temple's destruction was a direct result of the Jews' actions towards Jesus could also be interpreted as an offensive take on an event which Jewish tradition views as a tragedy, and which is still mourned by many Jews today on the fast day of Tisha B'Av.[97]
Asked by Bill O'Reilly if his movie would "upset Jews", Gibson responded, "It's not meant to. I think it's meant to just tell the truth. I want to be as truthful as possible."[98] In a Globe and Mail newspaper interview, he added: "If anyone has distorted Gospel passages to rationalize cruelty towards Jews or anyone, it's in defiance of repeated Papal condemnation. The Papacy has condemned racism in any form. ... Jesus died for the sins of all times, and I'll be the first on the line for culpability".[99]
Conservative columnist Cal Thomas also disagreed with allegations of anti-Semitism, saying "To those in the Jewish community who worry that the film [...] might contain anti-Semitic elements, or encourage people to persecute Jews, fear not. The film does not indict Jews for the death of Jesus."[100] Two Orthodox Jews, Rabbi Daniel Lapin and conservative talk-show host and author Michael Medved, also vocally rejected claims that the film is anti-Semitic. They have noted the film's many sympathetic portrayals of Jews: Simon of Cyrene (who helps Jesus carry the cross), Mary Magdalene, the Virgin Mary, St. Peter, St. John, Veronica (who wipes Jesus' face and offers him water) and several Jewish priests who protest Jesus' arrest (Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea) during Caiaphas' trial of Jesus.
Bob Smithouser of Plugged in Online believed that film was trying to convey the evils and sins of humanity rather than specifically targeting Jews, stating: "The anthropomorphic portrayal of Satan as a player in these events brilliantly pulls the proceedings into the supernatural realm—a fact that should have quelled the much-publicized cries of anti-Semitism since it shows a diabolical force at work beyond any political and religious agendas of the Jews and Romans."[101]
Moreover, Senior Vatican officer Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, who has seen the film, addressed the matter so:
Anti-Semitism, like all forms of racism, distorts the truth in order to put a whole race of people in a bad light. This film does nothing of the sort. It draws out from the historical objectivity of the Gospel narratives sentiments of forgiveness, mercy, and reconciliation. It captures the subtleties and the horror of sin, as well as the gentle power of love and forgiveness, without making or insinuating blanket condemnations against one group. This film expressed the exact opposite, that learning from the example of Christ, there should never be any more violence against any other human being.[102]
South Park parodied the controversy in the episodes "Good Times with Weapons", "Up the Down Steroid" and "The Passion of the Jew", all of which aired just a few weeks after the film's release.
Criticism of excessive violence[edit]
Several critics were troubled by the film's extensive, detailed violence, and especially cautioned parents to avoid taking their children to the cinema. Film critic Roger Ebert, who gave a four-out-of-four-star rating, said in his review:
The movie is 126 minutes long, and I would guess that at least 100 of those minutes, maybe more, are concerned specifically and graphically with the details of the torture and death of Jesus. This is the most violent film I have ever seen.[103]
Ebert also stated that the R-rated film should have instead been rated NC-17 (an MPAA rating even harsher than the R rating) in a "Movie Answer Man" response, adding that no level-minded parent should ever allow children to see it.[104]
Film historian Michael Gurnow, in an April 2008 cover story for American Atheists, stated much the same, labeling the work a mainstream snuff film.[105]
A. O. Scott, in The New York Times, said: "The Passion of the Christ is so relentlessly focused on the savagery of Jesus' final hours that this film seems to arise less from love than from wrath, and to succeed more in assaulting the spirit than in uplifting it."[106] David Edelstein, Slate's film critic, dubbed the film "a two-hour-and-six-minute snuff movie — The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre — that thinks it's an act of faith", and further criticized Gibson for focusing on the brutality of Jesus' execution, instead of his religious teachings.[107]
During Diane Sawyer's interview of him, Gibson said:
I wanted it to be shocking; and I wanted it to be extreme ... So that they see the enormity — the enormity of that sacrifice; to see that someone could endure that and still come back with love and forgiveness, even through extreme pain and suffering and ridicule. The actual crucifixion was more violent than what was shown on the film, but I thought no one would get anything out of it.
Sequel[edit]
In June 2016, it was announced that Mel Gibson is working on a sequel to The Passion of the Christ, focusing on the resurrection of Jesus. The screenwriter is Randall Wallace, who wrote the screenplay for Braveheart (1995).[108] Gibson has expressed an interest in directing the film. He also said that the film will come out in a few years since it is a big project.[109] In November 2016, Gibson confirmed that the title of the sequel would be Resurrection and implied that part of the movie would be taking place in hell, stating that the film would explore what happened in the three-day period between the death of Jesus and his return. He also revealed that the film would probably be about three years away, because of its massive undertaking. Mel also said Its a vast theological experience, need to dwell into.[110]
See also[111][edit]
Christianity portal
Film in the United States portal
2000s portal
Cultural depictions of Jesus
Saint Mary
The Messiah
The Passion
"The Passion of the Jew" (South Park episode)
Whitewashing in film[112]
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "The Passion of the Christ (18)". British Board of Film Classification. February 18, 2004. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
^ Jump up to: a b c d "The Passion of the Christ (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
^ Jump up to: a b Peggy Noonan (December 17, 2003). "'It Is as It Was' Mel Gibson's "The Passion" gets a thumbs-up from the pope". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
^ Jump up to: a b Father John O'Malley A Movie, a Mystic, a Spiritual Tradition America, March 15, 2004 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
^ Jump up to: a b c Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ by Kathleen E. Corley, Robert Leslie Webb. 2004. ISBN 0-8264-7781-X. pages 160–161.
^ Jump up to: a b c Mel Gibson's Passion and philosophy by Jorge J. E. Gracia. 2004. ISBN 0-8126-9571-2. page 145.
^ Jump up to: a b Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia edited by Philip C. Dimare. 2011. ISBN 1-59884-296-X. page 909.
^ Jump up to: a b "Entertainment Weekly". June 2006.
Jump up ^ "The Passion of the Christ Movie Reviews, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
Jump up ^ "Passion of the Christ, The (2004): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
Jump up ^ "All Time Worldwide Box Office Grosses". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
Jump up ^ Gibson, Mel (2004-02-25), The Passion of the Christ, retrieved 2016-09-01
Jump up ^ The Holy Bible, Book of Revelation 21:5.
Jump up ^ The Holy Bible, Book of Isaiah 53:5.
Jump up ^ The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis 3:15.
Jump up ^ Cooney Carrillo, Jenny (February 26, 2004). "The Passion of Mel". Urbancinefile.
Jump up ^ Abramowitz, Rachel (March 7, 2004). "Along came Mary; Mel Gibson was sold on Maia Morgenstern for 'Passion' at first sight". Los Angeles Times.
^ Jump up to: a b c Clement Brentano. The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jump up ^ Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia edited by Philip C. DiMare 2011 ISBN 1-59884-296-X page 909
^ Jump up to: a b Emmerich, Anne Catherine, and Clemens Brentano. The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Anvil Publishers, Georgia, 2005 pages 49–56
Jump up ^ John Thavis, Catholic News Service February 4, 2004: "Vatican confirms papal plans to beatify nun who inspired Gibson film" [1]
Jump up ^ John Thavis, Catholic News Service October 4, 2004: "Pope beatifies five, including German nun who inspired Gibson film" [2]
Jump up ^ Moring, Mark (March 1, 2004). "What's Up With the Ugly Baby?". Christianity Today. Archived from the original on July 9, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
Jump up ^ "Mel Gibson's Great Passion". Zenit. March 6, 2003.
Jump up ^ 'Msgr. Charles Pope' "A Hidden, Mysterious, and Much Debated Word in the Our Father". [permanent dead link]
Jump up ^ "Translating the passion". Language Hat. March 8, 2004.
Jump up ^ Reeves, Tony (February 2, 2012). "The Passion of the Christ film locations". The Worldwide Guide To Movie Locations. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ Susman, Gary (October 24, 2003). "Charged Performance". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
Jump up ^ Ross, Scott. "Behind the Scenes of 'The Passion' with Jim Caviezel". Retrieved March 31, 2013.
Jump up ^ "Jesus actor struck by lightning". BBC News. October 23, 2003. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
Jump up ^ "Jack Lenz Bio". JackLenz.com.
Jump up ^ "Clips of Musical Compositions by Jack Lenz". JackLenz.com.
Jump up ^ Susman, Gary (October 16, 2004). "Napoleon Branding". "Entertainment Weekly". Retrieved 2008-08-16.
Jump up ^ Nick Vivarelli (September 23, 2002). "Gibson To Direct Christ Tale With Caviezel As Star". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
Jump up ^ Patsuris, Penelope (March 3, 2004). "What Mel's Passion Will Earn Him". Forbes.com.
^ Jump up to: a b "Fox passes on Gibson's 'The Passion'". Los Angeles Times. October 22, 2004. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
Jump up ^ Horn, John (October 22, 2004). "Gibson to Market 'Christ' on His Own, Sources Say". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
Jump up ^ Cobb, Jerry (February 25, 2004). "Marketing 'The Passion of the Christ'". MSNBC.com.
Jump up ^ Maresco, Peter A. (Fall 2004). "Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ: Market Segmentation, Mass Marketing and Promotion, and the Internet". Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Many churches look to 'Passion' as evangelism tool". United Methodist Church. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
Jump up ^ Pauley, John L.; King, Amy (2013). Robert H. Woods, ed. Evangelical Christians and Popular Culture. 1. Westport: Praeger Publishing. pp. 36–51. ISBN 978-0313386541.
Jump up ^ Pawley, p. 38.
Jump up ^ Pawley, p. 40.
Jump up ^ Pawley, p. 40–41.
^ Jump up to: a b Pauley, p. 41.
Jump up ^ Dobson, James C. (February 6, 2004). "Open Letter on 'The Passion of the Christ'". WND. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
Jump up ^ Fredriksen, Paula (2006). On 'The Passion of the Christ': Exploring the Issues Raised by the Controversial Movie. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520248533.
Jump up ^ "Domestic Grosses by MPAA Rating". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
Jump up ^ DeSantis, Nick (February 22, 2016). "'Deadpool' Box Office On Pace To Dethrone 'Passion Of The Christ' As Top-Grossing R-Rated Movie Of All Time". Forbes. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
Jump up ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 27, 2016). "Powerless Versus 'Deadpool', 'Gods of Egypt' Is First 2016 Big-Budget Bomb: Saturday AM B.O. Update". Deadline.com. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
Jump up ^ McClintock, Pamela (February 28, 2016). "Box Office: 'Deadpool' Entombs Big-Budget Bomb 'Gods of Egypt' to Stay No. 1". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
Jump up ^ McClintock, Pamela (March 6, 2016). "Box Office: 'Zootopia' Defeats 'Deadpool' With Record $73.7M". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
Jump up ^ "The Passion of the Christ (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
Jump up ^ "Censors in Malaysia give OK to 'Passion'". Los Angeles Times. July 10, 2004. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
Jump up ^ Laura King (March 15, 2004). "'Passion' goes unseen in Israel". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
Jump up ^ Blanford, Nicholas (April 9, 2004). "Gibson's movie unlikely box-office hit in Arab world". The Christian Science Monitor.
Jump up ^ "2004 Box Office Totals for Egypt". BoxOfficeMojo.com.
Jump up ^ O'Neill, Eddie (February 2, 2014). "'The Passion of the Christ', a Decade Later". National Catholic Register. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
^ Jump up to: a b "The Passion of the Christ Review". PluggedInOnline.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008.
Jump up ^ "Box Office Stats for The Passion Recut". BoxOfficeMojo.com.
Jump up ^ Gibson, Mel. The Passion of the Christ (DVD; visual material) (in Latin and Hebrew). Beverly Hills, California: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, ©2004. ISBN 9780310263661. OCLC 55205651. Retrieved March 29, 2013. Lay summary – Internet Movie Database.
Jump up ^ Gibson, Mel. The Passion of the Christ (Blu-ray; visual material) (in Latin and Hebrew) (definitive ed.). Beverly Hills, California: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, ©2009. OCLC 302426419. Retrieved March 29, 2013. Lay summary – Amazon.
Jump up ^ "Re-Release of The Passion". Miserere.org. Archived from the original on November 22, 2008.
Jump up ^ Stella Papamichael. "Movies – review – The Passion of the Christ: Special Edition DVD". BBC. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
Jump up ^ "Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of the Christ' Returns to Blu-ray". High-Def Digest.
Jump up ^ "The Passion of the Christ". TBN. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
Jump up ^ "The Passion of the Christ". February 25, 2004. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b c "The Passion of the Christ". Metacritic. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
Jump up ^ Pamela McClintock (August 19, 2011). "Why CinemaScore Matters for Box Office". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
Jump up ^ White, Armond (March 18, 2008). "Steve McQueen's Hunger". New York Press. Retrieved April 16, 2009.
Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger (February 24, 2004). "The Passion of the Christ". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 2006-08-02.
Jump up ^ Edelstein, David (February 24, 2004). "Jesus H. Christ". Slate. Archived from the original on November 23, 2009. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
Jump up ^ Bernard, Jami (February 24, 2004). "The Passion of the Christ". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on April 16, 2004. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
Jump up ^ Josh Sanburn (September 3, 2010). "Top 10 Ridiculously Violent Movies". Time.
Jump up ^ "Film prompts murder confession – Scotsman.com News". Edinburgh: News.scotsman.com. March 27, 2004. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
Jump up ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-11-01.
Jump up ^ "AFI's Top 10 Epic Nominations". Retrieved 2016-11-01.
Jump up ^ Mark Goodacre (May 2, 2004). "Historical Accuracy of The Passion of the Christ". Archived from the original on October 13, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
Jump up ^ Mark Goodacre, "The Power of The Passion: Reacting and Over-reacting to Gibson's Artistic Vision" in "Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. The Film, the Gospels and the Claims of History", ed. Kathleen E. Corley and Robert L. Webb, 2004
Jump up ^ David Neff and Jane Johnson Struck (February 23, 2004). "'Dude, That Was Graphic': Mel Gibson talks about The Passion of The Christ". Christianity Today. Archived from the original on July 9, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
Jump up ^ "Mel Gibson's "Passion": On Review at the Vatican". ZENIT. December 8, 2003. Archived from the original on September 14, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
^ Jump up to: a b c John L. Allen, Jr. (January 23, 2004). "The Word From Rome". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
^ Jump up to: a b Peggy Noonan (January 22, 2004). "The story of the Vatican and Mel Gibson's film gets curiouser". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
Jump up ^ John L. Allen, Jr. (January 9, 2004). "The Word From Rome". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
Jump up ^ Wooden, Cindy (January 19, 2004). "Pope never commented on Gibson's 'Passion' film, says papal secretary". Catholic News Service. Archived from the original on January 24, 2004. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
Jump up ^ Gabriel Snyder (January 19, 2004). "Did Pope really plug 'Passion'?". Daily Variety. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
Jump up ^ Rod Dreher (January 21, 2004). "Did the Vatican endorse Gibson's film – or didn't it?". Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on January 2004. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
Jump up ^ "'The Passion' Stirs Controversy at the Vatican". CNN transcript. January 21, 2004. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
Jump up ^ Pawlikowski, John T. (February 2004). "Christian Anti-Semitism: Past History, Present Challenges Reflections in Light of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ". Journal of Religion and Film. Archived from the original on August 20, 2006.
Jump up ^ "ADL Statement on Mel Gibson's 'The Passion'" (Press release). Anti-Defamation League. June 24, 2003. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
Jump up ^ Nacha Cattan (March 5, 2004). ""Passion" Critics Endanger Jews, Angry Rabbis Claim, Attacking Groups, Foxman". The Jewish Daily Forward.
Jump up ^ Pollitt, Katha (March 11, 2004). "The Protocols of Mel Gibson". The Nation. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
Jump up ^ Wooden, Cindy (May 2, 2003). "As filming ends, 'Passion' strikes some nerves". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
Jump up ^ Vermes, Geza (February 27, 2003). "Celluloid brutality". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
Jump up ^ "The Jesus War".
Jump up ^ Terry Lawson (February 17, 2004). "Mel Gibson and Other "Passion" Filmakers say the Movie was Guided by Faith". Detroit Free Press. [dead link]
Jump up ^ Markoe, Lauren (July 15, 2013). "Tisha B'Av 2013: A New Approach To A Solemn Jewish Holiday". Huffington Post.
Jump up ^ Corliss, Richard (January 19, 2003). "The Passion of Mel Gibson". Time. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
Jump up ^ "Mel Gibson Interview". Globe and Mail. February 14, 2004.
Jump up ^ "The Greatest Story Ever Filmed". TownHall.com. August 5, 2003.
Jump up ^ "The Passion of the Christ". Pluggedin.com.
Jump up ^ Gaspari, Antonio (September 18, 2003). "The Cardinal & the Passion". National Review Online. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
Jump up ^ Roger Ebert,The Passion of the Christ (review), February 24, 2004
Jump up ^ "The Movie Answer Man". Chicago Sun-Times. March 7, 2004. Archived from the original on September 29, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
Jump up ^ ""The Passion of the Snuff: How the MPAA Allowed a Horror Film to Irreparably Scar Countless Young Minds in the Name of Religion" American Atheist, April 2008" (PDF). American Atheists. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 18, 2015. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
Jump up ^ A. O. Scott (February 25, 2004). "Good and Evil Locked in Violent Showdown". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 13, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
Jump up ^ David Edelstein. "Jesus H. Christ". Slate Magazine.
Jump up ^ "Mel Gibson is working on a 'Passion of the Christ' sequel".
Jump up ^ Mike Fleming Jr (September 6, 2016). "Mel Gibson On His Venice Festival Comeback Picture 'Hacksaw Ridge' – Q&A". Deadline.com. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
Jump up ^ Scott, Ryan (3 November 2016), "Passion of the Christ 2 Gets Titled Resurrection, May Take Jesus to Hell", movieweb.com, retrieved 3 November 2016
Jump up ^ "Sequel to the Passion of the Christ". YouTube.
Jump up ^ Merritt, Jonathan (December 2, 2014). "Why does Hollywood keep barring minorities from Biblical blockbusters?". The Week. Retrieved August 27, 2015. Whitewashing Bible films is something of a Hollywood tradition spanning decades, and it won't change until audiences demand better.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ on IMDb
The Passion of the Christ at the TCM Movie Database
The Passion of the Christ at Box Office Mojo
The Passion of the Christ at Rotten Tomatoes
The Passion of the Christ at Metacritic
[hide]
v
t
e
Mel Gibson
Films directed
The Man Without a Face (1993)
Braveheart (1995)
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Apocalypto (2006)
Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
Written
Get the Gringo (2012)
Produced only
The Singing Detective (2003)
Paparazzi (2004)
Stonehearst Asylum (2014)
The Professor and the Madman (TBA)
Related articles
Filmography
Awards and nominations
Icon Productions
Authority control
GND: 4774371-2
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Passion_of_the_Christ&oldid=810471895"
Categories:
2004 films
The Passion of the Christ
2000s drama films
20th Century Fox films
American drama films
American epic films
American films
Latin-language films
Hebrew-language films
Films directed by Mel Gibson
Biographical films about Jesus
Film censorship
Film portrayals of Jesus' death and resurrection
Films about death
Films set in Jerusalem
Films set in the Roman Empire
Films set in the 1st century
Films shot in Italy
Films shot in Rome
Films shot in Matera
Obscenity controversies in film
Portrayals of the Virgin Mary in film
Religious epic films
Icon Productions films
Film scores by John Debney
Aramaic-language films
Films produced by Bruce Davey
Films produced by Mel Gibson
Easter films
Hidden categories:
All articles with dead external links
Articles with dead external links from May 2017
Articles with permanently dead external links
CS1 Latin-language sources (la)
CS1 Hebrew-language sources (he)
Articles with dead external links from October 2013
Use mdy dates from February 2013
Articles needing additional references from August 2010
All articles needing additional references
All articles with unsourced statements
Articles with unsourced statements from April 2015
All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases
Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from April 2015
Articles needing additional references from March 2016
Articles with unsourced statements from April 2016
Articles needing additional references from September 2016
Articles with unsourced statements from September 2016
Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
In other projects
Wikiquote
Languages
العربية
Български
Català
Čeština
Cymraeg
Dansk
Deutsch
Ελληνικά
Español
Esperanto
Euskara
فارسی
Føroyskt
Français
Galego
한국어
Հայերեն
Hrvatski
Bahasa Indonesia
Italiano
עברית
ქართული
Latina
Latviešu
Lietuvių
Magyar
Македонски
മലയാളം
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Simple English
سنڌي
Slovenčina
Slovenščina
Српски / srpski
Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски
Suomi
Svenska
Türkçe
Українська
اردو
中文
Edit links
This page was last edited on 15 November 2017, at 13:26.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

value: i

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

attrs: role class

values:
note
hatnote navigation-not-searchable

value: th

attrs: colspan class style

value: tr

value: img

attrs: alt src width height class srcset data-file-width data-file-height

attrs: href class

value: td

attrs: colspan style

attrs: scope style

values:
/wiki/Passion_(Christianity)
mw-redirect
Passion (Christianity)

values:
/wiki/Marian_apparitions
mw-redirect
Marian apparitions

values:
/wiki/Blessed_Virgin_Mary
mw-redirect
Blessed Virgin Mary

values:
/wiki/Jesus_Christ
mw-redirect
Jesus Christ

values:
/wiki/Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)
mw-redirect
Mary (mother of Jesus)

values:
/wiki/Saint_Procula
mw-redirect
Saint Procula

values:
/wiki/Saint_Dismas
mw-redirect
Saint Dismas

values:
/wiki/Saint_Longinus
mw-redirect
Saint Longinus

values: div-col columns column-count column-count-2

values: -moz-column-count: 2; -webkit-column-count: 2; column-count: 2;

values:
/wiki/Canonical_Gospel
mw-redirect
Canonical Gospel

values:
/wiki/Garden_of_Gethsemane
mw-redirect
Garden of Gethsemane

values: Edit section: Traditional iconography and stories

values: Edit section: Catholic devotional writings

values:
/wiki/America_(Jesuit_magazine)
mw-redirect
America (Jesuit magazine)

values: Edit section: Differences from traditional Passion story

values: Catholic iconography (page does not exist)

values:
/wiki/Madonna_and_Child
mw-redirect
Madonna and Child

values:
/wiki/Matera,_Italy
mw-redirect
Matera, Italy

values:
/wiki/Icon_Entertainment
mw-redirect
Icon Entertainment

values:
/wiki/Dove_Awards_of_2005
mw-redirect
Dove Awards of 2005

values:
/wiki/Academy_Award
mw-redirect
Academy Award

values: Academy Award for Best Original Music Score

values:
/wiki/Miramax_Films
mw-redirect
Miramax Films

values: Edit section: Distribution and marketing

values:
/wiki/Prayer_in_Christianity
mw-redirect
Prayer in Christianity

values:
/wiki/Elder_(Methodism)
mw-redirect
Elder (Methodism)

values:
/wiki/Hampton_Cove,_Alabama
mw-redirect
Hampton Cove, Alabama

values: New Life Church (Colorado Springs, Colorado)

values:
/wiki/Darrell_Bock
mw-redirect
Darrell Bock

values:
/wiki/Chuck_Colson
mw-redirect
Chuck Colson

values: width: 20px; vertical-align: top; border: none; color: #B2B7F2; font-size: 40px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: .6em; text-align: left; padding: 10px 10px;

values: vertical-align: top; border: none; padding: 4px 10px;

values: width: 20px; vertical-align: bottom; border: none; color: #B2B7F2; font-size: 40px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: .6em; text-align: right; padding: 10px 10px;

values: margin:auto; border-collapse: collapse; border: none; background-color: transparent; width: auto;

values: Help:Introduction to referencing with Wiki Markup/1

values: plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Refimprove

values: This claim needs references to reliable sources. (April 2015)

values:
noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact
white-space:nowrap;

values: The material near this tag possibly uses too-vague attribution or weasel words. (April 2015)

values: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch

values: Movie and Television Review and Classification Board

values: Edit section: Independent promotion and discussion

values: This claim needs references to reliable sources. (April 2016)

values: This claim needs references to reliable sources. (September 2016)

values: American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers

values:
/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Makeup
mw-redirect
Academy Award for Makeup

values:
/wiki/Keith_Vanderlaan
mw-redirect
Keith Vanderlaan

values: 2004 American Society of Cinematographers Awards

values: Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards

values:
/wiki/Irish_Film_and_Television_Awards
mw-redirect
Irish Film and Television Awards

values:
/wiki/MTV_Movie_Awards
mw-redirect
MTV Movie Awards

values: Edit section: Questions of historical and biblical accuracy

values: Edit section: Disputed papal endorsement

values:
/wiki/John_Paul_II
mw-redirect
John Paul II

values:
/wiki/Daily_Variety
mw-redirect
Daily Variety

values:
/wiki/John_L._Allen,_Jr.
mw-redirect
John L. Allen, Jr.

values:
/wiki/Joaquin_Navarro-Valls
mw-redirect
Joaquin Navarro-Valls

values: Edit section: Allegations of antisemitism

values: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

values:
/wiki/Rabbi_Daniel_Lapin
mw-redirect
Rabbi Daniel Lapin

values:
/wiki/Toward_Tradition
mw-redirect
Toward Tradition

values:
/wiki/Bill_O%27Reilly_(commentator)
mw-redirect
Bill O'Reilly (commentator)

values:
/wiki/Globe_and_Mail
mw-redirect
Globe and Mail

values:
/wiki/Orthodox_Jew
mw-redirect
Orthodox Jew

values:
/wiki/Sanhedrin_Trial_of_Jesus
mw-redirect
Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus

values: Edit section: Criticism of excessive violence

values: Motion Picture Association of America film rating system

values:
noprint metadata navbox
navigation
Portals
font-weight:bold;padding:0.4em 2em

values:
/wiki/Cultural_depictions_of_Jesus
mw-redirect
Cultural depictions of Jesus

values:
/wiki/Saint_Mary_(Iranian_film)
mw-redirect
Saint Mary (Iranian film)

values:
/wiki/The_Messiah_(Iranian_film)
mw-redirect
The Messiah (Iranian film)

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.jacklenz.com/index.htm

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.jacklenz.com/clips.htm

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4374411

values:
nofollow
http://www.wnd.com/2004/02/23134/
external text

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/55205651

values:
nofollow
external text
//www.worldcat.org/oclc/55205651

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/302426419

values:
nofollow
external text
//www.worldcat.org/oclc/302426419

values:
nofollow
http://slate.msn.com//id/2096025/
external text

values:
nofollow
http://www.forward.com/articles/6434/
external text

values:
/wiki/National_Review_Online
mw-redirect
National Review Online

values:
nofollow
http://www.slate.com/id/2096025/
external text

values: -moz-column-width: 30em; -webkit-column-width: 30em; column-width: 30em; list-style-type: decimal;

values:
nofollow
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335345/
external text

values: List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson

values: nowraplinks collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values:
nofollow
external text
https://d-nb.info/gnd/4774371-2

values: Category:Film portrayals of Jesus' death and resurrection

values: Category:Obscenity controversies in film

values: Category:Portrayals of the Virgin Mary in film

values: Category:All articles with dead external links

values: Category:Articles with dead external links from May 2017

values: Category:Articles with permanently dead external links

values: Category:CS1 Latin-language sources (la)

values: Category:CS1 Hebrew-language sources (he)

values: Category:Articles with dead external links from October 2013

values: Category:Use mdy dates from February 2013

values: Category:Articles needing additional references from August 2010

values: Category:All articles needing additional references

values: Category:All articles with unsourced statements

values: Category:Articles with unsourced statements from April 2015

values: Category:All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases

values: Category:Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from April 2015

values: Category:Articles needing additional references from March 2016

values: Category:Articles with unsourced statements from April 2016

values: Category:Articles needing additional references from September 2016

values: Category:Articles with unsourced statements from September 2016

values: Category:Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/The_Passion_of_the_Christ
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

values: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

values: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

values: A list of all special pages [ctrl-alt-q]

values: Permanent link to this revision of the page

values: Link to connected data repository item [ctrl-alt-g]

values: Printable version of this page [ctrl-alt-p]

values: portal navigation p-wikibase-otherprojects p-wikibase-otherprojects-label

values:
uls-settings-trigger
Language settings
0
button
true

values: آلام المسيح (فيلم) – Arabic

values: Страстите Христови (филм) – Bulgarian

values: Τα Πάθη του Χριστού – Greek

values: La Pasión de Cristo (película) – Spanish

values: مصائب مسیح – Persian

values: 패션 오브 크라이스트 – Korean

values: Քրիստոսի չարչարանքները – Armenian

values: interlanguage-link interwiki-hy badge-Q17437796 badge-featuredarticle

values: La passione di Cristo (film 2004) – Italian

values: הפסיון של ישו (סרט) – Hebrew

values: ქრისტეს ვნებანი – Georgian

values: ദ പാഷൻ ഓഫ് ദ ക്രൈസ്റ്റ് – Malayalam

values: Страсти Христовы (фильм) – Russian

values: The Passion of the Christ – Simple English

values: دي پيشن آف دي ڪرائسٺ – Sindhi

values: Страдање Христово – Serbian

values: The Passion of the Christ – Serbo-Croatian

values: Страсті Христові (фільм) – Ukrainian

values: دی پیشن آف دی کرائسٹ – Urdu

values: /static/images/wikimedia-button-1.5x.png 1.5x, /static/images/wikimedia-button-2x.png 2x

values: /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_132x47.png 1.5x, /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_176x62.png 2x

values:
suggestions
display: none; font-size: 13px;

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-The_Passion_of_the_Christ rootpage-The_Passion_of_the_Christ vector-nav-directionality skin-vector action-view