Passion of the Christ (2004)

Editor's Note THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST depicts the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus of Nazareth (Jim Caviezel), beginning with his betrayal by Judas Iscariot (Luca Lionello) and ending with his crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. Directed by Mel Gibson (BRAVEHEART)--who funded the film himself and co-wrote the screenplay--PASSION uses flashbacks to substantiate a handful of pertinent moments in Jesus' life and teachings, such as the Sermon on the Mount and the Last Supper, as well as his relationships with his mother and his disciples. Still, the drama focuses on the seemingly endless torture inflicted upon Jesus by Roman soldiers at the urging of the Jewish crowd that considers him a blasphemer, despite the attempts of a sympathetic Pontius Pilate (Hristo Naumov Shopov) to spare him from death. The faint of heart should be prepared for the brutal, barbaric beatings that Christ endures. Maia Morgenstern, Monica Bellucci, and Hristo Jivkov are touching as Mary, Magdalene, and John respectively, who are devastated by Jesus' fate yet aware that they can do nothing to change it. Performed in Aramaic and Latin with English subtitles, Gibson's labor of love is sure to prompt discussion and debate as to historical and Biblical fact.

	Mattia Sbragia
	Maia Morgenstern
	Luca Lionello
	Monica Bellucci
	Claudia Gerini
	Jim Caviezel
	Hristo Shopov
	Mel Gibson - Screenwriter
	Benedict Fitzgerald - Screenwriter
	Stephen McEveety - Producer
	Bruce Davey - Producer
	Enzo Sisti - Executive Producer
	Caleb Deschanel - Director of Photography
	John Debney - Composer
	Mel Gibson - Director

Los Angeles Times
"This is Gibson's personal vision of the greatest story ever told, a look inside his heart and soul..." 02/24/2004 p.1

USA Today
"[T]here is undeniable power and artistry in the filmmaking..." 02/27/2004 p.8E

Entertainment Weekly
"[Caviezel] has an eloquent, spindly body and a gauntly ascetic profile..." 03/05/2004 p.46-7

Rolling Stone
"Gibson's immersion in the blood of Christ is an act of faith filmed with a zealot's rapture." 03/18/2004 p.79

Box Office
"[I]t is Gibson himself, as director, who most energizes the movie, breathing life into the dusty annals of scripture and investigating them with an almost indescribable, elegiac beauty." 04/01/2004 p.160-1

Sight and Sound
"What THE PASSION adds to Gibson's previous directorial offerings is a stripped-down economy of story-telling and a flair for hauntingly iconic imagery which lend an irresistibly visceral edge." 04/01/2004 p.63-4

Premiere
"[U]ndeniably well-made..." 07/01/2004 p.112