The Passion of the Christ
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox film
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 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.<ref name="America">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="Corl">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Garcia">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Dimare">Template:Cite book</ref>
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.<ref>"The Passion of the Christ". Movie-Locations</ref> The dialogue is entirely in reconstructed Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin. Although Gibson was initially against it, the film is subtitled.
The film was controversial and received polarized reviews; some critics called the film a religious and holy experience, praising the performances, production values, and John Debney's score, while some found it antisemitic and the violence extreme and draining. The film grossed $612.1 million worldwide,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and became the fifth highest-grossing film of 2004 internationally at the end of its theatrical run.<ref name="BOM"/> It is the highest-grossing (inflation unadjusted) Christian film of all time, as well as the highest-grossing independent film of all time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was the highest-grossing R-rated film in the US, at $370.8 million, a record which remained unbroken for 20 years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Deadpool & Wolverine" /> It received three nominations at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005, for Best Makeup, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Two sequels, The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One and Part Two, are set for release in 2027, 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, is bribed by Caiaphas and the Pharisees with thirty pieces of silver to lead temple guards to the garden and betray 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, and priests and 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' execution, 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 carrying the cross to Golgotha where, with Mary, Magdalene, John, and others witnessing, Jesus is crucified.
Jesus prays to God to forgive his tormentors, who mock him for not being able to come down from the cross, while providing salvation to Dismas, crucified beside him, for his faith and repentance, and comforts his 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 the depths of Hell, Jesus' body is taken down from the cross and entombed; days later, he rises from the dead and exits the tomb.
Cast
- Jim Caviezel as Jesus Christ
- Andrea Refuto as Young Jesus
- Maia Morgenstern as Mary, the 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 ben Seth
- 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
- Rossella Vetrano as Veronica
- 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."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The film also refers to the Old Testament. The film begins with an epigraph from the Fourth Song of the Suffering Servant from Isaiah.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In the opening scene set in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus crushes a serpent's head in direct visual allusion to Genesis 3:15.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Throughout the film, Jesus quotes from the Psalms, beyond the instances recorded in the New Testament.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref name="Urbancinefile" >Template:Cite web</ref>
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."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Production
Script and language
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.'"<ref name="Zenit interview 2003">Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In February 2008, it was reported that screenwriter Benedict Fitzgerald was suing Gibson, along with Vicki Christianson, Icon Productions, Icon Distribution, Marquis Films, and Airborne Productions, for defrauding him of millions of dollars, as well as incorrectly taking co-writing credit for the screenplay of the film.<ref name=court2008>Template:Cite web</ref> In May 2009, Gibson agreed to an undisclosed settlement with Fitzgerald. Details of the settlement, agreed at Los Angeles County Superior Court, were not released. Gibson's representatives did not comment on the settlement.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Filming
The film was produced independently and shot in Italy at Cinecittà Studios in Rome, and on location in the city of Matera and the ghost town of Craco, both in the Basilicata region. 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to the DVD special feature, Martin Scorsese had recently finished his film Gangs of New York, from which Gibson and his production designers constructed part of their set. This saved Gibson a lot of time and money.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Gibson consulted several theological advisers during filming, including Fr. Jonathan Morris, and a local priest, Philip J. Ryan, who visited the set daily to provide counsel, Confession, and Holy Communion to Jim Caviezel. Masses were celebrated for cast and crew in several locations.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> There were other priests involved with the filming, including Abbé Michel Debourges from the Institute of Christ the King, Stephen Somerville, and Jean-Marie Charles-Roux, all of whom were asked by Mel Gibson to daily celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During filming, key set production assistant Jan Michelini was struck twice by lightning and hence nicknamed "Lighting Boy" as seen in the credits. Minutes later, Caviezel also was struck.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="bbc-lightning">Template:Cite news</ref>
Music
Template:Main Three albums were released with Gibson's co-operation: (1) the 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) Songs Inspired by The Passion of the Christ. The first two albums each received a 2005 Dove award, and the soundtrack received an Academy Award nomination of Best Original Music Score. The music score frequently makes use of the wailing woman technique.<ref name=salon>Template:Cite web</ref>
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;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> several clips of his compositions have been posted online.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Title change
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.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Later, the title was changed again to The Passion of the Christ for all markets.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Distribution and marketing
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."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Gibson and his company Icon Productions provided the film's sole backing, spending about $30 million on production costs and an estimated $15 million on marketing.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> After early accusations of antisemitism, it became difficult for Gibson to find an American distribution company. 20th Century Fox initially had a first-look deal with Icon but decided to pass on the film in response to public protests; Fox did however release the film on domestic home media as well as in Latin America and Asia-Pacific.<ref name=FOXpass>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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 film in the United States himself, with the aid of independent distributor Newmarket Films.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Gibson handled the distribution and marketing on his own, whilst Newmarket assisted with shipping prints of the film and collecting the revenue from theaters.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Gibson departed from the usual film marketing formula. He employed a small-scale television advertising campaign with no press junkets.<ref name="msnbc-cobb">Template:Cite web</ref> Similar to marketing campaigns for earlier biblical films like The King of Kings, The Passion of the Christ was heavily promoted by many church groups, both within their organizations and to the public. Typical licensed merchandise like posters, T-shirts, coffee mugs and jewelry was sold through retailers and websites.<ref name="maresco">Template:Cite web</ref> The United Methodist Church stated that many of its members, like other Christians, felt that the film was a good way to evangelize non-believers.<ref name="UMNS">Template:Cite web</ref> As a result, many congregations planned to be at the theaters, and some set up tables to answer questions and share prayers.<ref name="UMNS"/> Rev. John Tanner, pastor of Cove United Methodist Church in Hampton Cove, Alabama, said: "They feel the film presents a unique opportunity to share Christianity in a way today's public can identify with."<ref name="UMNS"/> The Seventh-day Adventist Church also expressed a similar endorsement of the picture.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> More than a dozen Catholic bishops and cardinals issued statements praising the film.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Evangelical support
The Passion of the Christ received enthusiastic support from the American evangelical community.<ref name="pauley">Template:Cite book</ref> Before the film's release, Gibson contacted evangelical leaders seeking their support and feedback.<ref name="pauley-38">Pawley, p. 38.</ref> With their help, Gibson organized and attended a series of pre-release 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.<ref name="pauley-40">Pawley, p. 40.</ref> 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.<ref name="pauley-40-41">Pawley, pp. 40–41.</ref>
From mid-2003 to the film's release in February 2004, portions or rough cuts of the film were shown to over eighty audiences, including many evangelical audiences.<ref name="pauley-41">Pauley, p. 41.</ref> The film received public endorsements from evangelical leaders including Rick Warren, Billy Graham, Robert Schuller, Darrell Bock, Christianity Today editor David Neff, Pat Robertson, Lee Strobel, Jerry Falwell, Max Lucado, Tim LaHaye and Chuck Colson.<ref name="pauley-41"/><ref name="fredriksen">Template:Cite bookTemplate:Page needed</ref>
Release
Box office and theatrical run
The Passion of the Christ opened in the United States on February 25, 2004 (Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent). It earned $83.8 million from 4,793 screens at 3,043 theaters in its opening weekend and a total of $125.2 million since its Wednesday opening, ranking it fourth overall in domestic opening weekend earnings for 2004 as well as the biggest weekend debut for a February release (until Fifty Shades of Grey was released). The film tied with The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingTemplate:'s record for having the highest five-day Wednesday opening. Moreover, The Passion of the Christ scored the second biggest opening weekend for any R-rated movie, behind The Matrix Reloaded.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> It went on to earn $370.8 million overall in the United States,<ref name="BOM"/> and remained the highest grossing R-rated film in the domestic market (U.S. & Canada) for 20 years, before the record went to Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024 with a domestic gross of $636.7 million.<ref name="Deadpool & Wolverine">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Mojo R-rated gross">"All time box office: domestic grosses by MPAA rating". Template:Webarchive Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 12, 2019.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="TTT">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film sold an estimated 59.6 million tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In the Philippines, a majority-Catholic country, the film was released on March 31, 2004,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> rated PG-13 by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and endorsed by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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 theaters.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In Israel, the film was not banned. However, it never received theatrical distribution because no Israeli distributor would market it.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Despite the many controversies and refusals by some governments to allow the film to be viewed in wide release, The Passion of the Christ earned $612 million worldwide.<ref name="BOM"/> The film was also a relative success in certain countries with large Muslim populations,<ref name=CSM>Template:Cite news</ref> such as in Egypt, where it ranked 20th overall in its box office numbers for 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In addition, it witnessed immense popularity in countries like Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates where political parallels with the Israeli–Palestinian conflict resonated with audiences.<ref name=CSM/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, it was banned in Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for religious reasons, particularly for depicting Jesus contrary to Islamic teachings.<ref name=CSM/> The film was the highest grossing non-English-language film of all time<ref name="ncr">Template:Cite news</ref> until 2017, when it was surpassed by Wolf Warrior 2.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
The Passion Recut
The Passion Recut, a re-edited version, was released in theaters on March 11, 2005, with five minutes of the most explicit violence deleted, in hopes of attracting more viewers by making the film approachable to consumers who found the original cut too gruesome. President of Newmarket Films Bob Berney stated, "I knew a lot of people that wanted to see it but couldn't go...They were just too nervous or squeamish."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Gibson explained his reasoning for this re-edited version: Template:Blockquote
Gibson anticipated that the film would be rated PG-13 after he edited it to bring it closer to that rating.<ref name=tampa>Template:Cite web</ref> The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) still deemed The Passion Recut too violent for the PG-13 rating, but because Newmarket is not an MPAA signatory and hence does not have to comply with MPAA guidelines, they decided to release the film as unrated.<ref name=pluggedin /> On the Passion Recut's rating and appeal to wider audiences, Berney explained:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The film's re-release was an "experiment" for Newmarket and Icon, since the companies hoped for a four-week showing that would extended through Easter Sunday (March 27). Had the experiment succeeded, Newmarket and Icon would have released the film every year around Easter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, the shortened film showed for three weeks in 960 theaters for a box office total of $567,692, minuscule compared to the $612,054,428 of The Passion.<ref name="Mojo Recut total">"The Passion Recut: domestic total gross". Template:Webarchive Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 12, 2019.</ref> The BBFC classified the recut with a 15 rating, lower than the original cut's 18 rating.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Differences
During the scourging scene, the cat o' nine tails striking Jesus's flesh that resulted in blood squirting and his flesh being dislodged was omitted. In the crucifixion scene, the Roman soldiers nailing Jesus with blood spurting is cut, and the soldier strenuously dislocating Jesus's shoulder is trimmed; instead, the reaction shots of Mary and Jesus are shown. Incidentally, the scene in which the cross is flipped over and suspended in air was also deleted, due to viewers not understanding what they saw.<ref name=pluggedin/>
On this edit's overall effect, Gibson further added, "I have toned down some of the more brutal scenes without removing them or compromising the impact of the film. By softening some of its more wrenching aspects, I hope to make the film and its message of love available to a wider audience".<ref name=tampa/>
Home media
On August 31, 2004, the film was released on VHS and DVD in North America by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, which initially passed on theatrical distribution. As with the original theatrical release, the film's release on home video formats proved to be very popular. Early estimates indicated that over 2.4 million copies of the film were sold by 3:00Template:Spacesp.m.,<ref name=vty>Template:Cite news</ref> with a total of 4.1 million copies on its first day of sale.<ref name="Today 2004 4.1">Associated Press (September 1, 2004). "Passion DVD sells 4.1 million in one day". Template:Webarchive Today. Retrieved October 13, 2019.</ref> 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.<ref name="PassionoftheChristBlu-ray">Template:Cite AV media</ref> It was also released on Blu-ray in Australia a week before Easter.
Although the original DVD release sold well, it contained no bonus features other than a trailer, which provoked speculation about how many buyers would wait for a special edition to be released.<ref name=vty/> On January 30, 2007, a two-disc Definitive Edition was released in the North American markets, and March 26 of that year elsewhere. It contains several documentaries, soundtrack commentaries, deleted scenes, outtakes, the 2005 unrated version, and the original 2004 theatrical version.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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, the King of the Jews", in Latin and Hebrew. He 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On February 7, 2017, 20th Century Fox re-released the film on Blu-ray and DVD featuring the theatrical version and the edited version (The Passion Recut), where the graphic violence is reduced. The theatrical version features English and Spanish dubs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Television broadcast
On April 17, 2011 (Palm Sunday), Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) presented the film at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT, in the United States with multiple showings scheduled. The network had continued to air the film throughout the year, and particularly around Easter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On March 29, 2013 (Good Friday), as a part of their special Holy Week programming, TV5 in the Philippines presented the Filipino-dubbed version of the film at 2:00Template:Spacesp.m. (PST, UTC+8). Its total broadcast ran for two hours, but excluding the advertisements, it would only run for approximately one hour instead of its full run time of two hours and six minutes. It ended 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
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 49% based on 277 critic reviews. The website's critical consensus reads: "Director Mel Gibson's zeal is unmistakable, but The Passion of the Christ will leave many viewers emotionally drained rather than spiritually uplifted."<ref name="tomatoes">Template:Cite web</ref> On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average of 47 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".<ref name="metacritic">Template:Cite web</ref> Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare "A+" grade.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In a positive review for Time, its critic Richard Corliss called The Passion of the Christ "a serious, handsome, excruciating film that radiates total commitment".<ref name="metacritic" /> New York Press film critic Armond White praised Gibson's direction, comparing him to Carl Theodor Dreyer in how he transformed art into spirituality.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> White also noted that it was odd to see Gibson offer audiences "an intellectual challenge" with the film.<ref name="White, Armond">Template:Cite news</ref> Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times gave the movie four out of four stars, calling it "the most violent film I have ever seen" as well as reflecting on how it struck him, a former altar boy: "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."<ref name="Ebert CST">Template:Cite news</ref>
In a negative review for Slate, David Edelstein called The Passion of the Christ "a two-hour-and-six-minute snuff movie".<ref name="Edelstein 2004 Slate">Template:Cite news</ref> 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".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the Dallas Observer, Robert Wilonsky wrote that he found the film "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".<ref name="metacritic" />
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).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2010, Time listed it as one of the most "ridiculously violent" films of all time.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Disputed papal endorsement
On December 5, 2003, Passion of the Christ co-producer Stephen McEveety gave a rough cut<ref name="Vivarelli 2003 Pope peeks">Vivarelli, Nick (December 15, 2003)."Pope peeks at private Passion preview". Template:Webarchive Variety. Retrieved October 17, 2019.</ref> of the film to Archbishop Stanisław Dziwisz, the pope's secretary.<ref name="Flynn 2003 5sw">Flynn, J. D. (December 18, 2003). "Pope John Paul endorses The Passion of Christ with five simple words". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved October 17, 2019.</ref> Pope John Paul II watched the film in his private apartment with Archbishop Dziwisz that night, and later met with McEveety<ref name="Allen More 2004 NCR"/> and Jan Michelini, an Italian and the movie's assistant director.<ref name="Rich 2004 thumbs up"/><ref name="Wooden 2004 never"/> On December 17, Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan reported John Paul II had said "It is as it was", citing McEveety, who said he heard it from Dziwisz.<ref name="Noonan 2003 thumbs-up">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Snyder 2004 Plug">Snyder, Gabriel (January 19, 2004)."Did Pope really plug Passion? Church denies papal support of Gibson's pic". Variety. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved October 18, 2019.</ref> Noonan had emailed Joaquín Navarro-Valls, the head of the Vatican's press office, for confirmation before writing her column, surprised that the "famously close-mouthed" Navarro-Valls had approved the use of the "It is as it was" quote, and his emailed response stated he had no other comment at that time.<ref name="Noonan WSJ 2004 curiouser"/> National Catholic Reporter journalist John L. Allen Jr. published a similar account on the same day, quoting an unnamed senior Vatican official.<ref name="Allen More 2004 NCR"/> Reuters<ref name="Noonan WSJ 2004 curiouser">Template:Cite news</ref> and the Associated Press independently confirmed the story, citing Vatican sources.<ref name="Allen 2004 NCR">Allen, John L. Jr. (January 23, 2004)."Week of prayer for Christian unity; update on The PassionTemplate:Nbsp...". Template:Webarchive National Catholic Reporter: The Word from Rome. Retrieved October 20, 2008.</ref>
A dispute emerged a few days later, when an anonymous Vatican official told Catholic News Service "There was no declaration, no judgment from the pope." But Allen defended his earlier reporting, saying that his official source was adamant about the veracity of the original story.<ref name="Allen More 2004 NCR">Allen, John L. Jr. (January 9, 2004)."U.S. bishops issue abuse report; more on The PassionTemplate:Nbsp...". Template:Webarchive National Catholic Reporter: The Word from Rome. Retrieved October 20, 2008.</ref> Columnist Frank Rich for The New York Times wrote that the statement was "being exploited by the Gibson camp", and that when he asked Michelini about the meeting, Michelini said Dziwisz had reported the pope's words as "It is as it was", and said the pope also called the film "incredibile", an Italian word Michelini translated as "amazing".<ref name="Rich 2004 thumbs up">Rich, Frank (January 18, 2014). "The pope's thumbs up for Gibson's Passion" Template:Webarchive. The New York Times Retrieved October 18, 2019.</ref> The following day, Archbishop Dziwisz told CNS, "The Holy Father told no one his opinion of this film."<ref name="Wooden 2004 never">Template:Cite news</ref> This denial resulted in a round of commentators who accused the film producers of fabricating a papal quote to market their movie.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
According to Rod Dreher in the Dallas Morning News, McEveety was sent an email from papal spokesman Navarro-Valls that supported the Noonan account, and suggested "It is as it was" could be used as the leitmotif in discussions on the film and said to "Repeat the words again and again and again."<ref name="Dreher 2004 endorse">Dreher, Rod (January 21, 2004)."Did the Vatican endorse Gibson's film – or didn't it?" Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on January 27, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2008.</ref> Dreher emailed Navarro-Valls a copy of the email McEveety had received, and Navarro-Valls emailed Dreher back and said, "I can categorically deny its authenticity."<ref name="Dreher 2004 endorse"/><ref name="Noonan WSJ 2004 curiouser"/> Dreher opined that either Mel Gibson's camp had created "a lollapalooza of a lie", or the Vatican was making reputable journalists and filmmakers look like "sleazebags or dupes" and he explained: Template:Blockquote
Noonan noted that she and Dreher had discovered the emails were sent by "an email server in the Vatican's domain" from a Vatican computer with the same IP address.<ref name="Noonan WSJ 2004 curiouser"/> The Los Angeles Times reported that, when it asked after the story first broke if the "It is as it was" quote was reliable, Navarro-Valls had responded "I think you can consider that quote as accurate."<ref name="Munoz 2004 LAT fallout">Munoz, Lorenza and Stammer, Larry B. (January 23, 2004)." Fallout over Passion deepens". Template:Webarchive The Los Angeles Times. Contributions by Greg Braxton and the Associated Press. Retrieved October 19, 2019.</ref> Allen noted that while Dziwisz stated that Pope John Paul II made no declaration about this movie, other Vatican officials were "continuing to insist" the pope did say it, and other sources claimed they had heard Dziwisz say the pope said it on other occasions, and Allen called the situation "kind of a mess".<ref name="Allen-O'Brien CNN Interview 2004">"Transcripts: The Passion stirs controversy at the Vatican". Template:Webarchive CNN. Miles O'Brien interview with John L. Allen Jr. on January 21, 2004. Retrieved October 20, 2008.</ref> A representative from Gibson's Icon Productions expressed surprise at Dziwisz's statements after the correspondence and conversations between film representatives and the pope's official spokesperson, Navarro-Valls, and stated "there is no reason to believe that the pope's support of the film 'isn't as it was.'"<ref name="Snyder 2004 Plug"/>
After speaking to Dziwisz, Navarro-Valls confirmed John Paul II had seen The Passion of the Christ, and 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.<ref name="Allen 2004 NCR"/>
In a follow-up column in The Wall Street Journal, Noonan addressed the question of why the issues being raised were not just "a tempest in a teapot" and she explained:<ref name="Noonan WSJ 2004 curiouser"/>Template:Blockquote
Allegations of antisemitism
Before the film was released, there were prominent criticisms of perceived antisemitic content in the film. It was for that reason that 20th Century Fox decided to pass on the film, informing New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind that a protest outside the News Corporation Building made them decide against distributing the film. Hikind warned other companies that "they should not distribute this film. This is unhealthy for Jews all over the world."<ref name=FOXpass />
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 25 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 40 years.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
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".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In The Nation, reviewer Katha Pollitt wrote: "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.) [...] 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 (Magdalene actually is an Italian movie star, Monica Bellucci); Jesus's mother, who would have been around 50 and appeared 70, could pass for a ripe 35."<ref name="pollitt">Template:Cite news</ref> Jesuit priest Fr. William Fulco, S.J. of Loyola Marymount University—and the film's translator for Hebrew dialogue—specifically disagreed with that assessment, and disagreed with concerns that the film accused the Jewish community of deicide.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In The Guardian, Jewish biblical scholar and expert on the historical Jesus, Géza Vermes wrote a highly critical review of the movie: he stated that the movie is "horribly gory, historically wrong - and it will inspire judeophobia". According to Vermes, "the real problem is not with his attitudes or avowed intentions, but with the lack of appropriate steps taken to prevent visual images from inspiring judeophobia. Caiaphas and his priestly colleagues often struggle not to smile when they see the defeat of Christ. In the film they allow their policemen to beat him up in open court without protest. In the Gospels itself they are depicted as doing things according to the book and reject the witnesses who testify against Jesus. This does not seem to be so in the film. These are dangerous opportunities for inspiring vengeful sentiments".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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!" (Mt 27:25), 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In an interview with the Detroit Free Press, 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."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The allegations of antisemitism were satirized in the South Park episode "The Passion of the Jew", which focuses on the reactions of the protagonists to the film. In the episode, Eric Cartman leads a neo-Nazi rally whilst dressed as Adolf Hitler, Kyle Broflovski has nightmares about the excessive violence and complains about the Jews' apparent responsibility for the death of Jesus, and Stan Marsh and Kenny McCormick go to Mel Gibson to get a refund.<ref name="forward">Template:Cite web</ref>
Allegations of the film's antisemitism were intensified after Mel Gibson's 2006 arrest for driving under the influence in Malibu, California, where during the arrest, he made antisemitic remarks against the arresting officer. He was recorded saying to the officer, "Fucking Jews... the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. Are you a Jew?"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=tmz>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Reactions to allegations of antisemitism
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Film critic Roger Ebert, who awarded The Passion of the Christ four out of four stars in his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, denied allegations that the film was anti-semitic. Ebert described the film as "a powerful and important film, helmed by a man with a sincere heart and a warrior's sense of justice. It is a story filled with searing images and ultimately a message of redemption and hope." Ebert said, "It also might just be the greatest cinematic version of the greatest story ever told."<ref name="Ebert Judge">Template:Cite web</ref>
Conservative columnist Cal Thomas also disagreed with allegations of antisemitism and wrote in Townhall: "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."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Bob Smithouser of Focus on the Family's Plugged In also believed that the 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."<ref name="pluggedin" />
Moreover, senior officer at the Vatican Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, who had 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In an interview for The Globe and Mail, 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."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Criticism of excessive violence
A.O. Scott in The New York Times wrote "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."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> David Edelstein, SlateTemplate:'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.<ref name="Edelstein 2004 Slate"/>
In 2008, writer Michael Gurnow in American Atheists stated much the same, labeling the work a mainstream snuff film.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Critic Armond White, in his review of the film for Africana.com, offered another perspective on the violence in the film. He wrote, "Surely Gibson knows (better than anyone in Hollywood is willing to admit) that violence sells. It's problematic that this time, Gibson has made a film that asks for a sensitive, serious, personal response to violence rather than his usual glorifying of vengeance."<ref name="White, Armond"/>
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 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Accolades
Future
Template:Main In June 2016, writer Randall Wallace stated that he and Gibson had begun work on a sequel to The Passion of the Christ which will focus on the Resurrection and the events surrounding it.<ref name="Sequel_THR">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2018, Caviezel said that Gibson had sent him the third draft of the screenplay.<ref name="Sequel_Aleteia">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Sequel_EI">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2020, Caviezel said that it would be titled The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection and predicted, "It's going to be the biggest film in world history."<ref name="Sequel_CBN">Template:Cite web</ref>
In July 2023, Gibson stated that the sequel was "coming soon", and that he was working on two versions of the script, saying, "one of them is a very structured and very strong script, and kind of more what one should expect, and the other is like an acid trip."<ref name="Sequel_CS">Template:Cite web</ref> In September 2024, Gibson had reportedly begun scouting various locations with a production team in Europe.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In January 2025, during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Gibson announced the film's title as The Resurrection of the Christ. When Rogan asked if he would be recasting the lead character, Gibson confirmed that Caviezel would reprise the role, and added that the use of CGI and various special effects would be used to allow the actor to appear the same age.<ref name="Sequel_Deadline">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The title would be confirmed in May, with Lionsgate co-producing and distributing the film,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Caviezel ultimately being recast with Jaakko Ohtonen due to budget concerns over digital deageing, with the film having an all-new cast.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In August 2025, Lionsgate officially announced that two sequels were in development, with Part One scheduled to release on Good Friday 2027 (March 26), and Part Two on Ascension Day 2027 (May 6).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
References
External links
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