THE PASSION OF CHRIST

 

Warning: in this posts there are explicit-detailed violent videos. This is the truth, what our Lord Jesus Christ endured for you and me.

The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 film co-written, co-produced and directed by Mel Gibson. It is based primarily on biblical accounts of the arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, events commonly known as “The Passion”. The film contains very strong scenes of violence, whipping and suffering. The film’s dialogue is in Aramaic, Latin, and Hebrew, with subtitles. It was filmed in Matera, Italy and Cinecittà Studios, Rome.

It was Gibson’s intention to be faithful to the spirit of the biblical account. With some embellishments from modern sources the plot adheres largely to the accounts found in the Canonical gospels of the New Testament, primarily John, and covers the period from Jesus’ vigil in the Garden of Gethsemane up to his resurrection.

Jesus the Jew is tempted in the garden by a personified Satan, who appears as an androgynous albino.

1. Gethsemane

An event similar to the story of Saint Veronica is in this account, but the woman is named “Seraphia” in the cast list. Although it is one of the Stations of the Cross, the story of Veronica wiping Jesus’ brow with her veil on the Via Dolorosa is not present in the canonical gospels.

There are some changes that will be evident to most viewers. A few examples here will be enough to give an impression of the kind of change made by Gibson. For more detail on changes discussed by scholars see below “Differences from the New Testament”.

Mary, mother of Jesus, awakes from a dream with feelings of foreboding and quotes from the Passover Seder, “Why is this night different than other night”s, and Mary Magdalene replies with a traditional response: “Because once we were slaves and we are slaves no longer”. When questioned by Caiaphas, Jesus pronounces the ineffable Name of God in his response, which justifies Caiaphas’ subsequent charge of blasphemy before witnesses. Herod Antipas is depicted as an effeminate pederast. The people in the crowd that demands the freedom of Barabbas rather than Jesus have been paid to do so by Caiaphas.

2. scenes from the movie

The movie ends with Jesus’ resurrection and leave from the tomb, the holes in his hands from the nails visible as he walks.

To produce THE PASSION OF CHRIST, Mel Gibson spent some forty to fifty million dollars of his money to finance and advertise it. Aside from being its co-producer and director, he is the co-screenplay writer with Benedict Fitzgerald. Given the heavy Christian message, the very explicit violence, and the polyglot soundtrack (Aramaic, Latin, Hebrew), it was difficult to find an American distribution company; the film was completed before Newmarket Films agreed to release it in the U.S. Equinox Films was the Canadian distributor, and Icon Films the British and Australian distributor.

Why does Jesus Christ die? Which are the reasons?

In The Passion: Photography from the Movie “The Passion of the Christ”, 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.

It was me that put him on the cross. It was my sins [who / that put him there].

Gibson makes an appearance in the film, in close-up only: his hands nail Jesus to the cross. He also appears as Jesus’ feet and hands when he helps up Mary during the attempted stoning sequence.

The Passion of the Christ was heavily promoted by many church groups, both within their organizations and to the general public, often giving away free tickets. The pre-release controversy about its alleged anti-Semitism helped sell it.

Some evangelical Christians considered the film’s release a crucial moment for evangelism. After months of controversy that led to more pre-release sales than any film in history, the movie opened in the United States on February 25, 2004. It earned $25 million per day in its first five days of release and in short order became the highest-grossing R-rated film ever made.

On August 31, 2004 the film was released on DVD, VHS, and later D-VHS in North America. As with the original release in cinemas, the release of the film on home 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.

An edited version, titled The Passion Recut was released on March 11, 2005, with some five minutes of the most explicit violence deleted, in an effort to broaden the audience for the film, however, it failed commercially — just 950 North American cinemas, averaging 10 viewers — and was quickly removed from circulation. Despite the deletions, the Motion Picture Association of America deemed the film too violent to rate PG-13, so Gibson released it unrated, which limited business, because most cinema owners refuse to show unrated films; others did not show The Passion Recut, because the original version was already available on DVD and VHS.

“Exhibitors can decide for themselves how they want to handle the situation,” Berney said. “Some may choose to still treat it as an ‘R’ and not let teens see it, unless accompanied by adults. Others may be willing to treat it as a ‘PG-13′. The film is still probably too intense for children, but Mel hoped to make it more available for pre-teens.”

Although the original DVD release of The Passion of The Christ sold well, it contained no extra materials other than soundtrack language selections. That plain edition provoked speculation about when a special edition would be released. On January 30, 2007, a two-disc Definitive Edition of The Passion of The Christ was released in the American markets, and March 26 elsewhere. It contains several documentaries, soundtrack commentaries, deleted scenes, outtakes, the 2005 re-edited version, and the original 2004 cinema version.

Collectively, the Gospels are not a unique narrative of the Passion of the Christ. According to John, Sanhedrin aides arrested Jesus, and only Annas and Caiaphas interrogated him, without benefit of trial.

Director Gibson intended fidelity to the New Testament, yet expanded the screenplay by making use of additional sources. The principal, most controversial source is The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ the meditations of the stigmatic, German nun Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774–1824), as told to the poet Clemens Brentano. Her vision of Christ’s Passion depicts certain Jews as more vicious and bloodthirsty than the Romans ruling Judaea. A secondary, extra-biblical source is The Mystical City of God by Maria de Agreda (1602–1665), a 17th century Spanish nun, and some imagined sequences.

Many critics noted that the costumes worn by the Blessed Virgin (Maia Morgenstern) and Mary Magdalene (Monica Bellucci) resemble the habit of the Augustinian Order nuns, in homage to Emmerich.

Differences from the New Testament

Several theologians note that The Passion of the Christ significantly departs from its New Testament source. The reasons for the discrepancy, when known, vary, but tend to either reflect Gibson’s personal belief, common or traditional representations, or artistic license.

• In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jewish Jesus crushes a serpent’s head in allusion to Genesis 3:15 and the Protoevangelion.
• A Temple guard, sent to arrest Jesus in the Garden, drops and suspends him from a small bridge; this is from The Dolorous Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, Chapter 3.
• Judas’s suicide is provoked by children whose faces metamorphose, revealing them as demons. Acts 1:16–19 says he fell headlong and was disemboweled; Anne Catherine Emmerich in The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Chapter 14), says he fled as if a thousand furies were at his heel, and that Satan was beside him, provoking despair; and Matthew’s Gospel 27:3–8 says Judas hanged himself.
• Some Jews oppose the absence of the Sanhedrin quorum, challenging the trial’s legitimacy, implying that the priests are treating Jesus illegally. Emmerich, Chapter 13, mentions similar events.
• When Jesus first appears before the Pontius Pilate, Roman Governor of Judea, the man he sees is bloodied. He asks the Sanhedrin if they customarily beat prisoners before trial, says Emmerich in Chapter 17.
• King Herod Antipas is an effeminate, homosexual pederast, a stereotype common to medieval Passion plays; not so in the Gospels nor in Josephus’s accounts, wherein he is a womanizer.
• Mary Magdalene, is the adulteress saved from stoning by Jesus. Her being the prototypical adulteress is neither Biblically supported nor affirmed by any Catholic dogma. Contemporary scholars argue that the adulterous woman passage is extra-biblical, hence a contentious subject among Traditionalist Catholics and others, within and without the Church.
• Pontius Pilate discusses with his wife his fragile relationship with Tiberius Caesar, emphasizing imperial orders to avert Judean revolts, says Emmerich, Chapter 19. Matthew mentions only a message from Pilate’s wife, delivered while he hears the Christ case.
• Caiaphas answers Pilate’s questions: What shall I do with this man?, et cetera, yet the Gospels only say his queries were answered by “the chief priests” and “the crowd” and “the Jews”.
• Barabbas is called a murderer; the Gospels have different accounts of his criminal identity. Matthew 27:16, John 18:40 identifies him as a robber, and Mark 15:7 and Luke 23:19 have him imprisoned for rioting and murder during the insurrection. Acts 3:14, written by Luke, identifies Barabbas as a murderer.
• During the scourging, Jesus is nearly flayed alive; the gospels (Matthew 27:26, Mark 15:15, John 19:1), say only that he was scourged. However, Gibson placed the Isaiah 53:5 passage at the very beginning of the film, which is a Messianic prophecy; just before that, in Isaiah 52:14, Scripture states “His appearance was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men.” (NASB translation)
• After the scourging, the Marys wipes Jesus’s blood off the courtyard floor with towels given to them by Pilate’s wife, per Emmerich, Chapter 23.
• On the Via Dolorosa, Jesus is whipped by a soldier. This is from the traditional artistic depiction of the Stations of the Cross.
• A soldier debases Simon of Cyrene (who helped Jesus bear the cross), by calling him Jew (derisively). Only Simon’s name, place of origin, and his helping Jesus are in all three Synoptic Gospels, per Emmerich, Chapter 36.
• On the Via Dolorosa, the image of Jesus’s face is imprinted onto Veronica’s Veil, an extra-biblical event that is per Roman Catholic tradition; Emmerich, in Chapter 34, includes Veronica offering a drink to Jesus.
• On the Via Dolorosa, Jesus falls thrice under the weight of the cross; Mary aids and comforts him. These extra-biblical events are derived from the Stations of the Cross and is not found in the Gospels; Simon’s Roman compulsion to help Christ bear the cross is from the Gospel. Emmerich describes seven falls and the encounters with Mary, in chapters 31–36.
• When Jesus’s right arm does not reach a hole for the nail, a soldier dislocates it from the shoulder by pulling it with a rope until the palm reaches the hole, per Emmerich, Chapter 38.
• After being nailed to the cross, but before it is raised, Jesus and the cross are turned face-down by the soldiers. Jesus and the cross then levitate above the ground, and, when turned face-up, they strike the ground hard, signifying God controls these events. Only Mary Magdalene is witness to this miracle.
• The names of the thieves crucified alongside the Christ, Dismas and Gesmas (also Gestas), are traditional, but extra-Scriptural, per Emmerich, Chapter 43, and the apocryphal Acts of Pilate, aka the Gospel of Nicodemus.
• The crucified thief who mocked Jesus mercilessly has his eye pecked out by a crow.
• In a flashback, Jesus, being a carpenter, builds a somewhat modern, elevated, four-legged table for a Roman customer. Mary tells him “it will never catch on”. This scene was possibly included to provide some sort of “comic relief” to balance out the ultra-tense moments in the movie. This also gave rise to the incorrect rumor that that the movie depicts Jesus “inventing” the table.
• Caiaphas and his aides watch Christ’s scourging.
• Satan is shown rousing the rabble to shout: “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
• Satan is shown carrying a baby Demon during Christ’s flogging. Mel Gibson is reported to have said

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.

• The earthquake described by the Gospel of Matthew split open the Temple structure down its the center, yet the Gospels report that only the curtain dividing the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple was torn apart. The Gospel of the Ebionites, a theologically deviant version of Matthew’s Gospel, reports that the Temple’s lintel split. In any case, these natural upheavals and disasters can be taken to mean that at the moment of Jesus’s death, Nature unleashes her power, and Satan rages in Hell, because he has been defeated and that the redemption is accomplished.

Criticism of the explicit violence

Critics were troubled by the film’s explicitly-detailed violence, and especially cautioned parents to avoid taking their children to the cinema. Although only one sentence in three of the Gospels mentions Jesus’s flogging, and it is unmentioned in the fourth, The Passion of the Christ devotes ten minutes to the portrayal of the flogging. Newspaper movie reviewer Roger Ebert, who rated the movie four-of-four stars, 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.

 

Actor/Actress	Role
Jim Caviezel	Jesus of Nazareth
Maia Morgenstern	The Virgin Mary
Monica Bellucci	Mary Magdalene
Hristo Shopov	Pontius Pilate
Mattia Sbragia	Yosef Caiaphas
Rosalinda Celentano	Satan
Hristo Jivkov	Saint John
Francesco DeVito	Saint Peter
Luca Lionello	Judas Iscariot
Claudia Gerini	Claudia Procles
Pietro “Pedro” Sarubbi	Barabbas
Sergio Rubini	Dismas
Francesco Cabras	Gesmas
Toni Bertorelli	Annas ben Seth
Roberto Bestazoni	Malchus
Giovanni Capalbo	Cassius
Emilio De Marchi	Scornful Roman
Roberto Visconti	Scornful Roman
Lello Giulivo	Brutish Roman
Abel Jafry	2nd Temple Officer
Jarreth Merz	Simon of Cyrene
Matt Patresi	Janus
Fabio Sartor	Abenader
Luca De Dominicis	Herod Ántipas
Sabrina Impacciatore	Saint Veronica

This post is entirely copied from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Passion_of_the_Christ

Video source: http://youtube.com

 

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• ’Jesus’ Nabs Alleged Crook
• Apocalypto is Nigh
• Jesus ’Tomb’ Controversy Reopened