The Passion of the Christ(2004)

Newmarket Films

R
2h 7m
- Drama

Release Date: Feb 25, 2004 | Wide

49%
81%
A+
7.3

Depicts the final twelve hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, on the day of his crucifixion in Jerusalem.

Releases

Original Release | Feb 25, 2004

Recut Release | Mar 11, 2005

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Box Office Results

All Releases (2)
Total US & Canada:
$370,782,930
Total International
$239,279,856
Total Worldwide:
$610,063,438

Total US & Canada:
$370,274,604
Total International
$239,219,221
Total Worldwide:
$609,493,825

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Director & Top Cast

Mel Gibson
Director

Jim Caviezel
Jesus

Monica Bellucci
Magdalen

Maia Morgenstern
Mary

Christo Jivkov
John

Francesco De Vito
Peter

Mattia Sbragia

Caiphas

Toni Bertorelli

Annas

Luca Lionello

Judas

Hristo Shopov

Pontius Pilate

Claudia Gerini

Claudia Procles

Fabio Sartor

Abenader

Giacinto Ferro

Joseph of Arimathea

Aleksander Mincer

Nicodemus

Sheila Mokhtari

Woman in Audience

Lucio Allocca

Old Temple Guard

Paco Reconti

Whipping Guard

Adel Bakri

Temple Guard

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: DTS,Dolby Digital,SDDS

Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States

Language: Aramaic,Latin,Hebrew,English

Summaries

Plot Summary

Gethsemane in 'Medias Resas' in the dead of night some hours after the last supper. During supper Jesus had mentioned danger and betrayal. Jesus (Jim Caviezel) prays and is tempted by Satan (Rosalinda Celentano), as his sweat turns into blood and a serpent emerges from Satan's guise. Jesus rebukes him by crushing the serpent's head. Jesus prays to his father to rise up and defend him, to save him from the traps set for him. Jesus says that he has faith in God and that is where he takes refuge.His apostles, Peter (Francesco De Vito), James (Chokri Ben Zagden), and John (Christo Jivkov) sleep. After receiving thirty pieces of silver from the highly feared Hebrew priests of the Temple in Jerusalem, one of Jesus' other apostles, Judas Iscariot (Luca Lionello), tells them the location where his teacher is and the priests send a contingent of guards to arrest Jesus for heresy.In the woods outside Gethsemane, Judas approaches with the temple guards and betrays Jesus with a kiss on his cheek. As the guards move in to arrest Jesus, Peter intervenes and attacks them, cutting off the ear of Malchus (Roberto Bestazoni), one of the guards, but Jesus tells Peter to stop with the violence and magically heals Malchus' ear. As the disciples flee, the guards secure Jesus and beat him on the way to the Sanhedrin while a distraught Malchus remains behind.Awoken from her sleep, Jesus' mother Mary senses something is wrong and speaks with Mary Magdalene. John runs and tells Jesus' mother, Mary (Maia Morgenstern), as well as Mary Magdalene (Monica Bellucci) of the arrest, and Peter follows Jesus at a distance who is severely beaten by the Temple guards on their way back to Jerusalem. At the Hebrew Temple, the head priest, Caiaphas (Mattia Sbragia), holds a trial of Jesus during which false accusations are made against Jesus. The priests says that Jesus considers himself to be King of the Hebrews, and that he cures the people with the use of forbidden magic. Some priests and Pharisees, who secretly support Jesus, object to the trial being conducted in secret, in the middle of the night and without the presence of the other council members but are expelled from the court.When questioned by Caiaphas whether he is the son of God, Jesus replies "I am". Caiaphas is horrified and tears his robes, and Jesus is condemned to death for blasphemy. Each of the priests slaps Jesus after the verdict and spits on his face. Upon entering the Temple, Peter is confronted by a mob of Hebrew spectators who recognize him being one of Jesus followers and confront him. Three times Peter denies knowing Jesus. Remembering Jesus' precise prediction, he weeps bitterly and flees.After Jesus is dragged off, Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene clean up and Magdalene reminisces on Jesus saving her from a stoning during her darkest time.Meanwhile, the remorseful Judas attempts to return the money in order have Jesus freed, but he is refused by the priests. Judas then spits on the bag of silver and throws it at their feet and leaves. Tormented by demons and his guilt, he flees the city and hangs himself with a rope from a dead donkey at dawn. Jesus is kept in captivity all night by the priests.Caiaphas brings Jesus before Pontius Pilate (Hristo Naumov Shopov), the local Roman governor of Judia, to be condemned to death. But after questioning Jesus, the Latin-speaking Pilate (who is fluent in Jesus' native Amaraic language) finds no reason to convict him after he is told by his wife, Claudia (Claudia Gerini), about a bad dream she had the night before about condemning a holy man to death. So instead, Pilate sends Jesus to the court of King Herod Antipas (Luca De Dominicis), as Jesus is from Herod's ruling town of Nazareth. Antipas deems him to be a harmless fool and returns him.After Jesus is returned, Pilate offers the crowd that he will chastise Jesus for heresy and then will set him free. Pilate attempts to have Jesus freed by giving the people an option of freeing Jesus or the violent criminal Barabbas (Pietro Sarubbi). To Pilate's dismay, the hostile and religious crowd demands to have Barabbas freed, and Jesus killed. Attempting to appease the crowd, Pilate orders that Jesus simply be flogged. The Roman guards brutally scourge him with staves and whips, taking pleasure in doing so. Satan also appears only to Jesus, watching him in the crowd while taunting him with a hideous baby.Pilate has Jesus brutally scourged. The Roman guards take Jesus to a barn where they place a crown of thorns on his head and hurl insults at him. He is presented before Pilate and the crowd, but Caiaphas, supported by the crowd, continues demanding that he be crucified. Unwilling to instigate an uprising, Pilate washes his hands and orders his crucifixion, claiming no responsibility.As Jesus carries the cross along the Via Dolorosa to Calvary, with two thieves, Dismas and Gesmas, following behind, while Satan observes his suffering sadistically. Along the way, he is constantly harassed by the guards and rampant mob, until he is comforted by his mother momentarily. Veronica (Rossella Vetrano) wipes Jesus's bloodied face with her veil until the Roman guards grab her and shove her on her way. Simon of Cyrene (Jarreth Merz) is unwillingly pressed into carrying the cross for Jesus, who by this time is too weak to carry the large wooden cross by himself.On a hill outside Jerusalem called Golgotha (Amaraic for 'Hill of Skulls'), Jesus is then crucified with his wrists and feet nailed to the cross. One of the thieves, Gesmas, mocks Jesus suggesting he get off that cross to prove that he is the Son of God. He prays to God to forgive his tormentors, provides salvation to Dismas who is crucified beside him for his strong faith and repentance, and comforts his mother.After Jesus gives up his spirit and dies, a single drop of rain falls from the sky, triggering an 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 then shown screaming in defeat. The Roman soldiers then kill the two criminals by breaking their legs, while one of them rams a spear into Jesus' chest to make sure that he is dead. Jesus is brought down from the cross as Mary and Mary Magdalene weep for him.In the final scene, Jesus then rises from the dead as he leaves his tomb where his is buried with the wounds in his hands, feet, and side still visible.

Storyline

A depiction of the last twelve hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, on the day of his crucifixion in Jerusalem. The story opens in the Garden of Olives where Jesus has gone to pray after the Last Supper. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, the controversial Jesus--who has performed 'miracles' and has publicly announced that he is 'the Son of God'--is arrested and taken back within the city walls of Jerusalem. There, the leaders of the Pharisees confront him with accusations of blasphemy; subsequently, his trial results with the leaders condemning him to his death. Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate, the prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, for his sentencing. Pilate listens to the accusations leveled at Jesus by the Pharisees. Realizing that his own decision will cause him to become embroiled in a political conflict, Pilate defers to King Herod in deciding the matter of how to persecute Jesus. However, Herod returns Jesus to Pilate who, in turn, gives the crowd a choice between which prisoner they would rather to see set free--Jesus, or Barrabas. The crowd chooses to have Barrabas set free. Thus, Jesus is handed over to the Roman soldiers and is brutally flagellated. Bloody and unrecognizable, he is brought back before Pilate who, once again, presents him to the thirsty crowd--assuming they will see that Jesus has been punished enough. The crowd, however, is not satisfied. Thus, Pilate washes his hands of the entire dilemma, ordering his men to do as the crowd wishes. Whipped and weakened, Jesus is presented with the cross and is ordered to carry it through the streets of Jerusalem, all the way up to Golgotha. There, more corporal cruelty takes place as Jesus is nailed to the cross--suffering, he hangs there, left to die. Initially, in his dazed suffering, Jesus is alarmed that he has been abandoned by God his father. He then beseeches God. At the moment of his death, nature itself over-turns. — Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com} Garden of Gethsemane, Jerusalem, circa 33 A.D. Amid unresolved turmoil, Roman soldiers capture Jesus of Nazareth, a supposedly seditious local, after His duplicitous disciple Judas Iscariot's betrayal. And accused of blasphemy by the Pharisees, the Nazarene is turned over to the high priests and the angry mob. After all, the doubtful Roman governor Pontius Pilate had already washed his hands of Jesus' freedom. As a result, sentenced to death by crucifixion, the Son of God must carry His cross to Golgotha. During His final twelve hours on Earth, Jesus Christ endured extreme suffering and torture in reparation for our sins. But He rose from the dead on the third day. — Nick Riganas Mel Gibson's well-publicized production The Passion of the Christ concerns the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The dialogue is spoken in the ancient Aramaic language, along with Latin and Hebrew. In the Garden of Gethsemane near the Mount of Olives, Jesus (James Caviezel) is betrayed by Judas Iscariot (Luca Lionello). Jesus is condemned to death for blasphemy and brought before Pontius Pilate (Hristo Naumov Shopov), the Roman governor of Judea, for sentencing. The roaring crowd demand his death, so Pilate orders his crucifixion. Jesus is severely beaten and made to carry his cross up to Golgotha, the hill outside Jerusalem, where he is nailed to the cross. Romanian theatrical actress Maia Morgenstern plays Mary, Mother of God, and Italian superstar Monica Bellucci plays Mary Magdalene. The Passion of The Christ focusses on the last twelve hours of Jesus of Nazareth's life. The film begins in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus has gone to pray after sitting the Last Supper. Jesus must resist the temptations of Satan. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, Jesus is then arrested and taken within the city walls of Jerusalem where leaders of the Pharisees confront him with accusations of blasphemy and his trial results in a condemnation to death. — Adam Ward 1 more All