The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson’s film about the last 44 hours of Jesus of Nazareth’s life, opens in theaters across the United States on this day in 2004. Not coincidentally, the day was Ash Wednesday, the start of the Catholic season of Lent.
The star of action-packed blockbusters like the Lethal Weapon series and Braveheart, Gibson was earning more than $20 million per movie at the time he decided to direct The Passion of the Christ, for which he received no cash compensation. Largely based on the 18th-century diaries of Saint Anne Catherine Emmerich, the film was a true labor of love for Gibson, who later told Time magazine that he had “a deep need to tell this story…The Gospels tell you what basically happened; I want to know what really went down.”
He scouted locations in Italy himself, and had the script translated from English into Aramaic (thought to be Jesus’ first language) and Latin by a Jesuit scholar. Gibson’s original intention was to show The Passion of the Christ without subtitles, in an attempt to “transcend the language barriers with visual storytelling,” as he later explained. With dialogue entirely in Latin, Hebrew and Aramaic, the film was eventually released with subtitles.
A year before The Passion of the Christ was released, controversy flared over whether it was anti-Semitic. Abraham Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) went on record saying that Gibson’s film “could fuel hatred, bigotry and anti-Semitism.” Specifically, its opponents claimed the movie would contribute to the idea that Jews should be blamed for the death of Jesus, which has been at the root of much anti-Jewish violence over the course of history.
For his part, Gibson categorically denied the allegations of anti-Semitism, but they continued to haunt him years after the film’s release. (In July 2006, he was arrested for driving under the influence; a leaked police report of the incident stated that Gibson made anti-Semitic remarks to the arresting officer. Gibson later acknowledged the report’s accuracy, and publicly apologized for the remarks.) Meanwhile, Christian critics of the film’s story pointed to its departure from the New Testament and its reliance on works other than the Bible, such as Emmerich’s diaries.
Gibson, who put millions of his own money into the project, initially had trouble finding a distributor for the film. Eventually, Newmarket Films signed on to release it in the United States. Upon its debut in February 2004, The Passion of the Christ surprised many by becoming a huge hit at the box office. It also continued to fuel the fires of controversy, earning harsh criticism for its extreme violence and gore–much of the film focuses on the brutal beating of Jesus prior to his crucifixion–which many saw as overkill.
The film critic Roger Ebert called The Passion of the Christ “the most violent film I have ever seen.” Gibson’s response to similar charges was that such a reaction was intentional. In an interview with Diane Sawyer, he claimed: “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.”
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One of my faves, as is Gibby.
I watch it again, every Good Friday. Brutal, but by no means the most violent, so Ebert is ignored.
There was a good YT video, that got pulled, as it violated copyrights, but it showed clips from the final scenes of crucifixion & resurrection, overlayed with a Christian gal named Kelly Mooney, who sings Cohen’s Hallelujah, with altered lyrics.
I watch & listen on Easter weekend, which, like Spring, is just around the corner.
Come on, sunshine, & warmer temps.
Time for Old Man Winter to fade away.
Cheers.
Edit: found a copy of the song, using still photos, not the Passion scenes.
The brutality of the crucifixion that speaks volumes to the price that was paid by Jesus Christ for the sins of mankind, is lost on Christianity lite today.
As the corruption of society continues, the reaction of soft Christians will never be enough to counter the collapse. As it appears our president has been neutered in his ability to drain the swamp, all that will keep the world from falling into chaos might be the Bible believing watchmen who would still have the heart to defend our God given liberties. It is a shame that they will have to fight not only the champions of socialism/communism, but also their brothers and sisters who have bought into the lukewarm, impotent branch of Christianity that stands for nothing but feel good platitudes.
What are the chances that Mel Fucken Gibson would make a mostly historically accurate Christian movie?
Somewhere around zero. And that’s why, imho, it’s the worst Christian film of all time.
But, hey, what the fuck do I know? I’m just a pagan asshole. Apparently some people’s idea of a good movie is a two hour gory blood-fest. Nothing like closeups of splattered blood and torn flesh to help identify with Jesus’ sufferings! (I just wonder how Christians identified with Christ’s suffering for the previous 1900 years.)
Stuck,
As someone who agrees with you probably 90% of the time, I completely disagree with you on this one. I think it’s a great Christian movie, and I whole-heartedly look forward to Gibson’s sequel coming out soon, The Resurrection. Also with James Caviezel as Christ, who I thought did a tremendous acting job.
What, you think there was no gory bloodletting in Roman times? What about Braveheart and The Patriot? Mel has done some pretty good stuff, and appears to me to be a good Christian. I don’t know him, and may be wrong, but that’s the way I see it.
A crow plucks out the eyes of one of the criminals on a cross, that’s not in the bible. Mary washes the blood on the ground, that’s not mentioned in the bible. This was noting more than a gore-festival, a slasher film disguised as a re-enactment of the passion of Christ.
That’s why I’m such a huge fan of yours, EC. You have a LOT of common sense.
What are the chances? I’d say pretty good.
What of delving into the pain He suffered?
To those who could care less about Jesus, it’s an attempt to make money off of a religious “Friday the 13th.” But to those who have come to appreciate the sacrifice Jesus accomplished by bearing the punishment for our sins, the realistic portrayal of His suffering shows to us the great length and sacrifice Jesus had to go through, voluntarily, to redeem us through the shedding of His blood for the forgiveness of our sins.
“the realistic portrayal of His suffering ”
It wasn’t realistic AT ALL!!!
In the movie, when the Romans whipped Christ they used a plain old ….. cane. A CANE!!!! Hahahaha.
Here is the whipping scene. Interestingly enough, at the 40 second mark the move DOES show the type of whip used by the Romans! It’s a very very nasty piece of work called the flagrum.
The flagrum was two or three leather thongs on which several pieces of jagged metal and bone were attached. Sometimes the end of the whip would have a hook. It was designed to remove flesh, quickly.
https://www.bible-history.com/past/flagrum.html
So Mel Gibson’s portrayal is horseshit because it didn’t go far enough. Most prisoners were dead after 39 lashes … as the skin is removed after just a few lashes, then the meat is removed from the back …. and, finally the ORGANS are visible.
I guess that was to much for Mel Gibson. He wanted to make a commercially successful movie … it’s all about the Benjamins, baby … so he made the torture of Christ more “user friendly”, something the whole family could watch and enjoy.
It’s an INSULT to the Son of God to minimize his sufferings. He suffered far worse than his stupid movie shows. Yet millions of people when they think of Christ’s torture will picture a mildly bloody back with even most of Jesus’ skin still on his back! This is an abomination!!! Fuck Mel Gibson!!!!
“What are the chances that Mel Fucken Gibson would make a mostly HISTORICALLY accurate Christian movie?”
——–me, with emphasis added
A lot of you people are coming back with lots of theology. I said NOTHING about theological accuracy. I said ……….. HISTORICAL.
The movie is NOT historically accurate. Your whining and bitching changes nothing.
For crying out loud, read the link below and learn something for once … instead of always reacting.
“Two Archaeologists Comment on The Passion of the Christ”
https://www.archaeological.org/news/movies/269
It’s a 4-page PDF file, and a damned good read, for both Christians and non-Christians.
Wow.
Humble?
Two hours of bloody gore?
It opens at Gethsemane. Accurate, per biblical scripture in many other scenes.
Scenes of the trial, and it’s mockery and injustice. Pilate. Claudia.
Flashback scenes of teaching disciples. The bond between a mother and son, and amongst close friends. Scenes of fear, temptation, betrayal, sympathy, forgiveness. Defending Magdalene from those wanting to stone her. Scene of servitude in the cleansing of feet. Encouragement to love one another. The Last Supper. Golgatha. Resurrection. Sub titled in Aramaic, to try and achieve accuracy.
I’ll say what He said, numerous times.
Peace Be With You.
“Meanwhile, Christian critics of the film’s story pointed to its departure from the New Testament…”
“Christian” critics wouldn’t know a testament if they tripped over one. The New Testament does not begin with Christ’s manifestation in human form. His “birth”. He taught Old Testament law (magnified mightily in the sermon on the mount) and prophesy during His earthly ministry to the nation Israel. The NT cannot even begin until His death!
Hebrews 9:16-17 KJB… “For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.”
The “New Testament” as a “Bible section” is an outright falsehood which has caused massive confusion in the world.
Gibson drew on the visions / writings of Anne Catherine Emmerich.
Also, don’t forget to watch Jesus in the series Person of Interest.
Haven’t seen the movie. Is it true Mel had to cut out the Matthew 27:25 part to please Hollywood? Shame if true.
Mel has two strikes. White and Christian.