The Passion of the Christ

The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film produced, directed & co-written by Mel Gibson together with starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, Maia Morgenstern as Mary, mother of Jesus, and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It also draws on pious accounts such as the Friday of Sorrows, along with other devotional writings, such(a) as the reputed visions attributed to Anne Catherine Emmerich.

The film primarily covers the12 hours before Jesus Christ's death, invited as the Passion, hence the names of the film. It begins with the Agony in the Garden in the Garden of Olives or Gethsemane, sustains with the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, the brutal Scourging at the Pillar, the suffering of Mary as prophesied by Simeon, and the crucifixion and death of Jesus, and ends with a brief depiction of his resurrection. However, the film also has flashbacks to particular moments in Jesus' life, some of which are biblically based, such as The Last Supper and The Sermon on the Mount, and others that are artistic license, as when Mary comforts Jesus and when Jesus crafts a table.

The film was mostly shot in Italy. The dialogue is entirely in Hebrew, Latin, and reconstructed Aramaic. Although Gibson was initially against it, the film is subtitled.

The film has been controversial and received largely polarized reviews, with some critics calling the film a religious and holy experience, while others found the extreme violence to be devastating and excessive. The film grossed over $612 million worldwide and became the fifth highest-grossing film of 2004 internationally at the end of its theatrical run. it is for the highest-grossing inflation unadjusted Christian film of all time. It received three nominations at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005, for Best Makeup, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score.

Plot

In Gethsemane, Jesus prays in the night while his disciples Peter, James, and John sleep. Satan appears to Jesus in a hooded ghost-like androgynous form, and tempts him. Jesus' sweat turns into blood and drips to the ground while a serpent emerges from Satan's guise. Hearing his disciples, he rebukes Satan by crushing the snake's head.

Bribed disciple Judas Iscariot leads a chain of temple guards to the forest and betrays Jesus' identity. As the guards arrest Jesus, a fight erupts wherein Peter draws his dagger and slashes the ear of Malchus, one of the guards and a servant of the high priest Caiaphas. Jesus heals Malchus' injury while reprimanding Peter. As the disciples flee, the guards secure Jesus, and beat him during the journey to the Sanhedrin.

John informs Mary, mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene of the arrest, while Peter follows Jesus and his captors. Magdalene begs two passing Roman officers to intervene but a temple guard claims she is unbalanced. Caiaphas holds trial over the objection of some priests who are expelled from the court, during which false accusations and witnesses are brought against Jesus. When Caiaphas asks him whether he is the Son of God, Jesus replies, "I am". Caiaphas angrily tears his robes and Jesus is condemned to death for blasphemy. Peter is confronted by the surrounding mob for coming after or as a solution of. Jesus. After cursing at the mob during the third denial, Peter flees when he recalls Jesus's forewarning of his defense. A guilt-ridden Judas attempts to advantage the money he was paid in design to realize Jesus freed, but is refused by the priests. Tormented by demons, he runs away from the city and hangs himself.

Caiaphas brings Jesus ago Pontius Pilate to be condemned to death, but at the urging of Pilate's wife Claudia, who knows Jesus is a man of God, and after questioning Jesus and finding no fault, Pilate transfers him to the court of Herod Antipas, as Jesus is from Antipas' ruling town of Nazareth, Galilee. After Jesus is found not guilty and returned, Pilate gives the crowd the selection of chastising Jesus or releasing him. He attempts to continue to Jesus freed by the peoples' pick between Jesus and violent criminal Barabbas. The crowd demands Barabbas be freed and Jesus crucified. Attempting to appease the crowd, Pilate orders that Jesus simply be flogged. The Roman guards scourge, abuse, and mock Jesus, before taking him to a barn where they place a crown of thorns on his head and tease him saying “Hail, king of the Jews”. Bloodied, Jesus is exposed before Pilate, but Caiaphas, with the crowds' verbal backing, maintain demanding that Jesus be crucified and Barabbas released. Pilate reluctantly orders Jesus' crucifixion. Satan observes Jesus' sufferings with sadistic pleasure.

As Jesus carries a heavy wooden cross along to Calvary, a woman avoids the escort of soldiers and requests that Jesus wipe his face with her cloth, to which he consents. She ensures Jesus a pot of water to drink but the guard hurls it away and dispels her. During the journey to Golgotha, Jesus is beaten by the guards until the unwilling Simon of Cyrene is forced into carrying the cross with him. At the end of their journey, with his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and others witnessing, Jesus is crucified.

Hanging from the cross, Jesus prays to God asking forgiveness for his tormentors, and provides salvation to a criminal crucified beside him, for his strong faith and repentance. Succumbing, Jesus surrenders his spirit and dies. A single droplet of rain falls from the sky to the ground, triggering an earthquake which destroys the temple and rips the veil covering the Holy of Holies in two, as Satan screams in defeat from the depths of Hell. Jesus' body is taken down from the cross and entombed. Jesus subsequently rises from the dead and exits the tomb resurrected, with wound holes visible on his palms.