The Passion of the Christ

• During Jesus' distress in the Garden of Gethsemane, Satan is shown speaking to him. (In the account of the Temptation of Christ at [Luke 4:13], it is said that the Devil left Jesus for a time, and many theologians reason that Satan’s moment was in the Garden, but this encounter is not recorded in the Gospel.) The presence of Satan may be symbolic, but it is reasonable to assume that Satan would appear when Jesus was at his most vulnerable moment. In one close up shot, a close observation reveals a maggot wriggling into Satan's nostril, an enduring symbol of sin and corruption.
• In the Garden, Jesus crushes a serpent's head. This was a reference to Genesis [3:15], the Protoevangelion.[link]
• A Jewish Temple guard, sent to apprehend Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, drops him from a small bridge suspended from a chain. (Taken from Anne Catherine Emmerich, The Dolorous Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, chapter 3.)
• Judas is tormented by “children” whose morphing facial features suggest they are demons, driving him to suicide. Matthew reports that Judas committed suicide by strangulation, presumed to be from hanging. Acts states that his body also fell, causing him to burst open and spill out his bowels. (Emmerich reports that he “fled as if a thousand furies were at his heel” and later mentions Satan standing at his side to drive him to despair, chapter 14.)

"In other words, the rope or branch of the tree probably broke due to the weight and his body fell down and his bowels spilled out.

Also, notice that tells us specifically how Judas died, by hanging. Acts 1:16-19 merely tells us that he fell headlong and his bowels gushed out. Acts does not tell us that this is the means of his death where Matthew does." (http://www.carm.org/diff/Matt27_3.htm)

Historicity

• Jesus is shown working as a carpenter, specifically as an independent craftsman (making tables). Whether he actually was a carpenter (and if so, what kind, and for what employers) is a point of discussion among historians.
• In the film, Jesus and Pilate converse in Latin. This is historically unlikely, although not impossible. Some Jews, under Roman occupation, would have been able to converse to some extent in Latin. A more likely common language would have been the Hellenistic Greek (or Koine=common) spoken somewhat widely around the Mediterranean, and in the remnant of a former Greek empire. However, the conversation is started in Aramaic by Pilate, while the switch to Latin is made by Jesus. Some Christians believe that Jesus could speak all languages.
• Pilate is depicted not only as sympathetic to Jesus (as the gospels maintain) but as fearing the reaction of Rome, should complaints of brutality reach the capital. There is no direct evidence supporting the view, but the depiction is not unrealistic. Pilate and the Jews had had several fierce disagreements, and the Jewish authorities had also complained of Pilate to Tiberius in Rome.
• The two criminals on either side of Jesus carried only the horizontal piece of the cross, which is the historical method of Roman crucifixion; however, Jesus carries the whole cross, both pieces, which is neither historically supported nor physically possible for a man so badly beaten. Even with the help of Simon of Cyrene, it would not be likely that such a cross could be carried a considerable distance.
• Jesus' route follows the fourteen Stations of the Cross of Catholic tradition, although some claim that many of them are not historical.
• The Latin used in the film was Ecclesiastical Latin (the official Latin pronunciation of the Catholic Church), which is pronounced similarly to modern Italian, rather than the original Latin pronunciation used by the ancient Romans ^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}.
• The phrase Ma nishtana ha-layla ha-ze me-kol ha-leylot ("what makes this night different from all the other nights?") is traditionally said at Pesach seders; but it is written in the Haggadah rather than the Tanakh. Tradition holds that the Haggadah was written after the fall of the Second Temple, or after 70 AD. The phrase might have been traditional before the Haggadah was written. It is one of the opening lines (spoken by the Virgin Mary), and one of the few Hebrew lines in the film.

Mel Gibson's role

Mel Gibson played a crucial role in getting The Passion of the Christ made; he personally committed an estimated $40m to $50m of his own resources to finance and advertise the film. In addition to directing and co-producing the film, he also co-wrote the screenplay with Benedict Fitzgerald.

Because of the subject, the graphic violence in the film, and, most of all, because the actors in the film spoke Aramaic, Gibson reportedly had difficulty finding a company to distribute it in the United States. In fact, the film was completed before a distributor, Newmarket Films, agreed to release it in the U.S. In Canada, Equinox Films was the distributor. Icon Films distributed it in the United Kingdom.

In addition to the attacks of anti-Semitism from many Jews and liberal Christians, Gibson’s traditionalist Catholic beliefs were also a frequent target by critics. The film was seen by many critics to be nothing less than a modern-day Passion play that propagates the Jews' guilt of deicide. However, Jewish Romanian actress Maia Morgenstern (who played Mary), who is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, rejects these criticisms. In an interview filmed for the PAX documentary about the making of the film, Morgenstern said that she had read the script with her father and they both found it "beautiful, very poetic, and very philosophical."

Gibson's religious beliefs, which inspired the film, are those of traditional Catholicism, which rejects most of the pastoral reforms set by the Second Vatican Council, commonly referred to as Vatican II. Gibson intended the movie to be faithful not to the New Testament alone, but rather to the New Testament as viewed through Catholic tradition, which accepts as valid a number of later sources (cf. Gospel of Peter)#redirect .

Mel Gibson said:

"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." (from The Passion: Photography from the Movie "The Passion of the Christ, ISBN 0842373624)

"It was me that put him on the cross. It was my sins [who put him there]." Thus Gibson took a cameo role in the film: it is literally his hands that nail Jesus to the cross (seen in close-up only).

Title changes

On October 17, 2003, Gibson's film production company announced the title of the film had been changed from The Passion to The Passion of Christ, because the title The Passion had already been trademarked by a different motion picture. This was then further amended to The Passion of the Christ. The following week Gibson announced a distribution arrangement had been reached with the independent Newmarket Films.

Promotion

Gibson departed considerably from the usual formula for marketing a film: a small TV campaign, no press junkets, etc. [link] The film was, however, heavily promoted by many church groups, both within their organisations and to the general public, in some cases giving away free tickets. The controversy in the media prior to release over the film's alleged anti-Semitism also helped raise its profile.

Some evangelical Christians considered the release of the movie to be a crucial moment for evangelism. Marta Poling-Goldenne, Minister for Outreach of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Grand Canyon Synod said in a 2004 email to pastors:

Seize this mission moment, friends! God is providing "the best outreach opportunity in the last 2,000 years" for us to witness about the gospel story to people for whom it may be very unfamiliar or unknown.

For the 75 million evangelical Christians the film is the greatest thing they've had in 2,000 years to convert people to their faith...

While The Passion was playing in theatres, the fantasy action movie Hellboy, which is about a heroic demon who hunts down evil monsters, was released. Many movie theatres reportedly refused to run Hellboy for a time, because they didn't want to run a movie portraying a demon in a positive light at the same time as a movie about the death and resurrection of Christ.

With the film's successful marketing strategy, Walt Disney Pictures reportedly took a similar approach with their film adaptation of with its Christian overtones and symbolism as written by C. S. Lewis.

Statistics

• Production Budget $25,000,000
• Prints and Advertising Budget $10,000,000

• US Gross: $370,800,000
• Worldwide Gross $610,000,000

Commercial success

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 (Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent). 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. As of May 09, 2006 The Passion of the Christ had the 9th highest all-time domestic gross ($370 million). In spite of the criticism (or perhaps helped by it), the movie grossed US$611,899,420 worldwide ($370,782,930 in the US alone) and became the eighth highest-grossing film in history. It currently is the tenth highest-grossing film and the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.[link] Despite this, the film went without any significant recognition by the major American film award celebrations, although it was nominated for Best Original Score (music), Best Cinematography, and Best Makeup at the 77th Academy Awards.

Home video

On August 31, 2004 the movie was released on DVD and video tape in North America. As with the original release in theaters, the release of the movie on DVD and VHS also proved to be very popular. Early reports indicated that over 2.4 million copies of the film were sold by middle of the day. The film was available on DVD with English and Spanish subtitles, and on VHS tape with English subtitles.

Re-release

An edited version of the film was released on March 11, 2005 as The Passion Recut. Mel Gibson removed approximately five minutes of the most graphic footage in an effort to broaden the audience of the film. However, this version was not as successful (just 950 theaters in North America, averaging just 10 viewers per showing,) and was quickly pulled from theaters. Even edited, the Motion Picture Association of America still deemed the film too violent to give a PG-13 rating, so Gibson released it without a rating, which limited it due to policies of some chains and independent theaters not to show unrated films. Others simply passed on The Passion Recut because the original version was already available on DVD and VHS.

International box office

This is not the result of a lack of interest in countries without Christian majorities, as its success in many Christian majority countries has also been less than stellar. For example, it did not make the top-100 all time UK box office list as of Jan 18th 2005 [link] and its position as of 31st October 2004 stood at 132nd [link]. Similarly in Australia, as of 2nd March 2005 it held the 116th position [link] or the 294th position in the adjusted list [link].

In countries strongly affected by Nazism during World War II, the movie has had even less success. As of 22nd November 2004, it was below the 140th position in the German all-time box office [link] and as of 10th August 2004, it was below the 121st position in the French all-time box office [link]. The figures suggest its position in both countries would be quite a bit lower then the lowest listed positions [link].

In fact, the movie was reported by the Christian Science Monitor [link] to have been a great success in Middle Eastern countries. This is backed up by some figures; for example, it was the top grossing movie for 3 consecutive weeks in Egypt [link], Lebanon [link] and Turkey [link] and also at least 2 consecutive weeks in United Arab Emirates [link]. It also broke the record for the top grossing opening week for a non-Egyptian movie in Egypt [link] and as of 21st February 2005 was number 11th in the all-time Egyptian box office for non-Egyptian movies [link].

Critical reaction

Critics were polarised over the film. According to the website [RottenTomatoes.com] only 51% of critics praised the film but 76% of viewers enjoyed it [link]. Similarly, critics rate it a B- [link], but users of Yahoo! rate it a B+.

Entertainment Weekly's June 2006 issue named The Passion of the Christ the most controversial film of all time, followed by Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film A Clockwork Orange.

Religious perceptions

This movie is considered controversial by some Jewish and Christian groups. Some Jewish groups have expressed concern that the film blames the death of Jesus on the Jews as a group, which, they have said, could fan anti-Semitism.

Charges of anti-Semitism

As much as a full year before the film's projected release, a heated controversy arose over whether it would depict Jews as responsible for the death of Jesus in the same way that previous passion plays have done, which has historically incited anti-Semitism. Members of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith wrote a number of private letters to Mel Gibson, expressing their concerns that the movie may have unintended consequences for the Jewish community.

The Jewish community was concerned with the charge of deicide, which was the cause of many pogroms in history. Many rabbis in Orthodox Judaism, Reform Judaism and Conservative Judaism expressed fear that any movie based on traditional passion play forms, and especially incorporating ideas of Anne Catherine Emmerich, could only be interpreted by the audience as encouraging anti-Semitism. Similar concerns were raised by leaders in Jewish communal organizations and in Jewish community newspapers.

When the movie was finally released, the overwhelming reaction from within the Jewish community was highly negative. The Jewish community was concerned with a number of issues:

• Many Jews, such as the High Priest, are portrayed as physically ugly.
• The High Priest is shown as if he a were a member in good standing of the Jewish community; historians note that the Jews were not allowed to appoint their own High Priest according to Biblical law, and that the High Priest at the time was in the service of the Roman government.
• Pontius Pilate is portrayed as a thoughtful, temperate man who ultimately agrees to crucify Jesus because he does not want to risk a Jewish rebellion on the one hand, and a Christian rebellion on the other. While that is how the Gospels portray him, historians insist that Pilate was known for his rough treatment of Jews in general, and was responsible for crucifying many Jews during his reign.

However, there are two problems with Gibson's statement:

• There is no unique narration of the Passion in the Gospels. To mention the main differences: According to John, Jesus was arrested (Nisan 14) by Jewish aides of the Sanhedrin, but then was only questioned by Anas and Caiaphas (no trial), while according to the Synoptics, he (Nisan 15) was only arrested by the Jewish aides and condemned by the Sanhedrin.
• Moreover since Gibson does not follow a specific Gospel, but made a certain selection in the material, the question remains as to which criterion he followed. His selections seem to magnify the Jewish responsibility and guilt; however, there are other choices possible, which would have led to a significantly different picture:

1. Because Jesus is popular with the people at large, he is arrested clandestinely at night to avoid a riot (Mk. 14:2).
2. Caiaphas fears that a riot could provoke the Romans to destroy the Temple (Jn. 11:48). [N.B. the opposite of the film's claim he could lead a revolt.]
3. Jesus is arrested by Temple guards and Roman soldiers (Jn. 18:3).
4. Jesus is questioned by Annas and Caiaphas about his disciples and his teaching and then taken to Pilate (Jn.18:19, 24, 28) [No Sanhedrin trial or question of Jesus' divinity].
5. Pilate was known to use violence to enforce Roman rule (Lk 13:1).
6. Jesus was scourged as part of the Roman crucifixion procedure once Pilate ordered his execution (Mk. 15:15, as against Jn. 19:1-8 ff.).
7. "A great multitude of the people" (Lk. 23:27) and "all the multitudes" (Lk. 23:48) of Jews are sorrowful about Jesus' crucifixion.
8. Jesus' execution was done in haste (Mk.15:25; Jn 19:31).

Gibson arranged for private screenings of the film; this caused more criticism, as his audiences included prominent Christians and Jews known for their political and social conservatism. Requests for a screening by the ADL were declined. American film reviewer, Michael Medved—a Jewish columnist and film reviewer—praised the movie's Biblical accuracy; although a February 16, 2004 Newsweek cover story by Jon Meacham suggests that there are numerous inaccuracies in the movie. Similarly, one statement by the ADL read:

"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." [link]

Positive views of Judaism

A small number of politically conservative Orthodox Jews have rejected the charges that this movie was anti-Semitic, and in fact have publicly supported this film. Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, religious leader of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun in Teaneck, New Jersey, attacked Jewish critics of the film and even referred to them by the word rodef, a term used in rabbinic jurisprudence to describe an assailant who threatens Jewish lives and may be killed to preempt the danger. Rabbi Daniel Lapin, head of the Seattle-based Toward Tradition organization, declared that the ADL and its allies were "dangerous organizations, organizations that are driving a wedge between American Jews and Christians." Referring to ADL national director Abraham Foxman, Lapin said that by calling Gibson's film antisemitic, "what he is saying is that the only way to escape the wrath of Foxman is to repudiate your faith." [link]

Darío Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos, a senior Vatican official who has seen the film, addressed the question at length:

"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." [link]

Christian criticism

Several fundamentalist Protestant groups have criticized the film for its Catholic and ecumenical overtones.

Passion has been criticized by some Protestant Christian spokesmen for departing from New Testament story lines. A significant number of scenes and details in the movie are ideas from traditional passion plays and the Emmerich book. Additionally, many scenes and dramatic events are symbolic by nature, serving as groundwork, or support, for the storyline, and reflect events found elsewhere in the Christian scriptures or in the Catholic tradition. On the other hand, in New Zealand, the Office of Film and Literature Classification came under fire from the Society for the Promotion of Community Standards, a small fundamentalist Protestant lobby group, for classifying the film R16. The Society argued that persons under that age should be able to see the film's graphic portrayals of Christ's suffering.

The filmmakers defend that this depiction reflects the spirit and letter of the Christian New Testament Scriptures, though others disagree with that characterization. For example, a scene where Jews push Jesus off a bridge is in Emmerich's work, but not in the Gospels. Some Orthodox Jews, such as Rabbi Daniel Lapin and Michael Medved, disagree that the movie was anti-Semitic and have spoken out in support of it. Supporters also point to the many positive portrayals of Jews in the film, such as Simon (who helps Jesus carry the cross), Mary Magdalene, Mary, Peter, Veronica (the woman who gives the cloth to Jesus), and of course Jesus himself.

When asked himself whether or not his movie would be offensive to Jews today, Gibson replied, “It’s not meant to. I think it’s meant to just tell the truth. I want to be as truthful as possible. But when you look at the reasons Christ came, he was crucified — he died for all mankind and he suffered for all mankind. So that, really, anyone who transgresses has to look at their own part or look at their own culpability.” This only added to the controversy, though Gibson tried to avoid it by filming his own hands driving the nails into the cross. Some were also skeptical of Gibson's intentions because of his ambiguous statements regarding the Holocaust and his father's alleged denial of it.[link] [link]

Some argue that the idea of universal culpability of the death of Jesus Christ is one of the principal underlying doctrines of Christianity, and has been fundamental to Catholic teaching since the 1st century. As expressed in the 1570 Catholic handbook Catechism of the Council of Trent:

In this guilt [for the Crucifixion] are involved all those who fall frequently into sin; for, as our sins consigned Christ the Lord to the death of the Cross, most certainly those who wallow in sin and iniquity crucify to themselves again the Son of God, as far as in them lies, and make a mockery of Him. This guilt seems more enormous in us than in the Jews, since according to the testimony of the same Apostle: If they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory; while we, on the contrary, professing to know Him, yet denying Him by our actions, seem in some sort to lay violent hands on Him.

However, others argue that the Church did not explicitly repudiate the deicide charge and anti-Semitism until the Second Vatican Council in 1965, and note that Gibson's father has spoken out against Vatican II, and that he has never spoken against his father's statements in the past (though he has not spoken out for them, either).

Another controversy concerns the line "His blood [is] on us and on our children!" (), which has been historically interpreted by some anti-Semites as a curse on the Jewish people. For this reason, various Jewish groups requested that this be removed from the film; however, the Aramaic dialogue is still audible; only the subtitle was removed. [link]

CNN reported that Pope John Paul II had a private viewing of the film shortly before its release. [link] Supporters of Gibson’s interpretation of the Passion claimed that the Pope allegedly remarked to his good friend, Monsignor Stanisław Dziwisz, "It is as it was." Dziwisz [denied that this ever happened], but it was reported widely that the Pope had, indeed, said those words.

Secular reaction

A main secular criticism is that film is simply too gory to be enjoyed or gain any feeling of spiritual enlightenment. Critics contend the only real message that can be garnered from the film in which there is little dialogue or character development, is that Jesus suffered.

Most of the criticism from liberal Jewish and Christian groups and secular liberals has centered around the film's depiction of the Jewish leadership. Other criticisms have centered around Gibson's skewing the last hours of Christ toward his personal views, featuring events that are not purely derived from Biblical references. However, many prominent atheists such as journalist Christopher Hitchens and shock jock Howard Stern (who is of Jewish ancestry), were very vocal in their attacks on the movie and, in many instances, Gibson personally.

Criticism over graphic violence

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.

I have no doubt that Mel Gibson loves Jesus. From the evidence of "The Passion of the Christ," however, what he seems to love as much is the cinematic depiction of flayed, severed, swollen, scarred flesh and rivulets of spilled blood, the crack of bashed bones and the groans of someone enduring the ultimate physical agony.

"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."

Music

Three CDs were released with Mel Gibson's co-operation: film soundtrack comprising of John Debney's original orchestral score; The Passion of the Christ: Songs, (Original Songs Inspired by the Film)]], produced by Mark Joseph and Tim Cook, a GMA-Award winning album which contained original compositions from the likes of Lauryn Hill, Scott Stapp of Creed, P.O.D., Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, MxPx & Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Steven Curtis Chapman, Third Day, Bart Millard of Mercy Me, ; and finally the similarly-titled .

A preliminary film score was written and recorded by Lisa Gerrard and Patrick Cassidy, but was not completed in time for the release of the film.

Gibson/CleanFlicks Lawsuit

According to Lines, he edited only about three minutes of the most graphic footage out, but noted that Gibson himself did the same thing and released it a year later as The Passion Recut.

See also

• Dramatic portrayals of Jesus
• Stations of the Cross

References

1. [Gibson breaks Hollywood’s 10 Commands] - The Hollywood Reporter
2. [Official site - The Passion of the Christ]
3. [Passion-movie.com]
4. http://www.adl.org/presrele/mise_00/4275_00.asp
5. http://www.adl.org/anti_semitism/anti-semitic-responses.asp
6. http://www.catholicleague.org/03press_releases/quarter3/030918_adl.htm
7. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20030805.shtml
8. http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-gaspari091803.asp
9. [Apologetics Index entry on The Passion of the Christ]
10. South Park: The Passion of the Jew[link] Episode also on the South Park Single-Disc DVD with the same title.
11. [Passion of the Benny Hill, a short with Passion footage and Benny Hill styled Sounds and music. WARNING: These scenes are as intense as in the original movie, but now also hilarious.]

External links

• [The Passion of the Christ] at the [Arts & Faith Top100 Spiritually Significant Films] list
• [The Passion of the Apocalypto] A parody of The Passion and Gibson's 2006 film Apocalypto, merging the trailers from the two films into one.
• [FAQ] from The Premier International Fan Website
• [Vatican Cardinal praises 'Passion'] - CNN
• [link] Roger Ebert's take on The Passion
• [Did The Jews Kill Jesus? Free MP3 response & resources]
• [after the passion]
• [Who are these Catholics anyway?] -Remnant article at seethepassion.com
• [Frank Rich - Mel Gibson's "Passion": publicity juggernaut] - International Herald Tribune
• [Mel Gibson vs. "the Jews"] - Salon.com
• [Divided over "The Passion"] - Salon.com
• [Mel Gibson Christ film is branded anti-Jewish] - Daily Telegraph
• [Matt Drudge's verdict] - Drudge Report
• [Mel Gibson's 'Passion' causes a stir] - Lumberjack Online
• [The Cardinal and 'The Passion'] - National Review Online
• [Thumbs-up for Mel Gibson] - News 24 (South Africa)
• [Hosannas for Mel] - NY Daily News
• [The Gospel According to Braveheart] - The Spectator
• [Protests Lack Moral Legitimacy] - WorldNetDaily
• [See the Passion] - "online petition and support network" for the film
• [MSNBC on Gibson's merchandizing tie-ins] - MSNBC
• [Catholic Encyclopedia on venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich]
• ["The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ" available for reading online]
• [First-five days box office income at $125.2 million] BBC
• [-- What's popcorn in Aramaic?] - The Guardian
• [Belief that Jews were Responsible for Christ's Death Increases] (a poll from the Pew Research Center [link])
• [The Passion of the Christ - Original Script] - Gospelcom.net
• [Why Did They Kill Jesus?] Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ," Anti-Semitism, and the Gospel
• [What Would Jesus Buy?]
• [And the Oscar for Bigotry Goes to...]
• [A Passion for Hatred That Mocks Christ's Message]
• [What's up with the ugly baby?] - Christianity Today
• [The Dolorous Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ], by Anne Catherine Emmerich
• [Official photography of the film by Australian Ken Duncan]

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