History Film / ThePassionOfTheChrist

** Jewish Elders Nicodemus and Joseph protest how Jesus's trial is becoming a KangarooCourt and unsuccessfully attempt to shame the others present. Nicodemus protests that the "witnesses" statements are full of contradiction and that he has not heard anything to make him condemn Jesus. Joseph calls the trial a travesty, while shouting at Ciaphas that many other elders (implicitly other less reactionary ones) haven't even been woken up to attend the meeting (which may count as an AuthorsSavingThrow given the largely unsympathetic portrayal of the Jewish community).

** Satan is portrayed as an androgynous figure who wears a hooded robe and frequently carries [[CreepyChild an eerily adult-looking baby]]--sickly parodying the classic image of the Virgin Mary cradling an infant Jesus. The parallel between the two figures is made clear as Jesus first begins to carry his cross, because the camera cuts between Mary and Satan staring at each other from opposite sides of the crowds in opposition, making Mary the only character besides Christ himself to face the Devil.

* AdaptationExpansion: Half-blind children biting Judas's flesh were not mentioned by [[Literature/TheFourGospels Luke or Mark]], but Gibson thought it was important to include in his film. His other additions are less demonic, especially the flashback showing the Virgin Mary poking fun at Jesus’ wonky homemade table, and her memory of picking up Jesus as a child after he stumbles as she watches her son fall under the weight of his bloody cross.

** While credited for being "authentic" in using Aramaic to tell Jesus' story in ''his'' language, there's a great deal of guesswork involved. Aramaic is indeed a living language, but the dialect that was spoken in Judea during Jesus' time, Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, has been dead since the 13th century. It is certainly not the same as the Neo-Aramaic varieties spoken in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria today, which are descended from different dialects. There is also the factor of time, because languages change overtime; even the Aramaic spoken in today's Iraq is obviously not the same as the Aramaic spoken in the same area 2000 years ago. To give you an idea, it is like comparing the Vulgar Latin spoken in Hispania at the time of UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} with modern-day Italian. As a result, the filmmakers had to consult a linguist to reconstruct the dead language, as nobody has a real idea of how it sounded beyond educated guesses, which are still guesses nonetheless.

** Pilate speaks to Jesus in Latin in the film. The Romans would have spoken Latin among themselves, and that indeed is depicted in the film, but an educated Roman speaking to the provincials would have more probably spoken in Koine Greek, as it was the international language in the Eastern Mediterranean at that time due to the conquests of UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat. This was a [[EnforcedTrope deliberate choice]], though - Aramaic and Latin [[RuleOfPerception are easier to distinguish from each other]] than Aramaic and Greek, and making the Judeans and the Romans speak different, distinctive languages [[LanguageBarrier helps create a bigger gap.]]
** The Latin pronunciation used is Ecclesiastical, based on Italian phonology, and not the Classical pronunciation that would have been used at the time.

The film was rated [[UsefulNotes/RestrictedRating R]], though this was not so much an indicator of "may contain violence" as "may contain ''some'' non-violence". Creator/RogerEbert criticized the ratings board for this alongside many others, as he, who'd watched ''far'' more movies than most, called it "the most violent film [he had] ever seen". While Mel Gibson recommended it to people 13 and up, some Christian parents and even youth pastors chose to take advantage of the "accompanied by someone over 17" clause to get children under that age into the movie. In the UK, where film ratings aren't advisory, under-18s weren't even allowed in the cinema, although some Christians have been known to recommend the DVD to under-18s.

''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 SplatterHorror [[Literature/TheBible Biblical]] drama film produced, directed and co-written by Creator/MelGibson, dramatizing the [[PassionPlay Passion of the Christ]] -- the last hours of [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Jesus Christ]]'s life. All the dialogue is in the ancient languages of Aramaic and Latin, although some cuts of the film include subtitles to assist the audio-centric viewer.

Compare ''Film/TheLastTemptationOfChrist'', another controversial religious movie focusing on the life of Jesus Christ only in English and directed by none other than Creator/MartinScorsese.

''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 [[Literature/TheBible Biblical]] drama SplatterHorror film produced, directed and co-written by Creator/MelGibson, dramatizing the [[PassionPlay Passion of the Christ]] -- the last hours of [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Jesus Christ]]'s life. All the dialogue is in the ancient languages of Aramaic and Latin, although some cuts of the film include subtitles to assist the audio-centric viewer.

''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 [[Literature/TheBible Biblical]] drama film produced, directed and co-written by Creator/MelGibson, dramatizing the [[PassionPlay Passion of the Christ]] -- the last hours of [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Jesus Christ]]'s life. All the dialogue is in the ancient languages of Aramaic and Latin, although some cuts of the film include subtitles to assist the audio-centric viewer.

* AdaptationExpansion: Half-blind children biting Judas's flesh were not mentioned by [[Literature/TheFourGospels Luke or Mark]], but Gibson thought it was important to include in his film. His other additions are less demonic, especially the flashback showing the Mother of God making fun of God the Son's wonky homemade table and Mary's memory of picking up the child Jesus after he stumbles as she watches her son fall under the weight of his bloody cross.

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Satan's corrupted influence on humanity leads them to brutally torture Jesus to death on unprecedented levels that the most doubtful of Jesus's character might think the latter has enough and destroys humanity, fulfilling Satan's ultimate plan in taking them with him. Instead, Jesus remains unconditionally loving to his persecutors even to his death, proving Satan wrong as he screams in defeat.

* MamaBear: Mary pushing back against the Roman soldiers in order comfort Jesus when he falls down while carrying His cross. ''Nobody'' tries to make one attempt to break apart their brief reunion, nor torture her only child in front of her. She also gives a bone-chilling DeathGlare [[PietaPlagiarism as she cradled her now deceased son]], as if she’s spelling out how '''pissed''' she feels towards the Pharisees and Romans for their involvement in His death.

* MamaBear: Mary pushing back against the Roman soldiers in order comfort Jesus when he falls down while carrying his cross. ''Nobody'' tries to make one attempt to break apart their brief reunion, nor torture her only child in front of her.

** On the Roman’s side there’s Abenader; he’s the one who forces his men to stop trying to whip Jesus to death. Then there’s Cassius, who looks sorrowful when seeing Mary’s [[OutliveOnesOffspring traumatically breaking down over her son’s torture, knowing that he will die soon]]. And he’s supposed to be among the soldiers forcing Jesus to keep moving along as he’s being tortured, but does no such thing, but another soldier forces him to move along.
** Not even the Pharisees could withstand viewing Jesus’ flogging, [[ICantLookGesture preferring to look away]],[[ScrewThisImOuttaHere then leave the scene]].

** The thief who calls Jesus a fool for not saving himself earns an EyeScream a little later.

** On a less serious note, Jesus, shortly after his capture, observes a carpenter. Cue flashback when Jesus invents the modern dinner table.

** Unlike most artistic depictions, some historians believe that nails were driven through the bones of the wrist rather than through the palms, given that the soft tissue of the hand couldn't support the weight of the victim. The gospels have some wiggle room in that the Greek word usually translated as "hand" can include the wrist. But after all, Gibson is telling a biblical story, not a historical film, so any difference that originate from the Bible and Traditions will carry over (as acknowledged by Gibson himself, who knew of this, but decided the power of imagery won out over accuracy).

** The only point where artistic license is taken regarding history AND religion is during the scourging of Christ. The gospels do not say how many strokes Jesus received when Pilate ordered him to be flogged. But as attested by Paul, he himself was sentenced to "forty minus one" (39) strokes on five occasions by the Jewish authorities. This is in line with Deuteronomy chapter 25, which states that criminals may not receive more than 40 strokes, so the Jewish authorities tended to stop at 39 in order not to break the law accidentally -- again, showing Gibson is accurate in terms of the Bible. In terms of history, however, this brought about a question: Jesus was flogged by Romans not Jews, so this might be irrelevant. Needless to say, the film goes ''way'' beyond 39 strokes (with a soldier counting in Latin all the while), and both rods and scourges are used on Jesus. The beating is only halted due to an officer pointing out that they weren't ordered to flog the prisoner to death.

** While credited for being "authentic" in using Aramaic to tell Jesus' story in ''his'' language, there's a great deal of guesswork involved. Aramaic is indeed a living language, but the dialect that was spoken in Judea during Jesus' time, Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, has been dead since the 13th century. It is certainly not the same as the Neo-Aramaic varieties spoken in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria today, which are descended from different dialects. There is also the factor of time, because languages change overtime; even the Aramaic spoken in today's Iraq is not the same as the Aramaic spoken in the same area 2000 years ago. To give you an idea, it is like comparing the Vulgar Latin spoken in Hispania at the time of UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} with modern-day Italian. As a result, the filmmakers had to consult a linguist to reconstruct the dead language, as nobody has a real idea of how it sounded beyond educated guesses, which are still guesses nonetheless.
** Related to this is the fact that the oldest manuscript of the New Testament is written in Koine Greek, and with one notable exception[[note]]''Eloi eloi lama sabachthani'' - [''My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?''] [[/note]] along with other, much shorter phrases like "Abba" (Father) or "Mammon" (material wealth), It contains no transcriptions or transliterations of Jesus' sayings in Aramaic. Even if the film was translated from Greek (assuming they didn't use English translations as source) back into Aramaic, that would still involve a lot of guesswork at best and would not in any way be authentic in a historical sense.
** Pilate speaks to Jesus in Latin in the film, when it is more likely that an educated Roman official would speak in Koine Greek to the provincials, as Koine Greek was the international language in the Eastern Mediterranean at that time due to the conquests of UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat. This was a [[EnforcedTrope deliberate choice]], though - Aramaic and Latin [[RuleOfPerception are easier to distinguish from each other]] than Aramaic and Greek, and making the Judeans and the Romans speak different, distinctive languages [[LanguageBarrier helps create a bigger gap.]] The Romans, though, would have spoken Latin among themselves, and that indeed is depicted in the film.

* BoltOfDivineRetribution: A RealLife example. During the filming, Jim Caviezel was struck by lightning, and assistant director Jan Michelini was struck by lightning twice. [[{{God}} Everyone's]] [[ShockAndAwe a critic.]] (Admittedly, it probably has more to do with [[TemptingFate hanging around a hilltop in stormy weather carrying lots of metal objects]] than actual divine retribution.]])

* BoltOfDivineRetribution: A RealLife example. During the filming, Jim Caviezel was struck by lightning, and assistant director Jan Michelini was struck by lightning twice. [[{{God}} Everyone's]] [[ShockAndAwe a critic.]]

** While credited for being "authentic" in using Aramaic to tell Jesus' story in ''his'' language, there's a great deal of guesswork involved. Aramaic is indeed a living language, but the dialect that was spoken in Judea during Jesus' time, Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, has been dead since the 13th century. It is certainly not the same as the Neo-Aramaic varieties spoken in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria today, which are descended from different dialects. There is also the factor of time, because languages change overtime; even the Aramaic spoken in today's Iraq is not the same as the Aramaic spoken in the same area 2000 years ago. To give you an idea, it is like comparing the Vulgar Latin spoken in Iberia at the time of UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} with modern-day Italian. As a result, the filmmakers had to consult a linguist to reconstruct the dead language, as nobody has a real idea of how it sounded beyond educated guesses, which are still guesses nonetheless.
** Related to this is the fact that the oldest manuscript of the New Testament is written in Koine Greek and with one notable exception[[note]]''Eloi eloi lama sabachthani'' - [''My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?''] [[/note]] along with other, much shorter phrases like "Abba" (Father) or "Mammon" (material wealth), contains no transcriptions or transliterations of Jesus' sayings in Aramaic. Even if the film was translated from Greek (assuming they didn't use English translations as source) back into Aramaic, that would still involve a lot of guesswork at best and would not in any way be authentic in a historical sense.

* OutDamnedSpot: After trying his best to convince the crowds of Jesus's innocence and hearing the opinion of Jesus, Pontius Pilate allows Christ to be executed while literally washing his hands of the matter.

** While credited for being "authentic" in using Aramaic to tell Jesus' story in ''his'' language, there's a great deal of guesswork involved. Aramaic is indeed a living language, but the dialect that was spoken in Judea during Jesus' time, Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, has been dead since the 13th century. It is certainly not the same as the Neo-Aramaic varieties spoken in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria today, which are descended from different dialects. There is also the factor of time, because languages change overtime; even the Aramaic spoken in today's Iraq is not the same as the Aramaic spoken in the same area 2000 years ago. To give you an idea, it is like comparing the Vulgar Latin spoken in Iberia at the time of UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} with modern-day Italian. As a result, the filmmakers had to consult a linguist to reconstruct the dead language, as nobody has a real idea of how it sounded beyond educated guesses, which are still guesses nonetheless.\\\

Related to this is the fact that the oldest manuscript of the New Testament is written in Koine Greek and with one notable exception[[note]]''Eloi eloi lama sabachthani'' - [''My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?''] [[/note]] along with other, much shorter phrases like "Abba" (Father) or "Mammon" (material wealth), contains no transcriptions or transliterations of Jesus' sayings in Aramaic. Even if the film was translated from Greek (assuming they didn't use English translations as source) back into Aramaic, that would still involve a lot of guesswork at best and would not in any way be authentic in a historical sense.

** Pilate speaks to Jesus in Latin in the film, when it is more likely that an educated Roman official would speak in Koine Greek to the provincials, as Koine Greek was the international language in the Eastern Mediterranean at that time. This was a [[EnforcedTrope deliberate choice]] - Aramaic and Latin [[RuleOfPerception are easy to distinguish from each other]], and making the Judeans speak the former and the Romans the latter [[LanguageBarrier helps create a bigger gap.]] The Romans, though, would have spoken Latin among themselves, and that indeed is depicted in the film.

** Depending on denomination, Mary the mother of Jesus is considered as such. Of the four Gospels, only the Gospel of John mentions Mary the mother of Jesus being present, and only after Jesus has been crucified. However, in the Catholic tradition, Mary is present during Jesus' passion, which is reflect as the 4th Station of the Cross and all 5 Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. Thus, being a Traditional Catholic, Gibson reflect these in his film and have her witnesses the events throughout.

A sequel, directed by Gibson, is planned. Caviezel will reprise his role as Jesus.

When the film was re-released on Blu-ray and DVD in 2017, it came with a brand new English and Spanish language dubs.

''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 [[Literature/TheBible Biblical]] film produced and directed by Creator/MelGibson, dramatizing the [[PassionPlay Passion of the Christ]] -- the last hours of [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Jesus Christ]]'s life. All the dialogue is in the ancient languages of Aramaic and Latin, although some cuts of the film include subtitles to assist the audio-centric viewer.

Stars Creator/JimCaviezel as Jesus Christ and Creator/MonicaBellucci as Mary Magdalene. The rest of the cast is mostly unknown theater actors from Europe (including Italy) and the Middle East.

Infamous because it portrays the sheer horror of what happened to Jesus in unbearably prolonged, bloody and gory detail. {{Gorn}} doesn't even begin to describe the content of the film. Once things start getting bloody an hour in, they don't stop until near the very end. Besides the brutality, the film separates itself from other Jesus films with its focus on Christ's relationship with his mother and the centrality of his Last Supper.

Obviously, the film is based on Literature/TheFourGospels, but some scenes take from other sources; some aspects of the film are based on Catholic devotions like the 14 Stations of the Cross and the Five Sorrows of Mary, while other parts are derived from the visions of a nun named Anne Catherine Emmerich. The film also includes wholly original scenes that flesh out the roles of the Virgin Mary and the Devil.

This was rated [[UsefulNotes/RestrictedRating R]], though it's not so much "may contain violence" as "may contain ''some'' non-violence". Creator/RogerEbert criticized the ratings board for this alongside many others, as he, who'd watched far more movies than even most tropers would consider reasonable, called it "the most violent film I have ever seen". Mel Gibson recommended it to people 13 and up. Some Christian parents and even youth pastors chose to take advantage of the "accompanied by someone over 17" clause to get children under that age into the movie. In the UK, where film ratings aren't advisory, under-18s weren't even allowed in the cinema, although some Christians have been known to recommend the DVD to under-18s.

* PlayingGertrude: Only six years between the actors playing Mary and Jesus. There is some justification to this, as some believe that Mary didn't age because she was without sin.