The Passion of the Christ

The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 Icon Productions film about the final twelve hours of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Directed by Mel Gibson, the film became the largest grossing R-rated movie in film history, and was nominated for three Academy Awards. The film aroused strong controversy even before its release for its extreme violence and alleged anti-semitism.

Fast Facts:

1. Directed by Mel Gibson
2. Film dialogue is Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin with English subtitles
3. Filmed in Matera, Italy and Rome
4. Release date: February 25, 2004
5. Worldwide gross revenues: $611,899,420
6. Actor Jim Caviezel played Christ

Brief Background

The film follows Jesus during the last hours of his life, as he is betrayed by his best friend Judas Iscariot, is sentenced to death through the influence of the Jewish high priest Caiaphas on the Roman leader Pontius Pilate, and is whipped and beaten as he carries his own Cross through the streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha. Actor and director Mel Gibson financed much of the film himself, largely because major studios were afraid to take on a project that included dialogue in three languages (two of the languages being extinct) and dealt with the highly sensitive issue of Jesus's death and how it came about.

Controversy

The ADL expressed their concern with the film's portrayal of Jews prior to the release, as most "passion plays" (the generic term which refers to any theatrical reenactment concerning the last hours of Jesus's life) have historically been anti-Semitic in tone and message. Upon its release, some critics denied that the film was anti-Semitic, while others thought it baldly so, due to its depiction of the Jewish high priests as uniformly ugly and depraved, and through its depiction of Pontius Pilate as a pawn manipulated by the Jewish hierarchy into ordering Christ's crucifixion. The film was marketed actively to evangelical church groups, who often purchased large numbers of tickets for their congregations in special screenings.

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