Passion of the Christ-Definitive Edition (2004)

"There is enlightenment--even stark poetry--in The Passion.  Claudia Puig, USA Today
"A highly personal, provocative and in some ways riveting vision with an inspired performance by Jim Caviezel as Jesus.  Lou Lumenick, New York Post
"Powerfully moving!  Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"A serious, handsome, excruciating film that radiates total commitment.  Richard Corliss, Time Magazine
"...a big, bold, nightmarishly beautiful film...  Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly

Editor's Note THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST depicts the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus of Nazareth (Jim Caviezel), beginning with his betrayal by Judas Iscariot (Luca Lionello) and ending with his crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. Directed by Mel Gibson (BRAVEHEART)--who funded the film himself and co-wrote the screenplay--PASSION uses flashbacks to substantiate a handful of pertinent moments in Jesus' life and teachings, such as the Sermon on the Mount and the Last Supper, as well as his relationships with his mother and his disciples. Still, the drama focuses on the seemingly endless torture inflicted upon Jesus by Roman soldiers at the urging of the Jewish crowd that considers him a blasphemer, despite the attempts of a sympathetic Pontius Pilate (Hristo Naumov Shopov) to spare him from death. The faint of heart should be prepared for the brutal, barbaric beatings that Christ endures. Maia Morgenstern, Monica Bellucci, and Hristo Jivkov are touching as Mary, Magdalene, and John respectively, who are devastated by Jesus' fate yet aware that they can do nothing to change it. Performed in Aramaic and Latin with English subtitles, Gibson's labor of love is sure to prompt discussion and debate as to historical and Biblical fact.

	Christo Jivkov
	Francesco De Vito
	James Caviezel
	Luca Lionello
	Maia Morgenstern
	Mattia Sbragia
	Monica Bellucci
	Toni Bertorelli
	Benedict Fitzgerald - Screenplay
	Caleb Deschanel - Cinematographer
	Enzo Sisti - Executive Producer
	Francesco Frigeri - Production Designer
	John Debney, et. al. - Original Music By
	John Wright - Editor
	Mel Gibson - Producer
	Mel Gibson - Screenplay
	Mel Gibson - Director
	Steve Mirkovich - Editor

Los Angeles Times
"This is Gibson's personal vision of the greatest story ever told, a look inside his heart and soul..." 02/24/2004 p.1

USA Today
"[T]here is undeniable power and artistry in the filmmaking..." 02/27/2004 p.8E

Entertainment Weekly
"[Caviezel] has an eloquent, spindly body and a gauntly ascetic profile..." 03/05/2004 p.46-7

Rolling Stone
"Gibson's immersion in the blood of Christ is an act of faith filmed with a zealot's rapture." 03/18/2004 p.79

Box Office
"[I]t is Gibson himself, as director, who most energizes the movie, breathing life into the dusty annals of scripture and investigating them with an almost indescribable, elegiac beauty." 04/01/2004 p.160-1

Sight and Sound
"What THE PASSION adds to Gibson's previous directorial offerings is a stripped-down economy of story-telling and a flair for hauntingly iconic imagery which lend an irresistibly visceral edge." 04/01/2004 p.63-4

Premiere
"[U]ndeniably well-made..." 07/01/2004 p.112

ReelViews 9 of 10
There are so many ancillary issues surrounding the release of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (nee The Passion) that they threaten to dwarf the 127-minute movie that lies at the maelstrom's epicenter. (The controversy, whether real, concocted, or some combination of the two, has provided an unprecedented level of free publicity.) So let me cut to the chase before backing up and looking at some of these appendage elements. The Passion of the Christ is a gripping, powerful motion picture--arguably the most forceful depiction of Jesus' death ever to be committed to film. It leaves an indelible imprint on the psyche; viewers of this movie may never look at a crucifix in quite the same way. - James Berardinelli

Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
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...It is a film about an idea. An idea that it is necessary to fully comprehend the Passion if Christianity is to make any sense. Gibson has communicated his idea with a singleminded urgency. Many will disagree. Some will agree, but be horrified by the graphic treatment. I myself am no longer religious in the sense that a long-ago altar boy thought he should be, but I can respond to the power of belief whether I agree or not, and when I find it in a film, I must respect it. - Roger Ebert