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.

Theatrical Release Date: February 25, 2004

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Widescreen - 2.35
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - Aramaic/Latin/Hebrew
DTS 5.1 - Aramaic/Latin/Hebrew
Additional Release Material:
Trailers: Theatrical Trailer

Jim Caviezel: Actor
Maia Morgenstern: Romanian Actress/The Oak
Monica Bellucci: Italian actress, MALENA, UNDER SUSPICION
Mattia Sbragia: Italian Actor
Claudia Gerini: Actress
Luca Lionello: Actor, THE PASSION OF CHRIST (2004)
Hristo Shopov: Actor, THE PASSION OF CHRIST (2004)

Mel Gibson: Australian-Raised Actor-Director

Bruce Davey: Producer/"Forever Young"
Stephen McEveety: 

Mel Gibson: Australian-Raised Actor-Director
Benedict Fitzgerald: Screenwriter

John Debney: Composer/"Hocus Pocus"

"[T]here is undeniable power and artistry in the filmmaking..."
"[Caviezel] has an eloquent, spindly body and a gauntly ascetic profile..."
"Gibson's immersion in the blood of Christ is an act of faith filmed with a zealot's rapture."
"This is Gibson's personal vision of the greatest story ever told, a look inside his heart and soul..."
"[U]ndeniably well-made..."
"[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."
"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."