• Film

The Passion of the Christ

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Time Out says

With more than a suggestion of a horror film about it, Gibson's searing, bloody re-creation of Christ's tormented last hours - from arrest in Gethsemane, to trial, crucifixion and resurrection - is hard to recommend to any but the curious or the converted. Its insistence on the ugly physical nature of the ordeal is almost expressionist - the endless beatings, stonings, flailings and the like would have killed any man long before we see the welt-skeined, naked body hammered to the cross in slo-mo and extreme close-up. Arguably, the script by Gibson and Benedict Fitzgerald epitomises one Western tradition of gruesome iconic depictions of the Passion; but their extrapolations from the four Gospels suggest an anti-semitic interpretation that has no biblical justification, and their use of ludicrously intoned, subtitled Aramaic and Latin is a pretentious bid for authenticity. In technical terms, the film is occasionally impressive. Caleb Deschanel's careful compositions provide an ostensibly credible biblical setting, even if John Debney's epic-lite score is unable to match Gibson's extremist vision. But the film's characterisations deliver no insights. A negative and spiritually underwhelming experience.

Release Details

  • Duration:127 mins

Cast and crew

  • Director:Mel Gibson
  • Screenwriter:Benedict Fitzgerald, Mel Gibson
  • Cast:
    • James Caviezel
    • Monica Bellucci
    • Claudia Gerini
    • Maïa Morgenstern
    • Sergio Rubini
    • Toni Bertorelli
    • Roberto Bestazzoni
    • Francesco Cabras
    • Giovanni Capalbo
    • Rosalinda Celentano
    • Emilio De Marchi
    • Francesco De Vito
    • Hristo Jivkov
    • Luca Lionello
    • Jarreth Merz
    • Hristo Naumov Shopov
    • Chokri Ben Zagdan
    • Luca De Dominicis
    • Pedro Sarubbi
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