‘The Passion of the Christ’: Reflecting on the Film 20 Years Later
In the powerful movie, The Passion of the Christ, chronicling the end of Christ’s life, Jim Caviezel delivers a nuanced, moody performance that doesn’t deny Jesus’ humanity. It helped that Caviezel is a true believer. A devout Catholic, he went to confession and received Holy Communion every day while shooting Passion in Italy.
The 2004 work, directed and co-written by Braveheart and Lethal Weapon star Mel Gibson, brings the Stations of the Cross — 14 scenes depicting His final 12 hours — to the big screen in excruciating detail. The movie harrowingly shows the Agony in the Garden of Olives, His betrayal by Judas Iscariot, His arrest and torture, the carrying of the cross, and His crucifixion and death.
(Credit: Newmarket Releasing/courtesy Everett Collection)
Key moments in Jesus’ life, from the Last Supper to the Sermon on the Mount, and biblical events like Peter’s denial of Christ are seen throughout. It ends with a brief glimpse of the Resurrection. (The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection, a sequel, is reportedly starting production in 2024.)
The film was a box office hit and became the fifth highest-grossing movie of 2004, despite the dialogue being spoken entirely in reconstructed Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin (with English subtitles). Gibson’s camera never shies away from the savagery and suffering of Jesus’ final hours, lingering on the brutal torture in all its painful, graphic detail.
“Growing up as a kid, the Passion of Jesus had always been sanitized,” Gibson told Sight Magazine in 2004. “I’ve decided not to hold back.” The film sparked widespread controversy. It was criticized by some moviegoers for wallowing in the gory spectacle of Jesus’ death. Many wondered: Where was the inspiration, uplift, and grace at Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice? Others, like legendary critic Roger Ebert, praised Passion for showing the “inescapable price that Jesus paid” and giving viewers “a visceral idea of what the Passion consisted of.”
Incredibly, Caviezel was struck by lightning while shooting the Sermon on the Mount. He joked to Entertainment Weekly that he looked like he “went to Don King’s hairstylist,” but it was a terrifying moment. Caviezel had fire on the left side of his head and later needed two heart surgeries. Was it a sign from God? Caviezel quipped that he simply looked up and asked, “Didn’t like that take, huh?”
This is an excerpt from TV Guide Magazine’s The Chosen special issue, available on newsstands and for order online now at TheChosenMag.com
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