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The Passion of the Christ [DVD] [Pan & Scan]

1 disc
Region 1 USA/CA (info)

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.
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- Rating - sequences of graphic violence
Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 2222991
Credits

Jim Caviezel, James Caviezel, Maia Morgenstern, Maja Morgenstern, Monica Bellucci, Monica Belluci, Mattia Sbragia, Claudia Gerini, Luca Lionello, Hristo Naumov Shopov
Critic Reviews

"This is Gibson's personal vision of the greatest story ever told, a look inside his heart and soul..."
Los Angeles Times
"[T]here is undeniable power and artistry in the filmmaking..."
USA Today
"[Caviezel] has an eloquent, spindly body and a gauntly ascetic profile..."
Entertainment Weekly
"Gibson's immersion in the blood of Christ is an act of faith filmed with a zealot's rapture."
Rolling Stone
"[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."
Box Office
"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."
Sight and Sound
"[U]ndeniably well-made..."
Premiere