The Passion of the Christ

The Passion of the Christ is an upcoming live-action epic biblical drama film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and Luc Besson and starring Adam Sandler as Jesus of Nazareth. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It also draws on pious accounts such as the Friday of Sorrows, along with other devotional writings, such as the reputed visions attributed to Anne Catherine Emmerich.

As per the title, the film primarily covers the final 12 hours before Jesus Christ's death, known as "the Passion". It begins with the Agony in the Garden of Olives (i.e., Gethsemane), continues with the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, the brutal Scourging at the Pillar, the suffering of Mary as prophesied by Simeon, the crucifixion and death of Jesus, and ends with a brief depiction of his resurrection. However, the film also depicts flashbacks to particular moments in Jesus' life, some of which are biblically based, such as The Last Supper and The Sermon on the Mount, and others that are artistic license, as when Mary comforts Jesus and when Jesus crafts a table.

The film was mostly shot in Italy. The dialogue is entirely in Hebrew, Latin, and reconstructed Aramaic. Although Sandler was initially against it, the film is subtitled.

The film was a remake of the 2004 film of same name by Mel Gibson.

Plot
In Gethsemane, Jesus prays in the night while his disciples Peter, James, and John sleep. Satan appears to Jesus and tempts him. Jesus' sweat turns into blood and drips to the ground while a serpent emerges from Satan's guise. Hearing his disciples, he rebukes Satan by crushing the snake's head. Bribed disciple Judas Iscariot leads a group of temple guards to the forest and betrays Jesus' identity. As the guards arrest Jesus, a fight erupts wherein Peter draws his dagger and slashes the ear of Malchus, one of the guards and a servant of the high priest Caiaphas. Jesus heals Malchus' injury while reprimanding Peter. As the disciples flee, the guards secure Jesus, and beat him during the journey to the Sanhedrin. John informs Mary, mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene of the arrest, while Peter follows Jesus and his captors. Magdalene begs two passing Roman officers to intervene but a temple guard claims she is unbalanced. Caiaphas holds trial over the objection of some priests who are expelled from the court, during which false accusations and witnesses are brought against Jesus. When Caiaphas asks him whether he is the Son of God, Jesus replies, "I am". Caiaphas angrily tears his robes and Jesus is condemned to death for blasphemy. Peter is confronted by the surrounding mob for following Jesus. After cursing at the mob during the third denial, Peter flees when he recalls Jesus's forewarning of his defense. A guilt-ridden Judas attempts to return the money he was paid in order to have Jesus freed, but is refused by the priests. Tormented by demons, he runs away from the city and hangs himself. Caiaphas brings Jesus before Pontius Pilate to be condemned to death, but at the urging of Pilate's wife Claudia, who knows Jesus is a man of God, and after questioning Jesus and finding no fault, Pilate transfers him to the court of Herod Antipas, as Jesus is from Antipas' ruling town of Nazareth, Galilee. After Jesus is found not guilty and returned, Pilate offers the crowd the choice of chastising Jesus or releasing him. He attempts to have Jesus freed by the peoples' choice between Jesus and violent criminal Barabbas. The crowd demands Barabbas be freed and Jesus crucified. Attempting to appease the crowd, Pilate orders that Jesus simply be flogged. The Roman guards abuse, brutally scourge and mock Jesus before taking him to a barn where they place a crown of thorns on his head and tease him by saying "Hail, king of the Jews." Bloodied, Jesus is presented before Pilate, but Caiaphas, with the crowds' verbal backing, continues demanding that Jesus be crucified and Barabbas released. Pilate reluctantly orders Jesus' crucifixion. Satan observes Jesus' sufferings with sadistic pleasure. As Jesus carries a heavy wooden cross along to Golgatha, a woman avoids the escort of soldiers and requests that Jesus wipe his face with her cloth, to which he consents. She offers Jesus a pot of water to drink but the guard hurls it away and dispels her. During the journey to Golgotha, Jesus is beaten by the guards until the unwilling Simon of Cyrene is forced into carrying the cross with him. At the end of their journey, with his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and others witnessing, Jesus is crucified. Hanging from the cross, Jesus prays to God asking forgiveness for his tormentors, and provides salvation to a criminal crucified beside him, for his strong faith and repentance. Succumbing, Jesus surrenders his spirit and dies. A single droplet of rain falls from the sky to the ground, triggering an earthquake which destroys the temple and rips the veil covering the Holy of Holies in two, as Satan screams in defeat from the depths of Hell. Jesus' body is taken down from the cross and entombed. Jesus subsequently rises from the dead and exits the tomb resurrected, with wound holes visible on his palms.

Cast

 * Adam Sandler as Jesus of Nazareth
 * Julie Kavner as Mary, the mother of Jesus
 * Henry Winkler as Joseph, the father of Jesus
 * Marina Massironi as Mary Magdalene
 * Giacomo Gianniotti as Dismas
 * Ralph Fiennes as John
 * John Turturro as Peter
 * Gino D'Acampo as Caiaphas
 * Marco Barricelli as Annas ben Seth
 * Stanley Tucci as Judas Iscariot
 * Stefan Kapičić as Pontius Pilate
 * Marisa Tomei as Claudia Procles
 * Richard Ayoade as Abenader
 * Saverio Raimondo as Joseph of Arimathea
 * Massimo Corvo as Nicodemus
 * Ilaria Stagni as Woman in audience
 * Luca Argentero as Malchus
 * Fabio Fazio as Gesmas
 * Gino La Monica as Cassius
 * Eugenio Derbez as Satan
 * Paolo Marchese as Scornful Roman
 * Giuseppe Battiston as Herod Ántipas
 * Orietta Berti as St. Veronica
 * Robert Smigel as Chief Elder

Themes
In The Passion: Photography from the Movie "The Passion of the Christ", director Mel Gibson says, "This is a movie about Love, Hope, Faith and forgiveness. Jesus died for all mankind, suffered for all of us. It's time to get back to that basic message. The world has gone nuts. We could all use a little more Love, Faith, Hope and forgiveness."

Source material
According to Mel Gibson, the primary source material for The Passion of the Christ is the four canonical Gospel narratives of Christ's passion. The film includes a trial of Jesus at Herod's court, which is only found in the Gospel of Luke. The film also draws from other parts of the New Testament. One line spoken by Jesus in the film, "I make all things new", is found in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 21, verse 5.

Old Testament
The film also refers to the Old Testament. The film begins with an epigraph from the Fourth Song of the Suffering Servant from Isaiah. In the opening scene set in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus crushes a serpent's head in direct visual allusion to Genesis 3:15. Throughout the film, Jesus quotes from the Psalms, beyond the instances recorded in the New Testament.