The Passion of the Christ - the movie
(left) Scenes from the movie.
STORY
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST is a vivid depiction of the
last 12 hours of Jesus Christ's life. 
Sometime around the year A.D. 30, in the Roman province of Palestine,
an obscure Jewish carpenter named Jesus of Nazareth began to teach publicly
and to proclaim the coming of a 'Kingdom of God.' For centuries, the Jewish
people had expected the appearance of a promised deliverer known as the
Messiah—a figure who would restore their ancient dignity, and free
their sacred homeland from all evil and despair. In the minds of many,
Jesus appeared to be this Messiah. Surrounded by a core group of twelve
disciples, Jesus began to attract a massive following from among the common
people of Galilee and Judea, who eventually praised him as their Messiah
and King. However, Jesus also had many enemies in Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin,
a governing senate composed of the leading Jewish priests and Pharisees,
conspired to put Jesus to death.
The
film depicts the treachery of His disciple, Judas Iscariot (Luca Lionello),
who betrays Him to the high priest, Caiaphas (Mattia Sbragia) for 30 pieces
of silver, and then leads a procession of guards to the garden of Gethsemane
where the soldiers arrest Jesus (James Caviezel) and take Him to the temple
leaders for questioning. Jesus’ mother, Mary (Maia Morgenstern)
and His followers, Mary Magdalene (Monica Bellucci), Peter (Francesco
De Vito) and John (Hristo Jivkov) witness the questioning and the false
accusations of the priests.
Tormented by guilt because of what he has done, Judas attempts to return the silver to Caiaphas, who refuses it, after which Judas escapes to the city’s edge and hangs himself from a tree.
Following his questioning by the religious leaders, Jesus is taken to Pontius Pilate (Hristo Naumov Shopov) who tries to avoid becoming involved in the growing controversy surrounding the prisoner by sending Him to King Herod (Luca De Dominicis), but Herod, finding no fault with Jesus, sends Him back to Pilate. Pilate reminds the people that, as he has done each year, he will allow one prisoner to go free, but the crowd chooses the murderous criminal, Barabbas.
Pilate has Jesus whipped, but the people want Him crucified. Washing his hands of the matter, Pilate turns Jesus over to the guards and He is led away, forced to carry His cross through the crowded streets to Golgotha, a hill outside the city where He will be crucified.
To give the film added authenticity, the dialogue is in Aramaic, Latin and Hebrew, with English subtitles.
Because of the high level of violence depicted in the film, the movie carries an MA 15+ rating in Australia. Parents are advised to see the film first before deciding whether to take any children under 15 to see the film. It is also advised to spiritually prepare for the film, by taking time to pray and even fast before watching the film. Many groups have organised opportunities for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to be available after the film, and for priests to be available for the Sacrament of Penance.
Read the Movie Review of Fr Peter Malone msc, from the Australian Catholic Film Office.