Release Date: February 25, 2004
Rating: R (for sequences of graphic violence)
Genre: Drama
Director: Mel Gibson
Actors: Jim Caviezel, Maia Morgenstern and Monica Bellucci
Review: “Veritas,” mutters Pontius Pilate, in Mel Gibson’s epic film, “The Passion of the Christ.” “Quid est veritas?” What is truth?
It’s a question we must all ask, at least once in our lives. And when we finally do, just how do we find the answer, in a world where the flow of information – along with the industry that feeds our minds, day and night – is controlled by those who so often deny its very existence?
Like so many others, Mel Gibson has found his answer in the person of Jesus Christ. But, unlike most, Gibson also has the power – and the money – to bring that message to the rest of the world.
Speaking in Aramaic, Jesus prays to his heavenly father for release from the task that awaits him, even as his disciples slumber and a satanic figure taunts him in the Garden of Gethsemane. An arrival, a kiss, a betrayal, a tussle. Peter lops off an ear; Jesus restores it, and the stunned Roman guard sits unmoving, wondering what has just occurred.