what language is spoken in the passion of christ movie

The myriad of scenes depicting bloody torture, tearing flesh, and punctured hands and feet, are some of the most brutal film moments I’ve seen. While the Jewish leaders are certainly his accusers, Caesar’s men are eager and revel in the process and fulfillment of Christ’s scourging and execution. In fact, the Romans should temper the many accusations of anti-Semitism that have been targeted toward this film. From there, we move through to the judgments of Caiphas (Mattia Sbragia), Pontius Pilate (Hristo Naumov Shopov), Herod, and back to Pilate who dismisses the matter into the hands of the Jewish leaders and, as portrayed in this film, the bloodthirsty Roman soldiers.

Gibson has chosen to open the film with the Savior’s atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane. It’s only unfortunate the script, which is spoken in Amharic and Latin with English subtitles, doesn’t allow more time for the audience to appreciate his portrayal of Christ in less intense circumstances. In every moment on screen, this little-known actor lives up to this measure. James Caviezel is the man whom the director determined to have the ?penetrating eyes and transparent expressions to convey the essence of love and compassion in utter silence?-traits Gibson felt were essential in his representation of Deity. Or at least, who Jesus is from Gibson’s perspective. Yet, from his back pocket, he has placed $25 million on the table to tell the world who Jesus is.

Obviously, for Mel Gibson, Jesus is revered, although I must admit that previous to the tremendous buzz generated by this movie, I had no idea Gibson’s religious values were this focused. For many, Jesus Christ is nothing more than a blurted expletive. After all, is there any other figure in history that so many people claim to have a personal relationship with? Or, is there any one person who is held in more contempt? His named is called out as the one who is responsible for everything from wars to the injury of one’s thumb by a hammer. 'One line I kind of enjoyed is when Jesus says, `My power is given from above, otherwise my followers would not have allowed this.' That's the pluperfect subjunctive.If there was a vote for the most difficult historical figure to recreate in drama, Jesus Christ must be at the top of the list. It's kind of a nifty little symbolic thing: Jesus is going to beat him at his own game,' Fulco said. Later, 'there's an exchange where Pilate addresses Jesus in Aramaic, and Jesus answers in Latin. To illustrate the groups' inability to communicate with each other, each side speaks with incorrect pronunciations and word endings. Other linguistic tricks of Fulco's serve a function in the script.įor example, he incorporated deliberate dialogue errors in the scenes where the Roman soldiers, speaking Aramaic, are shouting to Jewish crowds, who respond in Latin. The subtitle says, `You take care of it.' He's actually saying, `Take care of my laundry.''

There's one scene where Caiaphas turns to his cohorts and says something in Aramaic. 'Here and there I put in playful things which nobody will know. We didn't subtitle those words.'įulco even confessed to some linguistic mischief.

'Somebody who knows Latin really well, their ears will fall off. 'I tracked down some obscene graffiti from Roman army camps,' Fulco said.

What language is spoken in the passion of christ movie