This Good Friday, March 29, searches for the film “The Passion of the Christ”, directed by actor Mel Gibson, exploded on Google, with more than 5,000% growth in search volume since 9 am.
In addition to the obvious connection with today, it is worth mentioning that the film has just completed 20 years since its release – in the United States, it premiered on February 25th, Ash Wednesday of that year. In Brazil, the first cinema sessions were a little later, on March 19, closer to Easter 2004.
The film, which has Jim Caviezel playing Jesus Christ and Monica Belucci playing Mary Magdalene, shows Mel Gibson’s version of the last twelve hours of Jesus Christ’s life, on the day of his crucifixion. At the time, Gibson explained that he didn’t want any big actors in the cast, opting for little-known people.
Front desk
At the time of release, the film was well received by Christians. Second report from the newspaper “O Estado de São Paulo”, the then president of the CNBB (National Confederation of Brazilian Bishops), Cardinal Dom Geraldo Majella Agnelo, liked the film and even recommended it to Catholics. To the newspaper, he said that “faith is a gift from God and sometimes a person is attracted, we don’t know why; if you ask one convert what touched him, it will certainly be a different reason than another,” he said.
And he added: “I believe that a viewer who knows the Bible will go even deeper into the issue of Christ’s passion, while another without familiarity can seek to read the word of God, be touched and in this sense I believe in the contribution of this film.” Dom Geraldo also said that the violence of the scenes presented in the film is echoed in the Bible, mainly in the description of the prophet Jeremiah.
Pope also endorsed
Pope at the time of launch, John Paul II approved the work, according to a Folha de São Paulo report published at the time of the launch. He reportedly said that “that’s how things happened”, a phrase that was released by the film’s Marketing team.
Still, the film was controversial – it was accused of anti-Semitism and extreme and unnecessary violence.
Gibson paid for production
“The Passion of the Christ” was financed by Mel Gibson himself, as no studio wanted to pay for the production. “Of course no one wants to touch a film spoken in dead languages. They think I’m crazy,” said Gibson in a speech quoted by Folha de São Paulo. The “dead languages” he refers to are Latin and Aramaic, which were spoken at the time Christ lived, and which are part of Mel Gibson’s project for the film, to be as faithful as possible to what the Bible says. Bible. The film cost 25 million dollars to produce.
Where to watch Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”?
Today, 20 years later, the film is available on streaming. “The passion of christ” can be watched on StarPlus.
Despite not being on Netflix, Prime Video or Globoplay, the three services have several film options linked to the life of Jesus Christ, which could be good options for this Good Friday.