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The Passion Of The Christ

London - 127-minute feature film - April 04

Heard the one about the Jew, the catholic, and the Palestinian? Jason Korsner, John Park, and Dr Husam Asi review The Passion Of The Christ...

Dr Husam Asi is a screenwriter and publisher, originally an Israeli Palestinian and Muslim (writes John Park). I'm catholic and a writer. Jason Korsner is Jewish and a journalist. We're neither typical nor atypical of our religions or traditions. We're all British, live in London, and we're friends.

We saw The Passion on the night the events portrayed began - catholics call it Maundy Thursday, the night of the Last Supper. For Jews it's the middle of Passover. For the world, it's the night and day everything changed - with repercussions that have overshadowed 2,000 years of our common history.

We talked for several hours over a meal (the irony of the timing not being lost)after the film. We discussed the ideas of God and Christ, the diaspora and death of Jews in World War 2, the modern situation in Palestine, the invasion of Iraq, the loss and sometimes regaining of religion during life - and the direct content of the film itself.

We wrote the reviews afterwards, and separately without, as quiz-show hosts put it, conferring. Coincidentally, they're written on Good Friday, the day of the Crucifixion.

FR reviews are generally written in the third person (no 'I'), but as these are personal perspectives, we've departed from that convention. Reviews are normally edited. In this case, the authors' words are reproduced unaltered.

For readers not familiar with the religions and events involved, a set of short background notes are included at the end of the reviews.

The Passion - reviewed by Dr Husam Asi

I felt sick watching this film: it was saturated with masochistic violence and one man’s blood. The film ruined the biblical story by depicting it in a nonsensical way and with an overemphasis on the brutality suffered by Jesus.

The film begins with the Jews searching for Jesus to bring him to justice. When the agents of the Jews find Jesus they beat him viciously and take him to the temple where he is taunted and spat on by the Jewish priests. Later he is taken to the Roman governor in order to be prosecuted.

Interestingly, at this stage, the Romans are not interested in Jesus. Actually, they want to protect him from angry Jews, who demanded his crucifixion. Reluctantly, the governor finally decides to chastise him and then to crucify him.

Suddenly, the Romans become sadistically violent. They whip Jesus so hard as if he is their worst enemy. Then, despite being on the verge of death, they make him carry the cross up to the olive mountain. Even Superman wouldn’t be able to do this, but Jesus did.

For over an hour we watch a bruised and bleeding Jesus carrying a heavy cross up the mountain, as he is being whipped by the brutal Romans. Strangely, at this stage the Jews are quiet and sometimes even compassionate towards their cursed man, Jesus.

This film was not anti-Semitic. On the contrary, I think that the director made great efforts to implicate the Romans in order to clear the Jews of any misdeed toward Jesus and to avoid being branded as anti-Semitic, which could ruin his film in the box office.

For me, I can’t understand why there is a need to skew the story: it is universally accepted that that Jesus was killed by his own people, the Jews, because he dared to call himself 'the Messiah'. That is the supposed to be the 'message' of the original story: that Jesus's own people rejected him and crucified him, but that on the cross, he forgave them. Didn’t the churches in Europe burn people alive for being sorcerers during the Dark Ages? Didn’t the English behead their king, Charles I? Why can’t we depict the Jews doing the same?

(c) Dr Husam Asi - 9 April 04


The Passion - reviewed by Jason Korsner

So what's all the fuss about? Is it, as some people have suggested, two hours of relentless, blood-soaked violence, vilifying the Jews, while relieving the ruthless Roman governor of any responsibility? In a word, yes. But it's much more than that. It's also boring. While it's visually impressive and certainly bursts with passion, it lacks any sign of the dramatic narrative necessary to make a compelling film.

Any director making a bio-pic must first decide which part of his subject’s story to tell. Mel Gibson has chosen the final twelve hours of Jesus's life, from moments before his arrest to moments after his death. From the moment he limited his film to this period, The Passion of the Christ could do no more than reinforce already held beliefs and would have no chance of winning over any new believers. There is nothing inspirational in watching a man suffer, without understanding who he is and why he is suffering. Perhaps that was Gibson's intention, to make us suffer with Jesus and share first his pain and with his death, his relief.

Whether you're a believer or not, the life of Jesus is a compelling story - a baby, born to a virgin bride, growing up in poverty, and against all odds, making something of himself as an adult, teaching, healing, inspiring and otherwise bettering the lives of all those around him until he’s betrayed by one of his closest friends and suffers a brutal death, rather than lose his dignity. So why ignore the all of this and give us, instead of the life of Jesus, the death of Jesus - two hours of pain, suffering, bleeding, screaming and crying? And to what end? What do we learn? Flogging hurts. Crucifixion kills you. Your mother won’t want you to suffer. We don’t need to sit through two hours of graphic blood-letting to learn this.

One or two brief flashbacks aside, there is nothing in this film to tell us what was so special about Jesus. We see him building a table, washing someone's feet, breaking bread with his friends. On one or two occasions, we hear the briefest of excerpts of his teachings, but nothing to suggest that this man was great enough to justify spawning a religion that would hold him up as the saviour of mankind. For all we know, from what we see here, this man could be just like any other crank who claims to be the Messiah - maybe if David Icke had live two thousand years earlier, he would also have been crucified for blasphemy. And maybe we would now have been told that he too was the Messiah.

If it weren't for the fact that this is based on the bible, one might argue that the story is incoherent and confused.

On the one hand, according to Gibson, the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, is a meek, insecure leader who doesn’t like to cause a fuss. He is so keen to persuade the baying crowd of Hebrews to change their mind about demanding Jesus's crucifixion that he offers them the choice of sparing either him or Barabbas, a vicious murderer, portrayed here as an odious, growling giant who wouldn’t be out of place in a comic-book. In a work of fiction, that they choose the latter would unquestionably be anti-semitic. That Gibson sources his story to the Bible excuses him of this, unless you are prepared to accept that the New Testament itself is anti-semitic.

But for someone who is apparently desperate to avoid executing Jesus, Pilate fails to invite anyone to speak on his behalf at the sham of a trial he is given. And more seriously, he fails to supervise his brutal, sadistic soldiers as they mete out the cruellest punishment imaginable on a man whose only crime was, in the eyes of Gibson, to speak the truth. But as Pilate’s own wife asks him, 'What is the truth? Do you recognise it when it is spoken?' Nothing in this film helps us recognise what Jesus says as the truth, unless we believe it already, before we enter the cinema. Not only does Pilate fail to stop Jesus being flogged to within an inch of his death, but he allows the guards to continue whipping him as he struggles up the hill with his cross. He is either disingenuous or a totally ineffective and disrespected leader. The inhumanity with which the out-of-control Romans treat Jesus is in direct contradiction to 'the party line' but Pilate doesn’t stop it. So who is to blame for Jesus’ suffering? 'It is he who delivered me to you who has the greater sin' Jesus tells Pilate, allowing him to proclaim to the crowd that 'I am innocent of this man’s blood.'

Privately, Pilate appears to be struggling to decide how to handle what is in effect a political dispute between a fundamentalist religious leader and the head of a growing religious cult. If he really wanted to avoid bloodshed, would he not have encouraged negotiations? And in any sense, you only have to look at the modern world to see that established religious leaders tend to win out over the leaders of controversial splinter groups – in a previous millennium, crucifixion might also have been the fate for the founders of the Scientologists or the Moonies.

Although Pilate's doubts seem spurious, at least Gibson makes some effort to show that he is not comfortable with the decision he ultimately feels compelled to take. But Gibson's Jewish high priest, Caiphas - along with the sadistic soldiers, the only true baddie in this film - is inexplicably and unshakeably certain that crucifixion is the only acceptable outcome. Having failed to give any suggestion as to how much of a threat Jesus's teachings were presenting to the Jewish establishment, this makes the hate-filled Caiphas seem as mindlessly callous as Saddam Hussein. The film just starts too late to put his behaviour into any kind of perspective.

But does this make the film anti-semitic? No more than objecting to the war against Iraq makes you anti-American. Almost everyone in the country at the time would have been Jewish, and clearly, many of them opposed the crucifixion. But while not tainting the Jewish population as a whole, the film certainly lays the blame for the death of Jesus at the hands of the Jewish establishment. Gibson clearly believes that the moral responsibility lies with the High Priests, cheered on by fundamentalist rabble rousers. We have to wait until Jesus's final cross-carrying journey to see the silent majority - screaming abuse at the Romans and helping to ease Jesus's discomfort where they could. But one also suspects that Gibson's view is that these caring, sensitive, loving Jews are the ones who later converted to follow Christ's teachings.

But if there is any doubt about the coherence of the behaviour of Pilate or Caiphas, it could be argued that Jesus's own position seemed equally incoherent. During the course of his final hours on Earth, he asks God to 'Save me from the traps they set for me,' 'Shelter me Lord,' 'Forgive them. They know now what they do' and wonders 'Why have you forsaken me?' All of which suggest that this was a man who believed he was being wronged and was suffering an unjustifiable fate. It was if he didn’t want to suffer. As if he wanted the pain to stop. But when had the chance to stop it, asked if he really was the Messiah and given the opportunity to change his story, he honourably - or some might say stubbornly - sticks by his story. But he had to suffer in order to fulfil his purpose on Earth, and he knew that. At the last supper, he boasts to his disciples that he’s going somewhere they can’t follow and accepts his fate. He came to Earth to give his life to save mankind, didn't he? He had known this was his fate for some years, so is he really being forsaken? Does he really want to be saved from the traps? Is what the Romans are doing something for which they should be forgiven, or thanked? After all, had he not suffered and died, would he still have been praised as the Lord?

But theology aside, this film is an unsatisfying and uncomfortable ride. Just when you think the man can suffer no more, there's something else. More whipping. More beating. More falling and being crushed under the weight of his cross. No man could have suffered such abuse and still found the strength to climb the hill, let alone with a cross on his back. But that is presumably Gibson's intention, trying to highlight just how unfairly treated Jesus was. But it's as if this kind of treatment might have been acceptable had the victim not been the Messiah. That said, the thieves crucified with him weren't touched by the Romans as they marched to their fate. They carried just the horizontal bar of their crosses, rather than the whole thing, and they arrived at the site of their accepted demise without a single blemish on their bodies. So why did the Romans treat Jesus worse than an animal? What had he done to them? The other men were being crucified for breaching Roman law. Jesus was being crucified, supposedly against the wishes of the Romans, for blaspheming against the Jewish God. Blasphemy was nothing to the pagan Romans.

From a cinematic point of view, the biggest problem is the fact that telling only the final twelve hours means there is actually no story here at all. There’s no character development. All the righteous characters stay righteous and all the cruel ones remain cruel. Only, in the briefest of storylines, do any characters seem to grow. Judas realises the error of his ways. And Simon, who initially refuses to help Jesus carry his cross, soon forms a deep bond with him and doesn't want to leave him when he reaches his final destination.

So with no story, no development in any of the key characters and none of the background to teach outsiders what made Jesus so revered, what is the point of film? It's nothing but sadistic voyeurism, an excuse for a relentlessly violent polemic on the ill-treatment of a man whose fate was sealed - and accepted - long before the start of the film.

(c) Jason Korsner - 9 April 04


The Passion - reviewed by John Park

The Passion of The Christ follows the last hours of Jesus, from his arrest to his resurrection from the dead. It depicts events as described in the four Gospels of the New Testament. Catholics believe that Jesus is God, and that we killed him. One of the resulting questions is: who is 'we'?

May I explain my background? I am a catholic - a fairly louche example - brought up in London just after the Second World War, and born in the year Israel was made a state by the United Nations. My parents were a catholic and Protestant. I went to catholic schools. For most of my life I've not been a catholic, but returned to the church a few years ago.

I was never taught, by nuns, priests, teachers or anyone connected with the catholic church - ever - that the Jews killed Jesus. We were always told that 'we' killed him, meaning everyone in the world, at the time of his death and since, by doing wrong - and that he forgave us. As an adult I've worked in several countries as an architect, including Iraq during the Iran/Iraq war. My relevant political views are pro-Jewish, pro-Palestian, anti-invasion of Iraq.

That's my relevant background, now for The Passion. In each catholic church there is a set of tableaux depicting the last hours in the life of Christ, known as Stations of the Cross. The second part of The Passion is structured around these. The Stations are an important part of catholic religious observance. During Lent people walk round the sequence, stopping to pray and think at each picture. In the film, they form set pieces which will be immediately significant to catholic viewers, though not perhaps to others. It's an important distinction, because The Passion is not assembled like a conventional film, with dramatic structure, beginning middle and end.

I've had the benefit of many Jewish friends and a lover or two, and don't believe 'the Jews' killed Christ, so I didn't go into the film looking for that angle. Nor did I find it. The way I understand the death of Christ is that a group of senior priests took against him and made sure the Romans executed him - exactly as shown in the film. The priests were Jews, Jesus was a Jew, everyone was a Jew. If it had all happened in Yorkshire, the priests would have been Yorkshiremen, but the White Rose county wouldn't have killed Christ - just his fellow human beings.

Director Mel Gibson shows a fair and carefully considered touch with this, as disgusted fellow-elders to the high priests Annas and Caiphas decry the midnight temple trial of Jesus (shouting 'A travesty!'), and numerous small acts of kindness and regret are shown to Christ by his fellow human-beings (Jews).

The Passion follows the narrative and dialogue (with a few extra but very small scenes) of the New Testament. Catholics believe the relevant books (gospels) by Matthew, Mark, Luke, John (followers of Christ) to be written under God's guidance. I found it accurate to a script I've absorbed since childhood, and the Devil quite remarkable.

Ah, the Devil. God's most delightful creation (so the story goes) was Lucifer, who he called Sun of The Morning. But Lucifer wanted to be greater than God, so Hell was created for him, and he was turned into a serpent, to be crushed underfoot (almost the first action of Jesus in The Passion). But God and the Devil aren't men or women, they're beyond our imagination - so can take any shape we imagine. The Passion uses this licence to show Satan as the most demonic (and chillingly sexy) of humans - and quite emphatically a woman. It's a subtle portrayal by an outstanding actor. Better, the character is minimally intercut into each of the key scenes, giving them a fine balance with the supernatural, but keeping the realm strictly human.

As a catholic, I found The Passion a strong visual experience. Like many people, I like reading, but find it doesn't bring scenes to full visual life. Though I've been familiar with the bible story since childhood, it's not until seeing this particular film - much better in my opinion than previous attempts - that I've felt close to the three-dimensional action.

There's a great deal of torture in the film (and in the book) - it's an exceptionally unpleasant story. But from the catholic perspective, it's dwarfed by the enormity of the crime - humans killing God. And the whole is dwarfed by that same God's forgiveness - stated repeatedly in the film - which gives the giant frame to wrap around this giant story.

From a personal viewpoint, I found the film well-constructed, atmospherically shot and carefully designed. There are some subtly-understated vignettes, well-handled in the film - in particular those of Peter, John, Mary Magdalene, Pilate's wife Claudia, the soldier whose cut ear is restored (who reappears at the Crucifixion), the Good Thief, Roman soldier at the Crucifixion. The major role of Mary (mother of Jesus) is stuctured (and acted) with a fine understanding of its emotional impact; of Jesus with care and, in flashbacks, humour; of Pilate with integrity and unease. There's also, as light relief, the most gloriously camp King Herod.

John Park - 9 April 04

All reviews / Thursday 8 April 04 / UGC Cinema Haymarket / London

The Passion - reviewed by Cecilia Holmes

End of reviews / Notes and Credits follow:


Background Notes


These notes aim to assist readers not familiar with the religions and history that relate to The Passion Of The Christ. They are not definitive. JP

(in alpha order)

Catholics, and others The catholic church regards itself as founded by Jesus Christ, (so the first catholic was a Jew), with Peter as the first Pope (God's representative on earth). The Orthodox church separated from catholicism in 1054, a mainly territorial division, with Orthodox churches active in Russia, Greece and Ethiopia (among other countries). Its rituals are recognised by the catholic church.

A number of groups left the catholic church during the 16th century Reformation, to form separate religions. These fractured further and include (some duplications of names, some secular groups) Quakers, Shakers, Holy Rollers, Puritans, Methodists, Church of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), Protestants, Episopalians, Spiritualists, Unitarians, Seventh Day Adventists, United Reformed, Anglicans, Wee Frees, The Church of God Daniels, Church of England, Church of Christ Scientist, Church of Scotland, Diggers, Church of Ireland, Prestyterians, Church of Wales, Church of God Daniels (2), Pentacostalism, and many others. Their beliefs vary.

Fowler Quotations in this section attributed to Fowler refer to The New Fowler's Modern English Usage, a book referred to by editors rather more frequently than The Bible. This version is the Third Edition, edited by RW Burchfield, first edited by HW Fowler, published Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1996, ISBN 0 19 869126 2. (c) Oxford University Press 1965, 1996.

Hebrew, Israeli, Israelite, Jew. 'In current English, to judge from standard dictionaries like the Concise Oxford Dictionary, the distribution of these words is along the following lines: Hebrew - a member of a Semitic people originally centred in ancient Palestine; the language of this people; (usually preceded by Modern) the language of the (modern) Israelis. Israeli - a native or national of modern Israel. Israelite - a native of ancient Israel. Jew, a person of Hebrew descent or whose religion is Judaism'. (Fowler) For Semite, see below.

Islam. The religion of Muslims. Founded by Mohammed Mustafa (570 AD to 632 AD) - aka 'The Prophet' - and enshrined in The Koran (compiled 650 AD from the revelations of an angel to Mohammed. A central principle is that there is one God: 'There is no God but God, and Mohammed is his Prophet'. The religion has fragmented over the centuries, two leading current movements being the Shi'ite and Sunni.

Mohammed Mustafa traced his lineage and that of the Arab people to Abraham. It is said that Abraham had two sons: Isaac, from whom the Jews descended; Ishmael, from whom the Arabs descended. See also 'Semites' below.

Jesus. The international calendar is set to the approximate date of his birth - 1 AD (Anno Domini = Year of Our Lord in Latin). Time before his birth is measured BC (Before Christ). He died aged 32.

Islam regards Jesus as a prophet, and records his mother as Miriam. Jews acknowledge his existence. Catholics regard him as God, and that the facts of his life are set out in the four particular books of the New Testament described as Gospels ('The Good News').

Briefly his life - according to these writings - comprises: born to Mary, who conceived from God rather than a man. She married Joseph, a carpenter, who trained Jesus in that trade. Jesus taught in the temple, and later formed a group of 12 apostles (his close comrades). One of these, Judas, betrayed him to the High Priest Caiphas (from this point, see film reviews above). After his death, he rose from the dead, and re-visited the apostles, before being taken up to heaven (the Ascension).

His chief legacies include The Lord's Prayer, a prayer including an unusally intimate approach to a God previously seen as beyond comprehension; the 'eleventh commandment' - to love one's neighbour (ie everyone) as oneself; and the concept of forgiving one's enemies - at the time a revolutionary idea for a society founded on the belief of an eye for an eye.

Catholics believe that Jesus is The Messiah (aka The Christ) - the coming of God foretold in the Old Testament. They also believe that he'll return. Jews don't believe this, and still await the Messiah. The Pope pointed out recently (2003) that catholics and Jews have this important expectation in common - they are both waiting for the Messiah. They differ only in that for catholics it will be for the second, and for Jews the first time.

Catholics believe in life after death; that the present world is imperfect, and a trial zone from which God, sitting in judgment, will consign individuals to an afterlife with God (Heaven), or without God (Hell). Purgatory is an intermediate stage where punishment may be carried out.

Lent. The period of contemplation and prayer that precedes the execution of Christ. Coinciding with the 40 days Jesus is said to have spent in prayer in the desert, it lasts from Ash Wednesday to Easter. Key dates in this period are Ash Wednesday (people have foreheads smeared in ash made from burning palms blessed at the previous year's Palm Sunday), Passion Sunday (aka Palm Sunday), when Jesus was greeted by enthusiastic crowds on arrival in Jerusalem, Maundy Thursday (Last Supper, Agony in the Garden, betrayal by Judas, trial in temple), Good Friday (Crucifixion), Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday (Resurrection from dead). Back to review

New Testament, Old Testament, Torah, Koran. Jews and catholics share (approximately) the same beliefs up to the time of Jesus. The reference book of the Jews is The Torah, containing all their holy writings. Catholics use The Bible, containing two sections, the Old Testament (approximately the same as the relevant period of The Torah), and the New Testament (from the life of Christ onwards). Because Mohammed traces his origins back to the prophet Abraham, Islam shares, very approximately, the same beliefs with the other two religions up to Abrahams existence. Jews, catholics and Muslims believe in the same God.

Semites 'A member of any of the peoples supposed to be descended from Shem, son of Noah, including especially the Jews, Arabs, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Phoenicians' (Fowler). Modern-day Arabs are thus Semitic, and the term 'anti-Semitism' applicable to prejudice against all Semitic people including Arabs.

Stations Of The Cross. The later stages of The Passion Of The Christ are structured around these. A set of 14 tableaux present round the walls of each catholic church. (There's an interesting set by Eric Gill in Westminster Cathedral, Victoria Street, London - free to enter). The stations depict 14 stages in the death of Jesus Christ: 1 Jesus is condemned to death. 2 Jesus carries his cross. 3 Jesus falls the first time. 4 Jesus meets his mother. 5 Simon helps Jesus carry his cross. 6 Veronica wipes Jesus's face. 7 Jesus falls the second time. 8 Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem. 9 Jesus falls the third time. 10 Jesus is stripped of his garments. 11 Jesus is nailed to the cross. 12 Jesus dies on the cross. 13 Jesus is taken down from the cross. 14 Jesus is laid in the tomb. Back to review

Trinity. Catholics believe in one God comprising three persons: God The Father (the creator of heaven and earth), God The Son (Jesus Christ, who came to earth), God The Holy Spirit (roughly, the force for good in the present world). Each is a separate person, not a facet, but God is not divisible. This, the Trinity, is referred to as a mystery (in a technical theological sense), meaning a concept that can be only partly understood in this stage of existence - the full meaning being comprehensible after death.

End of notes / John Park / 9 April 04

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FILM CREDITS


Cast Credits: James Caviezel - Jesus. Monica Bellucci - Magdalene. Claudia Gerini - Claudia Procles. Maia Morgenstern - Mary. Sergio Rubini - Dismas. Toni Bertorelli - Annas. Roberto Bestazzoni - Malchus. Francesco Cabras - Gesmas. Giovanni Capalbo - Cassius. Rosalinda Celentano - Satan. Emilio De Marchi - Scornful Roman. Francesco De Vito - Peter. Lello Giulivo - Brutish Roman. Abel Jefry (as Abel Jafry) - Second Temple Officer. Hristo Jivkov - John. Luca Lionello - Judas. Jarreth J. Merz (as Jarreth Merz) - Simon. Matt Patresi - Janus. Fabio Sartor - Abenader. Mattia Sbragia - Caiphas. Giacinto Ferro - Joseph of Arimathea. Hristo Shopov (as Hristo Naumov Shopov) - Pontius Pilate. Olek Mincer - Nicodemus. Roberto Visconti - Scournful Roman. Luca De Dominicis - Herod. Pietro Sarubbi(as Pedro Sarubbi) - Barabbas. Adel Bakri - Temple Guard. Lucio Allocca - Second Temple Guard. Paco Reconti - Whipping Guard. Luciano Dragone - Second Man. Franco Costanzo - Accuser. Lino Salemme - Accuser. Emanuele Gullotto - Accuser. Maurizio Di Carmine - Elder. Francesco Gabriele - Elder. Angelo Di Loreta - Elder. Federico Pacifici - Elder. Roberto Santi - Elder. Giovanni Vettorazzo - Elder. Ted Rusoff - Elder. Tom Shaker - Eyepatch. Andrea Coppola - Grizzled Beard. Luciano Federico - Man in Audience. Sheila Mokhtari - Woman in Audience. Romuald Andrzej Klos (as Romuald Klos) - Roman Soldier. Giuseppe Lo Console - Roman Soldier. Dario D'Ambrosi - Roman Soldier. Omar Capalbo - Boy. Valerio Esposito - Boy. Antonello Iacovone - Boy. Nicola Tagarelli - Boy. Ivan Gaudiano - Boy. Andrea Refuto (as Andrea Ivan Refuto) - Young Jesus. Sabrina Impacciatore - Seraphia. Daniela Poti - Young Girl. Noemi Marotta - Woman. Rossella Longo - Woman. Davide Marotta - Baby. Danilo Di Ruzza - Pilate's Servant. Vincenzo Monti - Herod's Courtier. Danilo Maria Valli - Herod's Courtier. Nuot Arquint - Herod's Courtier. Abraam Fontana - Herod's Courtier. Valerio Isidori - Herod's Courtier. Paolo Dos Santos - Herod's Boy. Arianna Vitolo - Herod's Court Woman. Gabriella Barbuti - Herod's Court Woman. Ornella Giusto - Herod's Court Woman. Michelle Bonev - Herod's Court Woman. Lucia Stara - Herod's Court Woman. Evelina Meghangi (as Evelina Meghnagi) - Herod's Court Woman. Francis Dokyi (as Francis Dokyi Baffour) - Herod's Servant. Adel Ben Ayed - Thomas. Baffour Kofi 'Francis' Dokyi (as Francis Dokyi Baffour) - Herod's Servant. Chokri Ben Zagden - James. (Credits source and order - International Movie Database www.imdb.com as at 9 April 04)

Company Credits: Director - Mel Gibson. Writers (screenplay) - Benedict Fitzgerald and Mel Gibson. Bruce Davey - Producer. Mel Gibson - Producer. Stephen Mceveety - Producer. Enzo Sisti - Executive Producer. John Debney - Original Music. Caleb Deschanel - Cinematography. John Wright - Film Editing. Shaila Rubin - Casting. Francesco Frigeri - Production Design. Carlo Gervasi - Set Decoration. Maurizio Millenotti - Costume Design. Greg Cannom - Special Makeup Effects Artist. Federico Carretti - Additional Makeup Artist. Desideria Corridoni - Hair Stylist. Maria Teresa Corridoni - Key Hair Stylist. John Kim - Makeup Effects Technician. Mary Kim - Makeup Effects Unit Production Manager: Captive Audience Productions. Veronika Kostrhounova - Assistant Makeup Artist. Vincenzo Mastrantonio - Makeup Artist. Mario Michisanti - Key Makeup Artist. Kelley Mitchell - Special Makeup Effects: Jim Caviezel. Alberto Moccia - Hair Stylist. Brandon Reininger (as Brandon Ellison) - Special Makeup Effects Artist. Brian Sipe - Makeup Effects Supervisor: Captive Audience Productions. Christien Tinsley - Makeup Department Head: Jim Caviezel. Keith Vanderlaan - Makeup Effects Creator/Producer. Vito Colazzo - Production Manager. Federico Foti - Unit Manager. Sergio Ercolessi - First Assistant Director. Rachel Griffiths - First Assistant Director. John Nelson - First Assistant Director: Additional Photography. Mimosa Nistri Ranalletti - Second Assistant Director. Barbara Pastrovich - Second Assistant Director. Ted Rae - Second Unit Director. Luigi Spoletini - Second Second Assistant Director. Stefano Veneruso - Assistant Director. Wolfgang Amadeus - Music Scoring Engineer. Maurizio Argentieri - Sound Mixer. Kami Asgar - Supervising Sound Editor. Bob Beemer - Sound Re-Recording Mixer. Andrea Danek - Second Assistant Sound Editor. Vincent Guisetti - Foley Artist. Vincent Guisetti - Voice-Over Devils Scream. Scott G.G. Haller - Sound Editor. Scott A. Jennings - Sound Effects Editor. Pamela Kahn - Foley Artist. Sean W. Karp - Music Mixer. Sean W. Karp - Music Recordist. Jonathan Klein - Foley Supervisor. Jonathon Lee - Sound Editor. Howard London - Adr Mixer. Herwig Maurer - Sound Editor. Sean Mccormack - Supervising Sound Editor. Scott Milan - Sound Re-Recording Mixer. Shawn Murphy - Score Mixer. Kevin O'Connell - Sound Re-Recording Mixer. Kyle Rochlin - Foley Mixer. Michael T. Ryan - Supervising Music Editor. Matt Temple - Sound Effects Editor. Renee Tondelli - Adr/Dialogue Supervisor. Tim Tuchrello - First Assistant Sound Editor. Dan Yale - Sound Editor. Daniel Acon - Special Effects Coordinator. Renato Agostini - Special Effects Supervisor. Michael O'Brien - Mold Department/Technician: Captive Audience Productions. Franco Ragusa - Special Effects Foreman. Marcus Andexler - Visual Effects Coordinator. Les Bernstien - Motion Control Operator. Everett Burrell - Compositor. Timothy Michael Cairns - Quality Control Supervisor: Efilm/Panavision. Melissa Carter - Visual Effects Editor. Patrick Clancey - Digital Opticals. Tom Gleason - Assistant Cameraman. Sam Greenmun - Model Maker. Danny S. Kim - Creative Director. Kevin Lin - Digital Cleanup Artist. J.M. Logan - Visual Effects Line Producer. Paul Maples - Motion Control Operator. Bret Mixon - Digital Rotoscope. Ted Rae - Visual Effects Supervisor. Olivia Ramirez - Lead Model Maker. Michael Shelton - Digital Paint Artist. Tefft Smith - Digital Artist. Tracy Thomas - Visual Effects Assistant. Alpheus Underhill - Best Boy Grip: Second Unit. Keith Vanderlaan - Visual Effects Producer: Captive Audience Productions. Pam Vick - Visual Effects Compositor. Mark H. Weingartner - Motion Control Supervisor. Chris Zapara - Digital Artist. Michael Butterfield - Post Production Assistant (Uncredited). Alexa Diaz - Post Production Assistant (Uncredited). Eric Hann - Post Production Assistant (Uncredited). Brian Metcalf - Digital Compositor (Uncredited). Thomas Tannenberger - Digital Compositor (Uncredited). Giorgio Antonini - Stunts. Paolo Antonini - Stunts. Carlo Antonioni - Horse Master. Alessandro Borgese - Stunts. Omero Capanna - Stunts. Federico Ciuffolini - Stunt Double: Peter. Edoardo Finocchi - Stunts. Riccardo Mioni - Stunts. Stefano Maria Mioni - Stunt Coordinator. Alessandro Novelli - Stunts. Angelo Ragusa - Stunt Double: Mr. Caviezel. Brandon Reininger - Stunt Double: James Caviezel. Tatiana Romanova - Stunts. Massimiliano Ubaldi - Stunt Double: Judas. Bruno Verdirosi - Stunts. Claudio Zucchet - Stunts. Massimiliano Bianchi - Stunt Rigger (Uncredited). Andrea Alunni - Facilities Manager. Cecilia Alvarenga - Production Coordinator. Tolomei Andrea - Camera Trainee. Philippe Antonello - Still Photographer. Jeff Atmajian - Orchestrator. Eleonora Baldwin - Script Supervisor. Mickey Beckstrom - Video Assistant Technician. Frank Bennett - Orchestrator. Giovanni Casalnuovo - First Assistant Costume Designer. Giorgio Catalano - Production Accountant. Luna Centioni - Assistant Still Photographer. Giorgio Conti - Assistant Editor: Avid, Italy. Bob Corna - Production Assistant. Pasquale Cuzzupoli - Dailies Color Grader. Roberto De Angelis - Camera Operator: 'A' Camera. Roberto De Angelis - Steadicam Operator. John Debney - Soundtrack Producer. Brad Dechter - Supervising Orchestrator. Alessandro Di Meo - Assistant Camera. Barbara Dunning - First Assistant Film Editor. Alessandro Fiorito - Accountant. Bill Fulco - Translator: Latin And Aramaic. Mel Gibson - Soundtrack Producer. Harvey Lowry - Operations Manager: Captive Audience Productions. Simone Lucchetti - Electrician. Marcostavros Maggi - Clapper Loader. Rajeev Malhotra - Post-Production Supervisor. Paolo Merosi - Extras Supervisor. Claudia Moscatello - Location Coordinator. Cariddi Nardulli - Assistant: Mel Gibson. Andrea Passalacqua - Location Manager. Mark Perzely - Assistant Editor: Avid. Timothy Scott Ralston - Studio Projectionist. Scott Rathner - Assistant Camera: "A" Camera. Brandon Reininger - Photo Double: Jim Caviezel. Silvia Riolo - Production Secretary. Patrizia Roletti - Assistant To Coordinators. Alessandra Sangermano - Second Assistant Video Technician. Dan Savant - Music Producer: Orchestra And Choir Music. Jeff Schweikart - Post-Production Assistant. Francesco Scopelliti - Facility Maintenance. Giancarlo J. Sini - Production Accountant. Giancarlo J. Sini - Production Controller. Gerry Taylor - Location Projectionist: Dailies. Vincenzo Testa - Location Manager. Miles Teves - Visual Development. John Van Tongeren - Score Synth Programmer. Mira Velasco - Grip: Second Unit. Carlo Vinciguerra - Gaffer. Cassidy Watkins - Assistant: Jim Caviezel. Liberata Zocchi - Assistant Editor: Film, Italy. Daniel De Rossi - Production Assistant To Editor. Runtime - 127 minutes. Country - USA. Language: Aramaic / Latin / Hebrew. Colour - Colour. (Credits source and order - International Movie Database www.imdb.com as at 9 April 04)

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