CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

The Passion of the Christ

2004 film directed by Mel Gibson

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 18, 2026
Entity authorityQ51668 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film co-produced and directed by Mel Gibson from a screenplay he wrote with Benedict Fitzgerald. It is the first installment of The Passion of the Christ film series. The film stars Jim Caviezel as Jesus, Maia Morgenstern as his mother Mary, and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene. It depicts the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus, largely according to the canonical gospels as well as additional accounts such as the purported mystical visions by Anne Catherine Emmerich and the Friday of Sorrows.

The film primarily covers the final twelve hours before Jesus Christ's death, known as "the Passion". It begins with the Agony in the Garden of Olives (i.e., Gethsemane), continues with the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, the Flagellation of Christ, the suffering of Mary as prophesied by Simeon, the crucifixion and death of Jesus, and ends with a brief depiction of his resurrection. The narrative is interspersed with moments in Jesus's life, such as the Last Supper and the Sermon on the Mount, and moments of Jesus' early life. The film was mostly shot in Italy. The dialogue is entirely in reconstructed Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin. Although Gibson was initially against it, the film is subtitled.

Editorial summary

“The Passion of the Christ” enters the record as 2004 film directed by Mel Gibson. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Passion, Christ and film can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2004—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—2004-02-25, 2004-04-02, 2004-03-18, 2004-03-05—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Passion, Christ and film.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“The Passion of the Christ” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Passion, Christ and film provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q51668. VIAF identifies the subject as 214775930. The Library of Congress control number is n2004040004. 8 of 8 selected statements include explicit references; 5 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2004.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Passion of the Christ”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Passion of the Christ primary sources, The Passion of the Christ archive and Passion research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Passion of the Christ”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “The Passion of the Christ” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.