watch passion of the christ english subtitles

Rather, while following the basic outline of the passion narratives, the film is an imaginative, at times poetic reflection on the meaning of the gospel story in light of sacred tradition and Catholic theology.Ĭonsider the following incident: As Jesus is being flogged, Claudia, the wife of Pilate, approaches the Blessed Virgin and Mary Magdalene bearing folded linens, which she gives to them. Watching this scene, two things become transparently clear.įirst, notwithstanding at-times exaggerated claims of historical accuracy and fidelity to the gospels from some of the film’s defenders, The Passion of the Christ is not an attempt to depict the sufferings of Christ exactly as described in the New Testament. The scourging at the pillar also stands out for the way it cuts through the smoke of confusion and misinformation coming from both sides of the controversy surrounding the film.

The larger point is that, for the first time since the silent era, a cinematic Jesus is unencumbered by British-accented (or worse, American-accented) English, or by a European romance language, etc. Put aside linguistic quibbles about what first-century Latin actually sounded like, or whether Jews and Romans wouldn’t have used Greek rather than Latin to converse with one another. That the story was filmed in Latin and Aramaic at all is worthy of note. As necessary as they may be in some scenes, especially on a first viewing, when the film becomes available on DVD everyone who buys it should watch it at least once with the subtitles turned off. Subtitles would be an unnecessary distraction.Īt other points throughout the film, Gibson ultimately found it necessary to use subtitles still, some of the most effective scenes remain the ones for which he was able to avoid them. We don’t know what they’re saying, and we don’t need to know. As the Roman centurions flog Jesus, their brutal, laughing mockery and derisive taunts go on for long minutes - and the Latin is left untranslated. The sequence is also an outstanding example of Gibson’s original vision of telling the story in the languages of the day, without subtitles. One reason, certainly, is that it is the most horrifying sequence in the film, more agonizing even than the crucifixion itself, or the carrying of the cross.

Watch passion of the christ english subtitles