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Now a Holy Week classic, “The Passion of the Christ” is considered one of the
most controversial films in history, not only because of its extreme and
realistic violence, but also because of the strange “supernatural” events that
occurred during its filming and after its release.
Strange coincidences.
After the two agreed that Jim Caviezel would play Jesus Christ in the film
originally titled “The Passion,” the actor made a surprising revelation to
director Mel Gibson:
“Mel, I don't know if you've noticed, but my initials are J.C. (the
same initials as Jesus Christ)
and I'm 33 years old, the same age Jesus was when he died on the
cross.”
Meanwhile, the actress who played the Virgin Mary, Maia Morgenstern, was
pregnant during filming, without telling anyone.
Lightning on set.
During the filming of the movie, lightning struck the set three times on
different occasions. One of these strikes hit Jim Caviezel directly; he
recounted that four seconds before the strike, he sensed that something was
about to happen. Suddenly, the crew members saw a bright, static light shoot
out from both sides of his body, leaving his hair completely singed:
"I was struck by lightning. The light came down from the sky and
illuminated me. What people witnessed was an illumination of my body and a
fire on the left and right side of my head."
"Five minutes later, Jan Michelini, an assistant, came up to me and
asked, 'Are you okay?', and then lightning struck him too. The difference
was that they saw the lightning come down and strike Jon. All I felt was a
tremendous slap to my ears and a few seconds of pink and red static in
front of my eyes."
One of the production assistants stated:
"The lightning struck the actor while we were filming in a remote area
outside of Rome (...) I saw smoke coming out of Caviezel's ears."
Despite the powerful electric shock, neither of them suffered serious,
life-threatening injuries. According to BBC News, the assistant had
previously been struck by lightning while holding an umbrella, which caused
only minor burns to his fingertips.
Real injuries.
Most of the film was shot with Caviezel's character having one swollen eye,
which caused the actor to develop migraines throughout the shoot due to the
makeup and the fact that he could see only out of one eye.
During the brutal flagellation scene, a post was placed behind Caviezel so
that he would take the blows; however, the actor accidentally received two
lashes that left a 35-centimeter wound on his back:
"His whip extended over the board and hit me with such velocity that I
couldn't breathe. I turned around and looked at the guy, and I'll tell
you, I might have been playing Jesus, but I felt like Satan at that
moment... a couple of curse words came out of my mouth at that moment."
During the Stations of the Cross sequence, Caviezel actually carried the
cross, which weighed about 60 kg. During one of the falls, the cross fell on
him, striking him violently, dislocating his shoulder, and causing him to
bleed from his face and mouth after he bit his tongue. The blood seen on his
lip and mouth in the scene is real.
In addition, the actor also suffered burns on his knees from hitting them
and dragging himself across the floor.
To film the crucifixion scene, the actor spent hours on set in extremely
cold temperatures and unbearable winds. Caviezel began to suffer from
hypothermia, after which the scenes were filmed using heaters.
Unfortunately, filming under those conditions led to the actor developing a
lung infection and pneumonia.
The combination of severe hypothermia, respiratory infections, and extreme
physical stress caused Jim Caviezel to develop serious heart problems. Years
after filming, the actor had to undergo two open-heart surgeries (including
an ablation to correct atrial fibrillation) as a direct result of the
physical strain his body endured on set in Italy.
Conversion of Faith.
During the filming of the movie, the actor who played Judas Iscariot, Luca
Lionello, claimed to be an angry atheist, but after filming wrapped, he
converted to Catholicism, had his children baptized, and had his marriage
blessed.
Father John Bartunek, who took part in the filming, said:
"He asked for a confession. Apparently, the experience had completely
transformed him. He baptized his children, sanctified his marriage, and
returned to the church."
"Everyone felt comfortable talking about matters of faith. Being a priest
in the middle of all that, I was like a lightning rod for spiritual
conversations."
Pedro Sarubbi, who played Barabbas, felt while performing his scene that it
was not Caviezel who was looking at him, but Jesus Christ himself:
"His eyes had no hatred or resentment toward me, only mercy and love."
Another young Muslim employee who worked in production also converted to
Catholicism.
Angels on set?
It has been mentioned repeatedly that those who worked on the film claim
that during filming, they saw some mysterious men dressed in white who
offered advice on how to recreate the scenes. The strange thing is that no
one, not even the production crew, seemed to know these individuals, who
were never seen again once filming was completed. This “mystery” has never
been solved.
The Curse of Jim Caviezel.
In 2003, actor and director Mel Gibson met with American actor Jim Caviezel
to ask him if he would be willing to play Jesus in the movie:
“I want you to be aware of what you’re going to do. You may never work
again,”
Gibson warned Caviezel, who replied:
“Mel, this is what I believe. We all have a cross to bear. I have to bear
my own cross. If we don’t bear our own crosses, we are going to be crushed
under the weight of them. So, let’s go do it.”
As Gibson pointed out, Caviezel was unfairly shunned by Hollywood after
playing the character, receiving very few roles of any significance, despite
having taken on one of the most challenging roles, for which he lost nearly
20 kilos, woke up at 2 a.m. to endure nearly 8 hours of makeup, learned
Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin, and even put his life at risk.
Deaths While Watching It.
On March 23, 2004, José Geraldo Soares, a 43-year-old Presbyterian pastor, had
reserved two movie theaters in a shopping mall in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, to
watch the film with his family and the congregations of two local churches.
Unfortunately, halfway through the film, Soares' wife noticed that he was no
longer awake. A doctor who was also watching the film attended to Soares, but
confirmed that the priest had already passed away. He had suffered a heart
attack.
Peggy Scott, 56, sales manager for two local radio stations, went to see the
film at a morning screening in Wichita, Kansas, United States, when, 20
minutes before the end of the film, during the bloody crucifixion scene, she
collapsed in her seat. Two medical professionals who were in the theater
attempted to revive her, but with no response, the woman was taken to the St.
Joseph campus of Via Christi Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced
dead after suffering a heart attack.
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