http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s682222.htm
One of the most intriguing movie ideas I have ever seen.
A movie in Latin and Aramaic sounds fascinating but I think no subtitles is going too far. Hopefully Gibson will back down on that one.
Rats. Mel won’t be playing Jesus, all sweaty and nekkid. Now THAT I would have paid large American dollars to see.*
Since the film will focus on the last 12 hours of His life, I think it won’t cause too much of a problem for it to be in Latin. Most people are pretty familiar with the story of the passion, aren’t they?
But, don’t worry, if you aren’t, I won’t give away the ending. 
(*Gee, I hope Jesus has a sense of humor.)
Interesting idea, but the no subtitles and using two dead languages sounds like box office poison. Esperanto in Incubus was bad enough, ask Shatner. Why not just film it in Klingon, Mel?
Maybe he could do a cameo as Barabas.
I gotta admit this is gonna take a lot of guts and determination to pull off. I predict critical raves while the public kinda gives a shrug and puts down their cash for “Some Action Movie 2: Electric Boogaloo”.
Jesus spoke Aramaic and Hebrew, it’s believed. Why not use Hebrew? What evidence is there he spoke much (or any) Latin?
Without claiming this is perfectly authoritative site… here’s some background.
One would imagine that the Romans in the movie will be the ones speaking Latin, not Jesus 
The choice of language seems a little odd, that’s all.
If it’s centered around Jesus, seems like the languages of choice, the ones he heard and used most often, and the ones the people who had the most dealings with him would be: Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek and Latin. How many Jews knew Latin?
What, partly_warmer, no Koiné Greek ?
Latin, the language of the Romans, would likely be used within Pilate’s court and among the troops. But in the lands in question a “business Greek” dialect, Koiné (in which the NT is written) had become the “international language of trade”, known to the educated, during the 2 centuries between Alexander and Augustus. So it could happen for Herod Antipas, for instance, or Caiaphas, to communicate with Pilate in Greek (rather than Latin).
Aramaic would have been the everyday mother tongue of most common people in 1st-Century Palestine and a common language with other Middle Eastern peoples, so it’s probably what JC and the Apostles (being Galilean) spoke in daily use. Hebrew would have been the formal, ritual language for synagogue and temple, and probably suitable for making some learned points to the Pharisees.
So if we aimed for absolute historicity we would really have four major languages in play: Aramaic, Greek, Hebrew and Latin, and let’s not get started on vulgar vs. literary variants.
Drat, partly, you are too quick!
partly_warmer, IANA linguist, but I seem to remember reading/hearing somewhere that Hebrew was not the language of the masses (of Jews) at that time; as JRDelirious says, it was the language of religion (much in the same way Latin was to the Catholic Church).
Are there really this many people who don’t know a publicity stunt when they see one?
Hey! We’re filled with righteous indignation . . . or half-filled . . . or half-empty . . .
KneadToKnow, why go to the lengths of making an “art” movie that doesn’t neither reaches a popular audience nor gets its technical details straight?
My only niggle about Hebrew not being more prominent is that offtimes Jesus was talking to temple authorities / rabbis, and rebutting arguments either directly from them, or indirectly from them. The most effective way to answer (and I well do I believe Jesus knew how to argue) would be to use exactly the language and vocabulary that the question was posed in.
But this is just the last 12 hours right? Did Jesus engage in formal debate with rabbis during this period?
Personally, I bet they’ll be reduced to pantomime to get points across. After 6 months in production, Mel will get sick of it, fire everyone and hire mimes. Then he’ll dub over them.
This is going to flop, big time. But still be pretty fun to watch…I predict it will come out on video very quickly…
Pssst… it’s a twist! You THINK he’s dead, but at the end, he comes back to life!!!
I think they ripped that idea off from M. Night Shyamalan.
Hey, astorian, we got a “spoiler” tag for that kind of thing now!
I’d agree, except that by the time you get to Friday morning, there’s not much plot left in the Passion. How do you fill two hours with the contents of a few chapters? According to Mark 15:34, Jesus breathed his last around the “ninth hour,” which IIRC is about 3 p.m. (6 a.m. dawn + 9, right?). Twelve hours earlier might have been the arrest in Gethsemane – at least, that’s one way Mel’s movie might start.
So you’re watching a movie about Jesus in jail, tried by the priests, then tried by Pilate early in the morning, flogged, and then crucified. There’s not a lot of canonical dialogue in all of that.
Indeed, some of the dialogue is mutually exclusive. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, all Jesus says to Pilate is “It is as you say,” and nothing more. In John, Jesus & Pilate chew the fat some more.
And if the flick ends with a vision of the empty tomb, how many women will be there? One (John), two (Matthew), three (Mark), or more than three (Luke)? Probably best to fade out on John Wayne’s adoring centurion.
which I would have liked to see- in spite of his age. But now I hear Jim “Count of Monte Cristo” Caviziel (sp?) has been tapped.
My vote is for minimal Latin, a bit more Aramaic & lots of Koine Greek- in case anyone who reads the Boards knows Mel- AND subtitles! Lots! Also perhaps film it again in English.
I just read the OP link- hmmm, 46 is not too old to play JC. I thought Mel was hitting 50.
I did not know he was offered the Last Tempt role, I know Aidan Quinn was first cast (with Sting as Pilate), and that DeNiro was offered. I’m not sure I liked any of those cast decisions except for Sting as Pilate, tho Bowie’s Pilate was excellent.
Also, in ref to the Mel film, the working title of Last Tempt was THE PASSION. “PASSION” was also the title of Peter Gabriel’s soundtrack album.
That was some seriously funny $h!t there astorian!
