Mel Gibson ploughed almost £15 million of his own money into The Passion Of The Christ after failing to find backers for such a controversial project.

The film is a vivid reconstruction of the last 12 hours of Jesus's life, of which there are four separate accounts in the New Testament of the Bible.

It opens in the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus is betrayed by Judas Iscariot, arrested and brought before the leaders of the Pharisees.

He is tortured and sentenced to death.

Gibson was determined to make the film as realistic as possible.

He said: "I really wanted to express the hugeness of the sacrifice, as well as the horror of it.

"But I also wanted a film that has moments of real lyricism and beauty and an abiding sense of love, because it is ultimately a story of faith, hope and love.

"That, in my view, is the greatest story we can ever tell."

In his relentless pursuit of realism, Gibson insisted on filming in Aramaic - an ancient Semitic tongue closely related to Hebrew, which would have been spoken by Jesus.

The entire cast had to learn phonetically portions of the language, only spoken by a small number of people in remote parts of the Middle East.

Gibson even wanted to screen the film without subtitles, though he was persuaded such a move could deter audiences.

In a particularly harrowing sequence, Christ is whipped extensively, then flayed with an infamous Roman torture device known as a flagrum.

Dubbed the "cat o' nine tails", it is a whip designed with multiple straps and embedded with barbed metal tips to catch and shred the skin and cause maximum blood loss.

Little-known actor James Caviezel, chosen to play Christ, went through six hours of make-up each day for the scenes, causing his skin to blister.

He said: "For day after day of filming, I was spat upon, beaten up, flagellated and forced to carry a heavy cross on my back in the freezing cold.

"It was a brutal experience, almost beyond description."

The film has been labelled anti-Semitic in its portrayal of Jews and criticised for its graphic violence. No major studios wanted to distribute the movie.

Others, however, have said the film is a brave attempt to recreate a crucial moment in world and religious history.

Gibson said: "The Passion is a movie meant to inspire, not offend.

"My intention in bringing it to the screen is to create a lasting work of art and engender serious thought among audiences of diverse faith backgrounds - or none - who have varying familiarity with this story."

Don't miss The Argus review in the Guide on Friday