Vie et Passion du Christ

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Vie et Passion du Christ is a 44-minute French silent film that was first produced in 1903, but re-released, with hand painted coloring, in 1905.

As such, it is one of the earliest extended length narrative films, and, almost certaintly, the first extended length film depicting the life of Christ.

The film takes a staight forward approach to its subject matter; all scenes are introduced by an intertitle giving the traditional name of the event (the Annuciation, the Nativity, etc.) followed by the actors playing out the familiar stories from the Gospels. Other than the scene titles, there are no other intertitles.