Much like the Bible itself, The Passion of the Christ is filled with symbolism and allegory. Some of these are obvious and others are vague, so it's interesting to analyze what they could possibly mean. The moon is the first symbol we see. The moon, as well as the sun I believe, represents God the Father. When Jesus, God the Son (Jim Caviezel) is talking to His Father, He is in the moonlight looking up to the sky. Soon afterwards, the sinister and androgynous Satan (Rosalinda Celentano) appears to tempt Jesus. This is one of the creepiest and unforgettable embodiments of evil incarnate. If you didn't see the name of the actress, you would probably never know if Satan was a man or a woman, which is rather clever. This shows that evil can take on any shape. (Also, a man provides the voice of Satan, adding to the unnerving androgyny.)

When Jesus asks if He should continue with His destiny, dark clouds come over the moon, signaling that God wants Jesus to fulfill His deadly fate (no matter how frightening it may be). Then, while Satan is taunting Him, the clouds start to pass, as if God is warning Jesus. Right after that, Satan releases a snake onto Him. The snake, of course, is the symbol of temptation from the Garden of Eden in the Book of Genesis. This is the first allegory of the film. Much like Adam and Eve, Jesus is in a garden (the Garden of Gethsemane to be exact) and facing temptation from Satan. However, unlike Adam and Eve, Jesus overcomes the temptation and stomps the snake's head with His foot, showing hope for humanity.

Another symbol concerning God the Father is the "raindrop shot" overhead Golgotha, the mountain on which Jesus is crucified. One of the best shots of the movie, it is, assumedly, of God's point-of-view from Heaven. The raindrop actually represents a tear from God over the death of Jesus (or perhaps for the sins of humanity). A similar shot occurs later with Satan furious and screaming over Jesus fulfilling His destiny. Satan appears to be on Golgotha too, except it is red with skeletons scattered everywhere. This is obviously Hell, which is punctuated by the fact that the camera is rising up from the location. Conceptually, the camera is coming back to Earth, for the next shot is back on Golgotha with the people taking Jesus down off the cross.

Another allegory in the film is between Easter (the Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus) and Passover (the Jewish celebration of them leaving Egypt). This occurs in the scene in which we first see Jesus' mother Mary (Maia Morgenstern) and the former prostitute Magdalen (Monica Bellucci). Mary wakes up, apparently distressed about something, with Magdalen asking her what's wrong. Mary recites the main question of Passover: "Why is this night different from every other night?" Magdalen answers, "Because once we were slaves and we are slaves no longer." The movie is trying to say that, like the Jews being freed from Egypt, we are being freed from sin by the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The third allegory is between Jesus and King Herod (Luca De Dominicis). Herod represents the decadence of human royalty (especially with that debauched court of people surrounding him) while Jesus represents the purity of divine royalty (he is, after all, the King of Kings).

The white dove, fluttering above Jesus when he is brought before Pontius Pilate (Hristo Naumov Shopov), is the typical icon of God the Holy Spirit. My guess is that the dove is there to give Him strength and courage in His time of need. Conversely, the black crow who tries to peck at the eye of the crucified criminal's face represents that man's damnation and his inability to see the power of Christ. Also a symbol of damnation, a pretty common one, is fire. Notice that in many shots of Judas (Luca Lionello) feeling guilty and troubled by his betrayal of Jesus that he is near fire. Also notice that the sun (which, as you recall, symbolizes God the Father) looks very fiery precluding the scene in which the group of demon children torment Judas and he hangs himself.

It seems odd, when Jesus begins carrying his cross, how he has a complete cross yet the other criminals just carry crossbeams (which are actually more historically accurate). This is a way of showing that Jesus is a special case. The strangest and most mysterious symbol, however, is Satan holding the weird baby while Jesus is being scourged. This could be the Antichrist, since Jesus is the Son of God so therefore the son of Satan would be His opposite. It could also be a mockery of the Madonna imagery, which is the image of Mary holding the baby Jesus. Finally, it could be a temptation for Jesus: Satan is showing Him that it takes care of its children, so if Jesus were to join Satan then it would rescue Him and protect Him. It could represent any or all of these things. As you can well see, The Passion of the Christ is one of the most artistic and poetic expressions of the Christian faith in the cinema.