This documentary takes a balanced view as it weaves its way through the labyrinth of similarities between the Gospel accounts and the iconography of Jesus Christ. There is documentary evidence that the Shroud, venerated in France as early as 1350, is the Shroud we see today preserved in Turin. The documentary takes the historical high ground as it presents the places, the written evidence, the changes of ownership, the various expositions and the first 1898 photograph that changed everything -- bringing the Holy Shroud into the realm of modern science and to worldwide attention for the very first time. The documentary reports on the first examinations of the fabric and the imprint left on it by the body of a dead man who had been tortured and crucified. It describes the discovery of red blood cells and pollen traces, carbon-14 dating, and computerized image processing. The Man of Pain: The Holy Shroud was the Official Documentary of the 1998 Holy Shroud Exposition Committee and was granted the right to use the Vatican's Jubilee 2000 logo. It is the only documentary to present High Definition footage of the private exposition which took place on June 25, 1997 -- the only film to be shot since the fire that badly damaged Guarini's Chapel. This film was made with the assistance of Archdiocesan's experts, and includes footage shot in Jerusalem, the church of St. Catherine of Sinai, Edessa, Istanbul, Lirey, St. Hyppolyte, and Chambery. Scientific consultants to the project were: Pierluigi Baima Bollone, Nello Balossino, Giuseppe Ghiberti, Silvano Scannerini, and Giuseppe Terzuolo.
