JBAmerican
January 10th, 2004, 03:20 PM
Gibson's film 'Passion' inflames tempers
Director wants Jewish-Christian dialogue, says spokesman
Thursday, August 14, 2003 Posted: 7:53 AM EDT (1153 GMT)
CNN's Aaron Brown reports some Jewish and Roman Catholic groups are concerned Mel Gibson's new film 'The Passion' could fuel anti-Semitism (August 13)
(CNN) -- In reaction to the controversy over his film about Jesus Christ, called "The Passion," Mel Gibson is planning to convene a series of meetings with religious leaders to "invite their dialogue, their feedback," said a Gibson spokesman.
"We are very concerned about this [critical] feedback, and we are processing that feedback, and we have always planned on inviting this kind of dialogue," said Paul Lauer, director of marketing for Gibson's Icon Productions, on CNN's "NewsNight with Aaron Brown."
Icon plans on convening meetings with "eight to 10 significant Jewish leaders over the next 30 days," he said.
Although it's months away from release, "The Passion" is already kicking up a storm over its portrayal of the last hours of Jesus.
Some Jewish and Roman Catholic groups are concerned the film will fuel anti-Semitism. Others, including fundamentalist Christians and media names such as columnist Cal Thomas and Jewish Web personality Matt Drudge, have said the film is "beautiful" and "magical."
Biblical scholars have called Gibson's reading of the New Testament into question, and rumors have floated that the script's sources allegedly include an 18th-century Roman Catholic mystic.
Gibson's company, Icon Productions, has denied the rumors and claimed that a Catholic-Jewish group that criticized the film saw an early, purloined copy of the script.
All this for a film that is performed completely in Latin and Aramaic, features no A-list actors, and is still struggling to gain distribution.
Gibson, an Oscar-winning director ("Braveheart"), has said that the film is intended "to inspire, not offend." He wants "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," he said in a June statement.
Gibson, a devout follower of a Roman Catholic splinter group that believes in a Latin Mass and rejects changes made in the Church by Vatican II, has poured up to $30 million of his own money to produce the film, according to The Associated Press.
The reaction has bothered him, said Lauer.
"It's hurt him a great deal. He has many close Jewish friends. He's worked with Jewish people in his career, in -- certainly in the movie industry for 25 years. He's never been accused of any degree of anti-Semitism or hatred or bigotry," he told CNN.
Gibson is expected to release a statement about the film and controversy in the next week, Lauer said.
'We were troubled'
ADL head Abraham Foxman has expressed concern about the film inciting anti-Semitism.
Most viewers of the film have defended it.
"You actually hear what Jesus said in his original language. You hear what Peter said and what Mary said. And that's gripping. And then there were English subtitles in the version that we saw. And so it was amazing," said Rev. Ted Haggard, executive director of the National Association of Evangelicals.
Nevertheless, the Anti-Defamation League has "grave concerns," according to Rabbi Eugene Korn, the director of the organization's Office of Interfaith Affairs. Korn is the only ADL official who has seen the film.
ADL Executive Director Abraham Foxman expanded on Korn's statement.
"We were troubled ... that it portrayed the Jews, the Jewish community, in a manner that we have experienced historically. Seeing passion plays used to incite not only a passion of love in terms of Christianity, but at the same time, to instill and incite a hatred of the Jews because of deicide," he told CNN.
Some Roman Catholic officials are also troubled.
"There's so much violence that was part of the script, I mean, the suffering of Jesus is -- I have to say, in my reading of the script, to me, there was a fixation on the suffering, the torture, the brutality done to Jesus," said Sister Mary C. Boys of the Union Theological Seminary.
The group of Catholic and Jewish scholars released an 18-page report on the film earlier this summer. Both The New Republic and Beliefnet.com have published articles from members of the group expressing their views in more detail.
"Fidelity, accuracy, and sensitivity were all lacking in the script I saw for Mr. Gibson's production," wrote Beliefnet's Amy-Jill Levine, a professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University.
Contrary to Icon's statement, the group has maintained that the script was obtained in an above-board manner.
Is there a market?
"It was amazing," said Rev. Ted Haggard, executive director of the National Association of Evangelicals.
Gibson's representatives say the film is not finished yet, and critics shouldn't be so quick to judge.
Lauer added that he hopes the film improves dialogue between Jews and Christians.
"What can we build around the film to further Jewish-Christian dialogue?" he asked. "And so we're reaching out to [critical groups] now and saying, 'Look, work with us. Build something positive around this controversy.' "
Lauer did not address the Catholic scholars' concerns, but added: "We condemn ... the Passion plays which led to anti-Semitism, hatred, intolerance. We in no way want to turn back the clock to a pre-Vatican II church that supposedly condemn[s] the Jews."
Even after the dust settles, a big question in Hollywood is: Who will see "The Passion"? Post-production continues, and the budget can be expected to increase by millions of dollars to cover print, distribution and advertising costs.
Moreover, although Gibson agreed to have the dialogue subtitled, there's no guarantee there's a market for such a strongly religious film. Since the last successful wave of biblical epics in the 1950s, a number of films with biblical or spiritual themes have flopped at the box office, most recently Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988), Scorsese's "Kundun" (1997) and Michael Tolkin's strange "The Rapture" (1991).
Taken together -- the controversy, the religious theme, the subtitles -- the outlook isn't very good, said one observer.
"This film has all the makings of a [box-office] bomb," entertainment publicist Michael Levine told The Washington Times.
Director wants Jewish-Christian dialogue, says spokesman
Thursday, August 14, 2003 Posted: 7:53 AM EDT (1153 GMT)
CNN's Aaron Brown reports some Jewish and Roman Catholic groups are concerned Mel Gibson's new film 'The Passion' could fuel anti-Semitism (August 13)
(CNN) -- In reaction to the controversy over his film about Jesus Christ, called "The Passion," Mel Gibson is planning to convene a series of meetings with religious leaders to "invite their dialogue, their feedback," said a Gibson spokesman.
"We are very concerned about this [critical] feedback, and we are processing that feedback, and we have always planned on inviting this kind of dialogue," said Paul Lauer, director of marketing for Gibson's Icon Productions, on CNN's "NewsNight with Aaron Brown."
Icon plans on convening meetings with "eight to 10 significant Jewish leaders over the next 30 days," he said.
Although it's months away from release, "The Passion" is already kicking up a storm over its portrayal of the last hours of Jesus.
Some Jewish and Roman Catholic groups are concerned the film will fuel anti-Semitism. Others, including fundamentalist Christians and media names such as columnist Cal Thomas and Jewish Web personality Matt Drudge, have said the film is "beautiful" and "magical."
Biblical scholars have called Gibson's reading of the New Testament into question, and rumors have floated that the script's sources allegedly include an 18th-century Roman Catholic mystic.
Gibson's company, Icon Productions, has denied the rumors and claimed that a Catholic-Jewish group that criticized the film saw an early, purloined copy of the script.
All this for a film that is performed completely in Latin and Aramaic, features no A-list actors, and is still struggling to gain distribution.
Gibson, an Oscar-winning director ("Braveheart"), has said that the film is intended "to inspire, not offend." He wants "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," he said in a June statement.
Gibson, a devout follower of a Roman Catholic splinter group that believes in a Latin Mass and rejects changes made in the Church by Vatican II, has poured up to $30 million of his own money to produce the film, according to The Associated Press.
The reaction has bothered him, said Lauer.
"It's hurt him a great deal. He has many close Jewish friends. He's worked with Jewish people in his career, in -- certainly in the movie industry for 25 years. He's never been accused of any degree of anti-Semitism or hatred or bigotry," he told CNN.
Gibson is expected to release a statement about the film and controversy in the next week, Lauer said.
'We were troubled'
ADL head Abraham Foxman has expressed concern about the film inciting anti-Semitism.
Most viewers of the film have defended it.
"You actually hear what Jesus said in his original language. You hear what Peter said and what Mary said. And that's gripping. And then there were English subtitles in the version that we saw. And so it was amazing," said Rev. Ted Haggard, executive director of the National Association of Evangelicals.
Nevertheless, the Anti-Defamation League has "grave concerns," according to Rabbi Eugene Korn, the director of the organization's Office of Interfaith Affairs. Korn is the only ADL official who has seen the film.
ADL Executive Director Abraham Foxman expanded on Korn's statement.
"We were troubled ... that it portrayed the Jews, the Jewish community, in a manner that we have experienced historically. Seeing passion plays used to incite not only a passion of love in terms of Christianity, but at the same time, to instill and incite a hatred of the Jews because of deicide," he told CNN.
Some Roman Catholic officials are also troubled.
"There's so much violence that was part of the script, I mean, the suffering of Jesus is -- I have to say, in my reading of the script, to me, there was a fixation on the suffering, the torture, the brutality done to Jesus," said Sister Mary C. Boys of the Union Theological Seminary.
The group of Catholic and Jewish scholars released an 18-page report on the film earlier this summer. Both The New Republic and Beliefnet.com have published articles from members of the group expressing their views in more detail.
"Fidelity, accuracy, and sensitivity were all lacking in the script I saw for Mr. Gibson's production," wrote Beliefnet's Amy-Jill Levine, a professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University.
Contrary to Icon's statement, the group has maintained that the script was obtained in an above-board manner.
Is there a market?
"It was amazing," said Rev. Ted Haggard, executive director of the National Association of Evangelicals.
Gibson's representatives say the film is not finished yet, and critics shouldn't be so quick to judge.
Lauer added that he hopes the film improves dialogue between Jews and Christians.
"What can we build around the film to further Jewish-Christian dialogue?" he asked. "And so we're reaching out to [critical groups] now and saying, 'Look, work with us. Build something positive around this controversy.' "
Lauer did not address the Catholic scholars' concerns, but added: "We condemn ... the Passion plays which led to anti-Semitism, hatred, intolerance. We in no way want to turn back the clock to a pre-Vatican II church that supposedly condemn[s] the Jews."
Even after the dust settles, a big question in Hollywood is: Who will see "The Passion"? Post-production continues, and the budget can be expected to increase by millions of dollars to cover print, distribution and advertising costs.
Moreover, although Gibson agreed to have the dialogue subtitled, there's no guarantee there's a market for such a strongly religious film. Since the last successful wave of biblical epics in the 1950s, a number of films with biblical or spiritual themes have flopped at the box office, most recently Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988), Scorsese's "Kundun" (1997) and Michael Tolkin's strange "The Rapture" (1991).
Taken together -- the controversy, the religious theme, the subtitles -- the outlook isn't very good, said one observer.
"This film has all the makings of a [box-office] bomb," entertainment publicist Michael Levine told The Washington Times.