Mel Gibson screens crucifixion film for friendly eyes only

NEW YORK -- Those who have seen Mel Gibson's film about the final hours of Jesus Christ have called it beautiful, magical, a great and important work.

Those who fear "The Passion" could fuel anti-Semitism, however, until now hadn't been allowed to see the film. Seven months before its release, this extraordinary vanity project is stirring passions over Gibson's exclusionary screenings and the potential for a negative depiction of Jews.

On Friday, it was shown in Houston to an audience that included for the first time an official from the Anti-Defamation League, which fights anti-Semitism. Audience members signed confidentiality agreements before attending the screening.

"We still have grave concerns," Rabbi Eugene Korn, director of the ADL's Office of Interfaith Affairs in New York, told the Houston Chronicle in Saturday's editions.

Not just Jews are concerned -- the film was first questioned by a nine-member panel that included Christians. Gibson is a member of an ultraconservative Catholic movement which rejects the Vatican's authority over the Catholic church.

Gibson has said the film is faithful to the account of the crucifixion in the four Gospels and is meant "to inspire, not offend."

The star of the blockbuster "Lethal Weapon" movies and Oscar-winning director of "Braveheart" has spent nearly $30 million of his own money to produce, co-write and direct "The Passion," starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene. Filmed entirely in the languages of Aramaic and Latin, it has yet to secure a distributor.

In recent weeks, the actor-director had been building support with invitation-only screenings for film industry insiders, conservative commentators, evangelical Christians and sympathetic Jews.

Trailers of the two-hour movie have turned up on some Web sites. A 4 1/2-minute preview was shown Friday for thousands of people attending a Christian festival at Anaheim, Calif.

Seen by strict scholars

Ted Haggard, president of the National Evangelical Association, saw a screening in late June with about 30 evangelical scholars. The scholars are very strict about adherence to scripture, so Gibson "had no assurances that we would be friendly toward that movie."

But Haggard loved it. "I thought it was the most authentic portrayal I've ever seen."

Cal Thomas, a conservative syndicated columnist, called the film "the most beautiful, accurate, disturbing, realistic and bloody depiction of this well-known story that has ever been filmed."

Internet personality Matt Drudge told MSNBC: "It depicts a clash between Jesus and those who crucified him and speaking as a Jew, I thought it was a magical film that showed the perils of life on earth."

But critics of "The Passion" -- who have not seen the film -- worry that the popular Hollywood superstar will attract millions to see a violent, bloody recounting of the crucifixion that portrays Jews as a frenzied mob eager to watch Jesus die.

"For too many years, Christians have accused Jews of being Christ-killers and used that charge to rationalize violence," said Sister Mary C. Boys, a Catholic professor at the Union Theological Seminary who read an early draft of the script. "This is our fear."

Boys and others on a committee of nine Christian and Jewish scholars that reviewed the script said Gibson may have been skewing public opinion by screening the film primarily for conservatives.

Paul Lauer, marketing director for Gibson's Icon Productions company, said the committee obtained a stolen, outdated script that is completely different from the rough cut of the film being screened. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued an apology this spring after learning a staff member had obtained a draft, and the script was returned.

While Gibson said "The Passion" will be the most authentic account ever of the crucifixion, Boys said the script she read presented the Jews as more culpable for Christ's death than the Romans who executed him.

It only recounts the last 12 hours of Christ's life, she said, and therefore lacks the context to explain the Jews' portrayal.

"It seems to me that the film looked on Jews as antagonists, Jesus as this perfect victim," she said.

Meanwhile, film industry observers are wondering whether this film can find an audience.

Lauer said the film has not sought a distributor, but that at least three major studios are interested. Also, although the recent screenings have included English subtitles, Icon hasn't decided whether to include them in a major release.

"I don't know that he will be able to find a studio that will distribute this," said Kim Masters, a film columnist for Esquire Magazine.

Masters said industry people who have seen the film respect its quality, but said it is disturbingly graphic.

"It's not a family film, from what I understand," she said. "It's a really difficult film."