Entertaiment

Mel Gibson has always been a favorite hero of popular culture. Since the grim determination of Road Warrior his widely diverse performances have thrilled, impressed and entertained. When Gibson turned director, the depth of his talent and intelligence became even more evident. I like Mel Gibson professionally.  I admire him personally. He is still married to his wife. He is father of seven children. He is a good Catholic and sincere Christian. He is a courageous man of principles. Imagine my great delight to discover that this super star and I have shared a very personal passion. 

Writing and directing ­The Testaments for the Legacy Theater on Temple Square was without question the highlight of my professional life. It is rare that one has the ultimate fulfillment of combining what we do with who we are.

The army of artisans that helped me re-create the life and times of Jesus Christ were inspired. For many the film has fueled the flame of faith. It comes from the power of those scenes. While filming Jesus in the temple — on the set created at the LDS Motion Picture Studio — I experienced a flash of inspiration.  I am cautious not to confuse my own imagination with a seemingly divine imparting of ideas. But for me it was a meaningful epiphany.

It came as a sudden sense of responsibility washing over me. Even now the weight of it pushed up against the gravity of my life generates a source of energy and perpetual force.

The idea came with memorable clarity.

I NEEDED TO MAKE ONE MORE MOVIE ABOUT JESUS.

With reflection I have edited that first “impression” so it is now expressed thus; “I need to make a concerted effort – indeed dedicate myself – to produce a commercial version of The Testaments”.  Not in story line, character or setting but in spirit, impact and feeling.  This “greatest story every told” has been told on film a hundred times and more. But it seemed suddenly important to me to try telling it again. This time from the perspective of the restoration. This time as a fulfillment of the prophecy of President Kimball.  This time in the contemporary cinematic style made possible by extraordinary advances in film technology. This time for the worldwide audience. This time with an emphasis on the reality of the resurrection and the extraordinary events of the forty days following the tomb.

I claim no calling to this great cause. I profess no revelation. Based on my minor status in the motion picture industry I have no notion just how I can ever get it done. But what was it the great architect, Daniel Burnham said, “Make no little plans.  They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized.   Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency.  Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty.  Think big.”

The “inspiration” – if that indeed is what it was – is a private prompting that prodded me into a course correction in my life. The “epiphany” on the set that day — from whence ever it came — prompted me to create a new company from whose foundation this impossible dream — this blind ambition, this unreasonable expectation — might somehow be realized.

It prompted me to stand in the Marriott Center in a BYU Woman’s Conference and boldly announce my intentions. [But then you can appreciate, I am sure, that standing in front of 5000 attentive if not adoring women can so easily garble a man’s mind.]

A concept for the film is in place. My research has begun. I move forward into total darkness with nothing but a compelling sense of destiny. I have even brusquely denominated the project in Hollywood pitch terms as “Gladiator meets Jesus” to create a vivid visual sense of context. It is a story to be told through the impact of The Savior on the lives of a decidedly diverse cast of characters.  Who can ever forget the face of Charlton Heston as Ben Hur receives a drink of water from a Savior whose face we never see?

But this article is not about my dream project or my passions. It is about the passion of another remarkable filmmaker who has done in his way what I somehow fantasize to do in mine. Beyond desire, any comparison between this writer, compelled to be humble, and Mel Gibson must come to a screeching halt.

This brief and personal background serves only to provide a context for my comments about – and my intense interest in — Mel Gibson’s personal passion to make a film about Christ – that bears that cognomen, The Passion.

Passion for The Passion

The Passion is Mel Gibson’s profession of personal faith. It is a vivid depiction of the passion of Christ – the last 12 hours of His life. I have not seen the film. Few have. I rely on what I know from inside sources and the abundant coverage in the press.

Gibson made the film without the backing of Hollywood. He shot in Rome. He reportedly financed the film himself at a cost of $25-30,000,000. The controversy over The Passion erupted before filming began. The announcement that the dialogue would be in ancient Aramaic with English subtitles shocked Hollywood insiders and left audiences around the world trying to imagine the story of Jesus as a foreign language film.

Actor, James Caviezel was selected to play the role of Jesus. I felt a certain kinship with Gibson as I read of his quest for “the perfect Jesus”. Finding the man who would be Jesus for The Testaments was an enormous challenge for us. On the other hand, Gibson was not restrained by a mandate from the Vatican as we were that his lead be “a temple worthy Catholic”.  I trust of course you know what I mean in spite of my choice of words.

Caviezel, 34 at the time of filming, may be best known for his role as Edmond Dantes in Count of Monte Cristo though he has completed several films since. Other characters may be less familiar to all but the ardent film buffs who go to IMDb, track actors and care about filmographies.

The images I’ve seen are striking and from the perspective of a filmmaker, “gorgeous.” It is no surprise. Cinematographer on the project was none other than Caleb Deshcanel who entered the arena on the visual wings of Black Stallion and went on to win three Academy Award Nominations. The “look” of the film promises to be extraordinary.

Mel Gibson directs, writes and produces this epic project with the help of writer, Benedict Fitzgerald and a slate of hand picked co-producers including Bruce Davey. Gibson distinguished himself as a director for Braveheart for which he won the Academy Award.

How I wish I were among the favored few who have seen the film in early versions. Having struggled myself – albeit it a very different context – with the depiction of Jesus Christ on film, I would find the film extraordinary – regardless.

Reviews

In the absence of a first person report I can only share with you the comments and reactions of some I trust who have seen the film.

All of them were profoundly impacted by Gibson’s determined depiction of the suffering of Christ.  The Passion is focused on the last 12 hours of Jesus’ mortal life with particular emphasis on the cruel brutality of the Roman soldiers and the suffering the Lord endured.

Among the trusted reviewers is my friend, Michael Medved. I had the pleasure of meeting Michael as his host for a screening of Legacy when he was visiting Utah as a guest of the church and BYU. Michael has been an outspoken critic of Hollywood [See his book Hollywood vs. America] and a friend of the church for many years. He was kind in his comments about Legacy. How can I not trust a highly regarded film critic who said nice things about a film I wrote and directed?

Here are selected comments from Michael Medved based on interviews, talk show and live on-line discussions shortly after he saw an early rough cut of the unfinished film, The Passion.

It is such a powerful movie.  It is by a very large margin of advantage the most effective cinematic adaptation of a biblical story I have ever seen.  And it’s the kind of movie that’s going to touch people.

As a work of film it’s remarkable, though flawed. Most Biblical movies are laughable– reminiscent of “The Life of Brian” — but “The Passion” is intense, persuasive, and believable. The use of Aramaic and Latin (with subtitles) helps avoid goofy dialogue (remember, “Oh Moses, Moses, you adorable fool Moses!” in The Ten Commandments.

The movie is definitely for adults only. It’s one of the most brutal, disturbing pieces of cinema ever made. The violence is horrifying — but I think that’s an honest approach to the suffering described in the Gospels.

I know of no concessions that have been made or will be made. Mel is trying to make the greatest film he can, with uncompromised and uncompromising integrity.

Of course, there are conflicting accounts of Christ’s Passion and Crucifixion, even within the Gospels. Mel has tried to weave together those accounts to create a dramatic and plausible whole.

I study in Aramaic several times a week, of course, because that is the language of the Talmud and of many prayers in the traditional Jewish liturgy. The pronunciation of Aramaic in the film is wildly uneven. Some of the actors seem to speak the language with authority; others seem to struggle with it and to garble the words. A few dozen movie goers may notice this but I’ll plead guilty to being one of them.

The one thing that’s notable about this movie is it creates a more Jewish Jesus than we’ve ever seen on screen before.  In the past, Jesus has been played by Nordic actors like the Swede, Max von Sydow in The Greatest Story Ever Told.

This is a very Jewish Jesus.  The people are speaking in Aramaic, which is a variant of Hebrew.  And no one can mistake the idea that there are Judeans of every stripe. Jesus’ mother in the movie is played by Miya Morgenstern, who’s a former star of the theater in Romania. 

Other selected guests at early screenings have added their comments.

“It is the most beautiful, accurate, disturbing, realistic and bloody depiction of this well-known story that has ever been filmed.”

“You know, it’s very interesting.  The secularists complained in the ’80’s when a lot of conservatives and religious people were complaining about the quality of television and the rotten movies that were out there.  And their excuse, their response was well, if you don’t like it, don’t go see the movies and just change the channel.  Well, my response to the secularists is, if you think this is such a bad movie, don’t see it, but don’t try to keep other people from seeing it.  It’s a great, great film.” [Cal Thomas – Fox News]

 “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.”  Matt Drudge – The Drudge Report

“The mood “The Passion” generates is meditative and contemplative. The tone is awe. One finds one’s emotions hushed. For minutes after the film ended, the audience at the showing I attended did not speak or move. We felt part of an indescribably important human moment. We had been drawn into an axial point of silence and wonder.  Such is the power of a genuine work of art–and in its artistic integrity, “The Passion” dwarfs any previous biblical film” On Line Review

The Controversy

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The film is not scheduled for release until April 2004, but it has already been a persistent topic in the press. If The Passion was a Hollywood product instead of an independent and personal film, the raging controversy would we suspect as a brilliant marketing coup. What is the old saying from show business types, “I don’t care what you say just be sure you spell my name correctly.” But the relentless attention focused on Mel Gibson’s film is very real and ignited by the kind of passion born of honest if misguided concerns.

At one level the raging controversy over The Passion is very simple. At another it is as complex as the history of the Jews.

Christians look forward to a film about Christ created by a devout Christian.  Some of us remember too well the discomfort and sense of betrayal – even blaspheme – we felt watching Martin Scorsese’s Last Temptation of Jesus, the last major film focused on the historical Jesus. “Historical Jesus” gives the film too much credit. Scorsese didn’t even come close to capturing the truth of the Man from Galilee.

            

The Jewish community on the other hand are fearful that the film will emphasize the role of Jews in the death of Christ and fan anew the flaming plague of prejudice that has afflicted the Jewish people for 2000 years.

Some estimate that there are 2 billion Christians in the world.  Half of them are Catholic. A significant number of them – and many other Christian denominations — recite the Nicene Creed every Sunday including this reminder, that Jesus Christ was “crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried.”

The creed, constructed at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, underwent changes in at least seven ecumenical councils. Reference to Pontius Pilate did not appear until the revisions of the creed implemented at the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD. From that day to this it is the name of Pontius Pilate and not the infamous Jewish Sanhedrin identified as the culprit in the crucifixion of Christ.

Prior to Vatican II, the official stance of the Catholic Church laid the blame for the death of Jesus on the doorstep of the Jews. Pressured by the politics of peace and the evolution of universal eccumentalism, Vatican II shifted their historical focus until Pontius Pilate and the Roman soldiers ended up most culpable.

Abraham Foxman, Executive Director of ADL told CNN, “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,”

It is curious that ADL began their attacks on the film before anyone from ADL had seen it. People who have seen the film do not seem to share the ADL concerns that Gibson is pointing a pre-Vatican II finger at the Jews.

The LDS Perspective – Notes Aside

LDS scripture and doctrine on the subject may be more worthy of ADL criticism than Gibson’s own conservative Catholicism. There is not space to broach the topic here with the delicacy and perspective it deserves. Moreover any discussion of the rebellious Jews who opposed the Lord in his ministry and “finally brought about his crucifixion” [McConkie, Bruce, Mormon Doctrine pg 393], or that moment foreseen at the second coming when “they [the Jews} shall weep because of their iniquities; then shall they lament because they persecuted their king” [D&C 45:53] should only take place a the full forum of knowledge about the ultimate destiny of the House of Israel and a thorough understanding of Mormon reverence for God’s chosen people and acknowledgement of their ultimate role.

Medved Comments on the Controversy

Much of Michael Medved’s public commentary has focused on the controversy. Being Jewish himself, his comments carry the credible weight of inside perspective.

“The argument concerning The Passion centers on the history of anti-Semitism. No people have ever been murdered as a group because of accusations that they killed Kennedy. Millions of Jews have, in fact, suffered death and persecution because of accusations that they were “Christ-killers.”  If the movie irresponsibly recycled those old, poisonous accusations, I believe that people of good faith would appropriately condemn it. It’s obvious, however, that Mel Gibson has tried avoid echoing ancient charges of deicide and has gone to some lengths to stress that Jesus and his disciples, as well as his primary accusers, were Jewish.

“I hope the movie can be viewed as a work of cinema, deserving of respect and acclaim for its power and artistry. I also hope that the ADL [Anti-defamation League] and other organizations can go back to the work of confronting the real enemies of the Jewish people — and God knows we have them. If we can refocus, and demonstrate more fairness and open-mindedness in our response to Mel and his movie, it will be good for the Jews, good for Hollywood and, most importantly, good for America.”

20^th Century Fox, who usually clambers to distribute Gibson’s films, has announced that it will not market Passion. I predict that Rupert Murdoch and his “politically correct” advisers will rue the day they turned their back on Gibson’s passion. and passed involvement in The Passion.. Rupert and his Hollywood cronies may sorely underestimate the ultimate interest – even hunger — of 2 billion Christians world wide for the first honest telling of the story in half a century.

Look at it this way Rupert. Half of the 2 billion Christians in the world are Catholic. Mel’s “core market” is 17 % of the human race. I appreciate that only a small percentage of Christians world-wide have access to theaters, but in the most humble huts of Africa there are VCRs and TVs waiting. 

There are deterrents to wide popularity of course. By all reports the movie is extremely graphic. Michael Novak writing in the Weekly Standard after seeing the film described his experience thus:

“It is the most powerful movie I have ever seen. In the days since watching that rough cut, I have not been able to get the film out of my mind. Although I have read many books on the death of Jesus, and heard countless sermons dwelling on its details, I would never have believed a human being could suffer as much as Gibson’s Christ does. Seen through the perspective of the mother of Jesus, as this film allows the viewer to do, the suffering is doubly painful–for with her, we watch the unbearable scourging, gustily delivered by the Romans at Pilate’s orders nearly to the point of death. The pillar to which Jesus is chained is less than waist-high, so that his back is bent while he must keep himself on his feet. When he is dragged away, blood lies pooled and splattered on the white marble floor. The soldiers’ laughter echoes again at the moment of the awful downward push when he is crowned with thorns. And then there are the thundering falls of the scourged Christ upon his flailed and bleeding back, under the impossible weight of the cross.” [Novak, Michael, Weekly Standard 08/25/2003, Volume 008, Issue 47. The controversy over Mel Gibson’s forthcoming movie on the death of Jesus Christ.]

The movie will be R-rated. The graphic brutality of the Romans and the vivid depiction of Christ’s sufferings will not appeal to all. The film is certainly inappropriate for youngsters – and undoubtedly even many of the most devout Christian adults may find the film too much.

Why Every Christian Might Want to See This Film

It is not too much for me. I do not look forward to the feelings that will grip my heart when The Passion suspends me in time and space and brings me to the feet of the suffering Christ. But it is a feeling I want to experience. We speak and preach so casually about the sacrifice of Christ, the “price he paid for us”, the blood he shed and the agony he suffered. Such phrases have become so familiar to us it is more prosaic than real.

We were greatly restrained in our recreation of the crucifixion during the making of The Testaments knowing that children of all ages would be taken to the finished film. For all the care and caution, the First Presidency requested additional editing to lessen the intensity of the suffering Christ. It was appropriate to do so.

But now as Christians, we have a chance to not only stand at the cross but stand near the painful path of the Savior of the world for the last 12 hours of his life. I know enough about the power of film to catch some preview of what it will be like. It will not be pleasant in many ways – but it is an experience I want to add to my mortal life because I know it will deepen my understanding and increase my gratitude to Christ for what he suffered and why.

For all of the reasons I have explained I will watch the reaction of the world with an interest that goes much deeper than curious fascination.

Epilogue:

According to ICON Entertainment, Mel Gibson’s production company, “While The Passion will most definitely be released in theaters, your participation will help to get the movie into as many theaters as possible.  By taking a moment to complete the form on our website, you can increase the likelihood that Mel Gibson’s The Passion  will be shown in a theater near you.  For more details, please go to:

https://www.passion-movie.com/english/support2.html

Whether your own tastes tell you The Passion is a movie for you, I encourage you to support the effort to bring it to the world.

2003 Meridian Magazine.  All Rights Reserved.