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Topic: Gibson's Controversial new film (Read 1507 times)

Rhune
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Gibson's Controversial new film
« on: Apr 6^th, 2003, 11:38am »

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Gibson and Parents Criticized by Jewish Groups for 'Passion' Film
Fri, Apr 04, 2003, 04:04 PM PT

HOLLYWOOD (Zap2it.com) - Mel Gibson and his parents are under fire from a leading Jewish group for reportedly anti-Semitic impulses in the film "Passion" that he's directing and the denial that Al Qaeda terrorists carried out the New York Sept. 11 attacks.

The actor's father, Hutton Gibson, gave an interview to The New York Times saying that he didn't believe Osama bin Laden had any role in the attacks on the World Trade Center. He believed the planes were crashed by remote control. The parents of the Oscar-winning director also said the Holocaust was a fabrication.

"Go and ask an undertaker or the guy who operates the crematorium what it takes to get rid of a dead body," Hutton Gibson tells The Times. "It takes one liter of petrol and 20 minutes. Now six million?"

Says wife Joye Gibson: "That weren't even that many Jews in all of Europe."

Rabbi Marvin Hier, head of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, says, "To bigots and anti-Semites, no amount of evidence of scientific proof is ever enough. In their world, only hate matters."

The actor has recently paid to have a church built near his home in Malibu for a revisionist version of Catholicism. "The Braveheart" director and producer, Gibson is a devout Catholic and is directing an upcoming movie "The Passion," which he also co-wrote and deals with the story of the crucifixion of Jesus and blames the Jews.

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Jac-Kuch-ie
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Re: Gibson's Controversial new film
« Reply #1 on: Apr 17^th, 2003, 7:53am »

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Wow. Interesting article, Rhune! I'm total at a lost for words that someone could question the holocaust.

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Rhune
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Re: Gibson's Controversial new film
« Reply #2 on: Apr 17^th, 2003, 8:32am »

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Yeah, I thought this was pretty bizarre...

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Rhune
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Re: Gibson's Controversial new film
« Reply #3 on: Jun 14^th, 2003, 1:13am »

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Gibson Passionately Defends 'Passion'
Fri, Jun 13, 2003, 08:06 AM PT

HOLLYWOOD (Zap2it.com) – For the first time since he began work on "The Passion," actor/director Mel Gibson is speaking out in defense of the controversial film.

The movie, which recently wrapped in Italy, is filmed in the dead languages of Aramaic and Latin, and centers on the last 12 hours in the life of Christ (played by Jim Caviezel).

Problems began earlier this month when Gibson's father, Hutton Gibson, who's a traditionalist Catholic opposed to the Vatican, told New York Times Magazine that the Holocaust never took place.

"To be certain, neither I nor my film is anti-Semitic," Gibson said in a statement to Variety. "'The Passion' is a movie meant to inspire not offend. My intention in bringing it to the screen is 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."

Recently the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops apologized to the director for publicly criticizing the unfinished film and agreed to return all unauthorized copies of the script obtained by its members.

"This is a movie about faith, hope, love and forgiveness -- something sorely needed in these turbulent times," Gibson says.

Icon Entertainment is planning on releasing "The Passion" next spring.

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MzWings
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Re: Gibson's Controversial new film
« Reply #4 on: Jun 14^th, 2003, 10:27am »

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I wonder what kind of relationship Mel Gibson has with his parents or if one exists at all.

That anyone in this day and age would believe the Holocaust never happened or that the planes that crashed in TWTC on 9/11 were done so by remote control, well - it's just amazes me. The parents of MG just sound ill to me.

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Rhune
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Re: Gibson's Controversial new film
« Reply #5 on: Aug 8^th, 2003, 1:14pm »

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Gibson Screens to Christians
Fri, Aug 08, 2003, 09:08 AM PT

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - According to Mel Gibson, his controversial movie about Jesus Christ will "inspire, not offend."

A four-minute clip of "The Passion" will shown this weekend to a group of Christians attending a festival in California, reports the AP.

"The Passion" centers around the last 12 hours of Jesus' life. Gibson directed, cowrote and produced the film. Some critics say it's anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic.

James Caviezel stars in the lead role as Jesus.

No release date has been set.

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Rhune
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Re: Gibson's Controversial new film
« Reply #6 on: Aug 11^th, 2003, 11:07am »

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Mel Gibson's controversial 'Passion'
Hailed by some, condemned by others well before release
Monday, August 11, 2003 Posted: 10:51 AM EDT (1451 GMT)

NEW YORK (AP) -- 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 dead languages of Aramaic and Latin, it has yet to secure a distributor.

'The most authentic portrayal I've ever seen'

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, California.

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.

Looking for context
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.

Boys said an Icon employee provided an intermediary with the script.

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.

Boys and others said they have received anti-Semitic hate mail after being quoted in news reports criticizing "The Passion." Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, said the center has received several dozen letters related to his criticism of the film.

Gibson said in a June statement that he and his film are not anti-Semitic. "My intention in bringing it to the screen is 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."

But what is Gibson's version of the story? His traditionalist religion rejects the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, which in 1965 rejected the notion that Jews were collectively responsible for killing Jesus. The actor is building a traditionalist church in Malibu, California, for about 70 members, and intends to hold Sunday services there in Latin.

His father, Hutton Gibson, was quoted in a New York Times Magazine article in March as denying the Holocaust occurred.

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."

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luci
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Re: Gibson's Controversial new film
« Reply #7 on: Aug 11^th, 2003, 12:20pm »

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We saw the previews on this movie. It appears from what we saw to be too bloody for me, but then I did not care for "Gladiator" either.
This movie is about a true happening and I sure don't like to see something where another suffered that I know is true. I'm sure Mel did a great job and I wish him the very best with it, but I won't be there for the opening!

Who in their right mind doubts the holocaust? Anyone who does might visit the Holocaust Museum in Washinton D.C. Then tell us you don't believe it!

« Last Edit: Aug 11^th, 2003, 12:21pm by luci »

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Re: Gibson's Controversial new film
« Reply #8 on: Aug 11^th, 2003, 2:51pm »

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Sometimes we get offended wrongly this is only a movie subject matter is of course going to stir up people but again its just a movie!

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luci
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Re: Gibson's Controversial new film
« Reply #9 on: Aug 11^th, 2003, 3:33pm »

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...DOESN'T STIR US UP, DON'T INTEND TO SEE IT AND ALSO KNOW THAT THE HOLOCAUST DID HAPPEN!

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Re: Gibson's Controversial new film
« Reply #10 on: Aug 11^th, 2003, 3:34pm »

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are CAPS! needed i did not claim it didnt happen i say it did but it is only a movie and has no bearing on real life!

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Pau
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Re: Gibson's Controversial new film
« Reply #11 on: Aug 11^th, 2003, 6:55pm »

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well... no matter what controversy this film has... i think it would be worth to watch... specially during the lenten season.... Cheesy

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david
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Re: Gibson's Controversial new film
« Reply #12 on: Aug 13^th, 2003, 10:02pm »

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I like Mel Gibson and so does my wife we generaly see any film he is in so i am sure we will see this one

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Rhune
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Re: Gibson's Controversial new film
« Reply #13 on: Sep 18^th, 2003, 11:20am »

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VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -- A top Vatican cardinal entered the fray over Mel Gibson's controversial film "The Passion" on Thursday, praising it as "a triumph of art" and rejecting fears it could spark a wave of anti-Semitism.

"I would gladly trade some of the homilies that I have given about the passion of Christ for even a few of the scenes of his film," said Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, head of the Vatican department in charge of priests.

Castrillon Hoyos, who saw an unfinished version of the film, told Catholic news agency Aciprensa that he would "like all our Catholic priests throughout the world to see it."

Last month, the Anti-Defamation League said the film portrayed Jewish authorities and the Jewish mob as responsible for the decision to crucify Jesus and could provoke hatred of Jews.

Asked about fears of anti-Semitism, Castrillon Hoyos said: "Anti-Semitism, like all forms of racism, distorts the truth in order to put a whole race of people in a bad light. This film does nothing of the sort."

Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center has said the organization had received dozens of hate calls and letters prompted by a handful of private screenings and advance publicity about the movie.

But Castrillon Hoyos said the film "captures the subtleties and the horror of sin, as well as the gentle power of love and forgiveness, without making or insinuating blanket condemnations against one group."

He called the film "a triumph of art and faith."

During the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council, the Roman Catholic Church officially repudiated the concept of collective Jewish guilt for Christ's death and began dialogue with Jews.

The film, due to be released next year, is said to be relentlessly violent in its depiction of Christ's last 12 hours, when the gospels say he was arrested, beaten, scourged and finally crucified.

"In my opinion, one of the great achievements of this film is to have shown so effectively both the horror of sin and selfishness, and the redeeming power of love," Castrillon Hoyos, a Colombian, said.

"It is my belief that if we could understand what Jesus Christ did for us and we could follow his example of love and forgiveness, there would not be hatred or violence in the world. This film will help to make that possible."

The film is based on Gospel narratives and contains dialogue only in Latin, Hebrew and Aramaic.

Gibson is a member of a traditionalist Roman Catholic group that rejects some of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and still uses the old-style Latin Mass.

The Vatican has been trying to woo the traditionalists back into the fold and last May Castrillon Hoyos said a Mass in Latin for the conservative faithful in a Rome basilica.

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lakelady
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Re: Gibson's Controversial new film
« Reply #14 on: Jan 27^th, 2004, 11:30am »

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Wanted to contribute this. I don't have a source. My brother, who is a Lay Reader in the Episcopal church sent it to me in an email. Long but worth the read.

Paul Harvey Comments on "The Passion" by Mel Gibson

Paul Harvey's words: I really did not know what to expect. I was thrilled to have been invited to a private viewing of Mel Gibson's film "The Passion," but I had also read all the cautious articles and spin.

I grew up in a Jewish town and owe much of my own faith journey to the influence. I have a life long, deeply held aversion to anything that might even indirectly encourage any form of anti-Semitic thought, language or actions.

I arrived at the private viewing for "The Passion", held in Washington DC and greeted some familiar faces. The environment was typically Washingtonian, with people greeting you with a smile but seeming to look beyond you, having an agenda beyond the words. The film was very briefly introduced, without fanfare, and then the room darkened.

From the gripping opening scene in the Garden of Gethsemane, to the very human and tender portrayal of the earthly ministry of Jesus, through the betrayal, the arrest, the scourging, the way of the cross, the encounter with the thieves, the surrender on the Cross, until the final scene in the empty tomb, this was not simply a movie; it was an encounter, unlike anything I have ever experienced.

In addition to being a masterpiece of film-making and an artistic triumph, "The Passion" evoked more deep reflection, sorrow and emotional reaction within me than anything since my wedding, my
ordination or the birth of my children. Frankly, I will never be the same. When the film concluded, this "invitation only" gathering of "movers and shakers" in Washington, DC were shaking indeed, but this time from sobbing. I am not sure there was a dry eye in the place. The crowd that had been glad-handing before the film was now eerily silent. No one could speak because words were woefully inadequate. We had experienced a kind of art that is a rarity in life, the kind that makes heaven touch earth.

One scene in the film has now been forever etched in my mind. A brutalized, wounded Jesus was soon to fall again under the weight of the cross. His mother had made her way along the Via Della Rosa. As she ran to him, she flashed back to a memory of Jesus as a child, falling in the dirt road outside of their home. Just as she reached to protect him from the fall, she was now reaching to touch his wounded adult face. Jesus looked at her with intensely probing and passionately
loving eyes (and at all of us through the screen) and said "Behold I make all things new." These are words taken from the last Book of the New Testament, the Book of Revelations. Suddenly, the purpose o f the pain was so clear and the wounds, that earlier in the film had been so difficult to see in His face, His back, indeed all over His body, became intensely beautiful. They had been borne voluntarily for love.

At the end of the film, after we had all had a chance to recover, a question and answer period ensued. The unanimous praise for the film, from a rather diverse crowd, was as astounding as the compliments were effusive. The questions included the one question that seems to follow this film, even though it has not yet even been released. "Why is this film considered by some to be "anti-Semitic?" Frankly, having now experienced (you do not "view" this film) "the Passion" it is a
question that is impossible to answer. A law professor whom I admire sat in front of me. He raised his hand and responded "After watching this film, I do not understand how anyone can insinuate that it even remotely presents that the Jews killed Jesus. It doesn't." He continued "It made me realize that my sins killed Jesus" I agree. There is not a scintilla of anti-Semitism to be found anywhere in this powerful film. If there were, I would be among the first to decry it.

It faithfully tells the Gospel story in a dramatically beautiful, sensitive and profoundly engaging way. Those who are alleging otherwise have either not seen the film or have another agenda behind their protestations. This is not a "Christian" film, in the sense that it will appeal only to those who identify themselves as followers of Jesus Christ. It is a deeply human, beautiful story that will deeply touch all men and women. It is a profound work of art. Yes, its producer is a Catholic Christian and thankfully has remained faithful to the Gospel text; if that is no longer acceptable behavior then we are all in trouble. History demands that we remain faithful to the story and
Christians have a right to tell it. After all, we believe that it is the greatest story ever told and that its message is for all men and women. The greatest right is the right to hear the truth. We would all
be well advised to remember that the Gospel narratives to which "The Passion" is so faithful were written by Jewish men who followed a Jewish Rabbi whose life and teaching have forever changed the history of the world. The problem is not the message but those who have distorted it and used it for hate rather than love. The solution is not to censor the message, but rather to promote the kind of gift of love that is Mel Gibson's filmmaking masterpiece, "The Passion." It should be seen by as many people as possible. I intend to do everything I can to make sure that is the case. I am passionate about "The Passion." You will be as well. Don't miss it!

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