Mel Gibson looks right for movie on Jesus

Filmmaker Mel Gibson, whose upcoming movie on the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus has drawn charges of anti-Semitism from Jewish and Catholic scholars, is shopping his film to a more receptive audience: evangelical Christians, conservative Catholics and Orthodox Jews.

On June 26, he surprised a group of 900 evangelical pastors meeting at the 9,200-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs with a four-minute trailer from “The Passion.”

That afternoon he also showed the entire film to about 30 Christian leaders at Focus on the Family, one of the nation’s largest evangelical ministries.

The latter showing was a high-security arrangement, complete with nondisclosure agreements signed by the participants, says Rob Brendle, the associate pastor at New Life.

Mr. Brendle calls the film “very positive” and says “we are confident the film is true to the Scriptures,” a reference to charges by Jewish groups that Mr. Gibson, 47, has included extrabiblical and anti-Semitic elements in the two-hour film.

Paul Lauer, director of marketing for the film, says various religious leaders have been quietly making their way to Los Angeles in recent weeks to view “The Passion.” One fan is Bishop Charles J. Chaput of the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver, who defended the movie in the Denver Catholic Register.

“I find it puzzling and disturbing that anyone would feel licensed to attack a film of sincere faith before it has even been released,” the archbishop wrote.

“When the overtly provocative ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’ was released 15 years ago, movie critics piously lectured Catholics to be open-minded and tolerant. Surely that advice should apply equally for everyone,” he said.

Scheduled for release next spring, the movie is due in Washington this month for a select viewing at an undecided site.

“A number of Christian conservatives I’ve talked to have seen the movie,” says Michael Medved, a Seattle-based radio talk-show host and former New York Post movie critic. “But two of the most prominent Jewish organizations have attacked [Mr. Gibson]. People are trying to strangle this movie while it’s in its cradle.”

The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith in New York and the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles have both condemned the movie, based on an early version of the screenplay.

Mr. Gibson’s company, Icon Productions, says the script, which was examined in April by a nine-member team of Catholic and Jewish scholars, was illegally removed from the company’s premises.

The committee, the ADL announced, unanimously agreed the screenplay was full of “objectionable elements that would promote anti-Semitism.” They say the film depicts Jews as responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion and death.

“The film doesn’t say ‘the Jews’ were to blame for Christ’s death,” Mr. Lauer says. “His mother and disciples were Jewish. But there were certain leaders, secular and religious, who had serious problems with [Jesus] for political and religious reasons. But Jewish people who have seen the film — who were predisposed to look for elements of anti-Semitism — all told us they could find none.”

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