'Passion' film fuels anti-Semitism fears

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.

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."