Mel Gibsons 'The Passion'
 

I was flipping through channels today and I saw Matt Drudge (I think its Matt?) on some show on MSNBC. Apparently he and others in the press got a special viewing of the Passion. I'm sure this movie has been discussed here in the past so I won't go into specifics again...

Anyways, Drudge was very praising of the movie. He said that it was one of the best and most unique movies he had seen ever. He said that it was remarkable that during a summer day in DC all these men walked out of the theater *drenched* in tears.

I'm not religious myself, and was sceptical of the movie... However I will definitely have to be seeing it - and admittedly I'll probably have to bring some tissues myself now too...

I can't wait for this to come out. I hope it is controversial as all hell and pisses everyone off.

It's all in the native tounge right w/ no subtitles I believe. I've been reading more and more about it in the last few weeks and do think it to be worth watching.

Last I heard, Mel did agree to subtitle this Latin/Aramaic film. And it's already stirring up the controversy! Jewish groups all over are rallying about this being "anti-semetic". Just yesterday, 20th Century Fox dropped out of the running to distribute The Passion because of the controversy. They had rights of first refusal.

While I'm not a huge Mel fan, I'm really looking forward to this. It finally sounds like we'll be able to watch a *gasp* unique film!

I have been looking forward to this since I first heard about it. I saw the trailer just recently and it look amazing.

Peace.

I heard some people calling Mel an anti-semite already 'round here.
Most don't even know why. If you ask them, they'll say: "Well didn't he do this and that?", and show utter cluelesness. If you dig deeper, you may realize that they heard, from someone who heard from someone else, about a movie he didn't yet (as it wasn't released, yet) see that's supposed to be anti-semitic.

I'd like to see this one too, but I'm afraid it'll be hard to find a screening with this kind of rep being thrown around.

I must admit had not heard of this after reading comments looking around net for details, will look out for this one.

I have also heard about this one. I'm blown away that people can go after Mel Gibson for being an antisemite without even seeing the movie themselves. I will definately be checking it out when it comes out.

I think that every time a Jewish group says this should not be released, a new anti-semite is born in the world. I'm not sure The Passion will work as effectively, although I haven't seen it - so maybe their worrying is justified.

Anyways, now that Jews have Israel, they shouldn't be so worried about anti-semitism. They can move there and be safe.

My family did that, and look how well I turned out :).

I heard about the un-subtitled version....I mean what was the point of that supposed to be? Making a film that pretty much nobody would be able to understand?
That's just being elitest for the sake of being elitest IMHO.

I wasn't aware they had decided to insert subtitles. I suppose its for the best. I wouldn't say it would have been elitest without - just eccentric. :p

The anti-Semitism issue is really a shame. We will all have to wait and see for ourselves.

Basically what i've heard is that the movie will incite renewed dislike for Jews since they were responsible for Jesus' death, and not that the movie is inherently anti-semetic itself.

well, the jews weren't responsible for jesus' death. if you read up on mel a little, you'll find that he's a member of a small sect of christianity that does not recognize the 1962 (67?) meeting (i can't remember what it was called, i'm sure someone will be able to) where the pope and other religious leaders agreed that the jews were not responsible and that that was just old propaganda.

I thought Gibson was a straight up Catholic.

I think the point of that meeting was that Jews should not receive blame or hate for the happenings of the past.

But it was Jewish eldars and such that wanted Jesus arrested, as he threatened their hold of the people. At least from what I know of the bible, Pilot wanted no part in it, and the Jews wanted Barabas out and so forth, and yelled Crucify him etc. I didn't think this is simply propaganda that was made up for anti-semetic reasons - since its all in the Bible is it not?

this is when i really wish i had my old class notes and such... i took a class on the holocaust 4 years ago. we started the class talking about the roots of antisemitism. one of the things we were told (i may be able to find the book even, although doubtful) that the "myth" of the jews ordering his death did not surface until around the same time that the church was established and the bible codified in rome. that's around 300 AD. one of the main reasons for the story being started (along with other such antisemitic propaganda like the Blood Libel) was because it was rare for Jews to convert to christianity or any other faith. even if it meant their death, most jews wouldn't convert. it was used to try to persuade them to convert by making non-jews have a reason to hate them, etc.

but believe what you want. we all do.

Oh ic, I had not heard that theory before.

I'm not religious so I'm not going to be bothered with it either way.:)

Not necessarily - ever seen <i>Quest for Fire?</i>

BTW, in case you haven't seen the trailer yet you can view it here, with QuickTime.

http://www.themoviebox.net/trailers/...ion_tr_med.htm

Jewish gorups have said that they had been receiving ant-semitic correspondence because of this movie but I'm pretty sure those people were ant-semites to begin with. >:(

Watched the trailer, I think this movie could be cool. It kind of reminds me of "Life of Brian" more than any other biblical movie though. Hopefully it's not overly melodramatic.

I don't see why modern Jews think this movie, which will portray VERY ancient and VERY different Jews, will be anti-semetic. It will just tell the story as good as we know it. Should the movies portray Catholics in a good light in movies about the Spanish Inquisition? Should we show all Nazis in WW2 to be nice as to not affend the Germans of today?

First off, I'm Jewish, and I look forward to seeing the movie.

Secondly, Four Fingers, how the hell can you say that anti-semitism is not an issue? That is one of the most uneducated responses I've seen here on TFP. We are subject to anti-semitism on a daily basis, it is all around us. Open your eyes or turn on your TV. Also, move to Israel and be safe??? Do you own a television or ever read a newspaper? I have a 15 year old cousin who was seriously wounded by a suicide bomber last March in Tel Aviv. Does that sound safe to you? We do not HAVE Israel yet, despite it being our land. The Palestinians with their cowardly scare-tactics make it an exceedingly dangerous place to live, so why don't you try to get informed before making such a brash, ridiculous generalization about the state of modern-Jews.

let me see if i can put it in perspective for you. first, understand that jews do not believe that we (read: jews of that time period) are responsible for his death. we view it as nothing more than anti-semetic propaganda like the blood libel. as i said in a previoius post, the sect of xtianity that mel's a member of disregards that 1960-something conference were the pope (and i think other christian leaders, although not sure) said that the jews were not responsible.

so keeping that stuff in mind, if someone made a movie about iraqis saying that they were responsible for planning and executing the WTC-air plane penetration, would iraqis have a right to be upset? knowing that many people in america already think it's true, even though it isn't, it will reinforce the idea in the minds of people (especially the "less inquisitive") and heighten anti-iraqis sentiments in america.

the hulabaloo (did i spell that right?) isn't about being portrayed in a negitive light. jews are portrayed as their stereotypes often in tv and movies, and no one really complains. it's that they feel that they are being blamed for something that they are not responsible for (and in this case it's a really touchy subject). and that by being falsely portrayed, it will have a negitive impact on american-jewish life.

hmmm...i wonder if this is one of those beautiful movies that is unbearable to watch

Certainly sounds like it, whether you're religious or not, the visuals look very disturbing, but not in some cheesy Thriller type of way of course...

The preview posted above reminds me a lot of Braveheart. The scenes with the torture type situation, and then Mary walking through the crowd hooded. It really was a striking similarity to me - but Braveheart was fantastic, and similarities certainly won't be damning to the quality of the film (in that specific case at least).