Mel Gibson's Film on Jesus Christ: "buono per l'anima, non buono per il portafoglio"

by
Hector Carreon
La Voz de Aztlan

Los Angeles, Alta California - January 16, 2003 - (ACN) Film Director Mel Gibson said recently during a press interview in Italy that his new film "The Passion" is "buono per l'anima, non buono per il portafoglio" which means good for the soul, not good for the wallet. Mr. Gibson, a devout Christian, is having to finance his film depicting the last twelve hours on earth of Our Lord Jesus Christ entirely with his own funds. He has now earned the wrath of Jewish Hollywood and the Jewish Media.

Apparently the Jews are not too happy that actor-director Mel Gibson has undertaken a film project on the cruel and heinous crucifixion of Jesus a little more than 2000 years ago by the Pharisees. They are now making his life very difficult. Mr. Gibson said Tuesday on a Fox News Channel talk show interview that a reporter from a reputable publication was sent to attempt to "dig up dirt" on him in order to discredit him and his film. "Whenever you take up a subject like this, it does bring out a lot of enemies," Gibson said.

Mel Gibson said that his private life, his banking records, the charities he supports, friends, business associates and family members have all undergone scrutiny. He added that his 85 year old father has been approached and harassed. When asked if there was a connection between these incidents and his film "The Passion," Mel Gibson said: "I think there is."

Hollywood has been less than friendly towards Mel Gibson during the entire project. Mr. Gibson has been entirely on his own in selecting Matera, Italy as the site for the filming, selecting the actors, creating the script and funding the project. Hollywood Jewish critics have been merciless in condemning the film and it looks like it will be an uphill struggle in distributing the film to theatres for showing.

Mel Gibson, the Academy Award-winning director of "Braveheart", is not deterred. He is going "full steam ahead" on the filming project that will take about 10 weeks to complete. He started filming in early November of last year so the filming may be complete by early next month. The release date of the much anticipated film is not yet available.

The film "The Passion", that recreates Jesus Christ's last hours from the Garden of Gethsemane to his death on the cross, promises to be a classic. The script, which Mel Gibson co-wrote, is based on the diaries of St. Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) that are collected in the book "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ", on Mary of Agreda's "The City of God" and on the New Testament Gospels by Luke, John, Matthew and Mark.

One very unique feature of the film is that it will be entirely done in the ancient languages spoken during Jesus Christ's time. These languages were Aramaic, Latin and some Greek and Hebrew. The screenplay was translated into Latin and Aramaic by a Jesuit linguistics scholar based in Los Angeles, Alta California.

Among the most important actors in the film are James Caviezel who plays the part of Jesus Christ and the beautiful Italian actress Monica Bellucci who portrays Mary Magdalene. James Caviezel, a devout Christian, is presently 33 years old which was the age of Jesus when he was crucified by the Jewish Pharisees.

As we all know, Hollywood is notorious for producing films on Jesus Christ that are sacriligious such as Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ." "The Passion" is a much needed breath of fresh air. Mel Gibson should be commended for his courage in going against the "status quo" of Hollywood. Let us all commend Mr. Mel Gibson by voting with our dollars at the theatre box office.