What Went Right: The Passion of the Christ
By Shalimar Sahota
March 22, 2012
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Back in August 2002 came news that the devout Catholic Mel Gibson was planning to make a film about Jesus Christ, with some speculating that maybe Gibson intended to play the Messiah himself. A month later came the official announcement at a press conference in Rome, where Gibson revealed that he intended to direct a film about the last 12 hours of Jesus Christ and it was going to be entirely in Latin and Aramaic, with no subtitles. Upon hearing this, most were probably thinking, “Who’s going to see this?” With many believing that Gibson had lost his mind, he also revealed, “Nobody wants to touch something in two dead languages. They think I’m insane. And maybe I am.” On why he wanted to focus on Christ’s final hours, Gibson described it as “the most exciting place to go. It’s also the most painful, the most brutal, the most beautiful part of the whole thing.”
Before shooting, Gibson and producer Stephen McEveety started out by talking to studios and private investors. As expected, none of them wanted to take on the risk, fearing that they would lose their money. So Gibson financed it himself though his own production company Icon. It would eventually come in at a cost of $30 million.
Gibson co-wrote the screenplay with Benedict Fitzgerald, and even he was initially baffled as to why Gibson wanted to do it in a dead language. Compared to previous Biblical epics, instead of going with English spoken in American accents, the decision to use Aramaic and Latin added a level of authenticity to the film. William J. Fulco was credited with translating, and even declared that being a dead language the Aramaic in the film is not perfect. Still, for the audience that largely doesn’t know any better, from watching it you would think that the actors were fluent in it. Initially wanting to release the film without subtitles, Gibson’s decision to add them came during editing. Trying the film with them, he said, “I just found that it was better, because you’re almost forced to read the written word. It’s like an interesting exercise.”
Promoting The Passion of the Christ, involved setting up preview screenings and inviting religious leaders, hoping that they would enjoy the film and spread the word to their congregation. In some cases Gibson would visit evangelical pastors across the US, where he would screen and talk about the film. It was during the summer of 2003 when the controversy went into overdrive.
Since its release, Entertainment Weekly has ranked The Passion of the Christ as the most controversial film ever. One could argue that the controversy surrounding it managed to work in its favor and simply got people talking. Some were already opposed and offended by the film, even while it was still shooting, for the main issue drawing criticism was that it could be anti-Semitic, blaming the Jews for delivering Jesus to Pontius Pilate.
That Gibson filmed what was written in the Gospels didn’t please everyone. The Anti Defamation League somehow got a hold of an early draft of the script and were worried about the inclusion of a line from the book of Matthew – “His blood be on us and on our children.” They were worried that the film could “falsify history and fuel the animus of those who hate Jews.”
In August 2003, after attending a preview screening, Rabbi Eugene Korn of the ADL released the following statement: “We are deeply concerned that the film, if released in its present form, could fuel the hatred, bigotry and anti-Semitism that many responsible churches have worked hard to repudiate.” You know, because it’s already in a book that millions of people own, so God forbid the line be captured on celluloid. However, they were also worried that the film portrays Jews as “blood-thirsty, sadistic and money-hungry enemies of God.”
Weeks later, it was because of this that 20th Century Fox passed on distributing the film theatrically. Having a joint production deal with Icon meant that they were initially offered the opportunity to distribute, but along with protests outside their News Corp. building, they eventually released a statement highlighting that, “Fox will not be involved in the release of the film.” As Gibson kept previewing the film across the US, Newmarket Films picked up on the interest and demand that was being generated. In October 2003, Icon and Newmarket closed a deal that would result in Newmarket helping to distribute the film theatrically across the US in exchange for a small percentage of the profits.
Amid this, it’s believed that The New York Post had acquired a bootleg copy of the film during a preview screening. In November 2003, they thought it would be a good idea to screen it to a catholic priest, a rabbi, a professor of Christianity, one of their readers and their own critic, and then publish their thoughts. Only the Post reader was positive about the film, describing it as “riveting.” The result of this was an FBI investigation into how the New York Post obtained a bootleg copy of the film.
In December 2003, The Vatican had requested to see the film. A private screening was held with former Pope John Paul II. Those in attendance appeared to approve of the film, but it was the reported endorsement from the Pope himself that made the headlines, with his opinion quoted as, “It is at it was.” Validation like this was exactly what the film needed. However, weeks later, this was suddenly denied, with the Pope’s secretary Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz saying, “The Holy Father told no one his opinion of the film.”
On February 4, 2004, a few weeks before the film’s release, the news came that Gibson would remove the line that got the ADL so worked up. However, while the subtitle of this line had been removed, the words are still heard in Aramaic. Gibson said that he felt that the line referred to “all men,” not just Jews, and admitted that he felt strongly about keeping it in because he “didn't want to let someone else dictate what could or couldn’t be said.” Audiences were divided even before the film was released. Given the controversy that this raised, people could simply view the film and judge for themselves. While anyone going in with the full intention of looking for anti-Semitism would class it as such, Gibson defended himself and his film, stating that “Anti-Semitism is not only contrary to my personal beliefs, it is also contrary to the core message of my movie.”
The other issue was the level of violence in the film, as for two hours audiences watch as Christ endures the beating from Hell, tortured beyond recognition. Not only was this expected to turn people away, but audiences would also be put off of purchasing their soft drinks and popcorn. Compared to what’s written in the Gospels, Gibson does attempt to fill in some holes, be it the appearances of Satan and delving deeper in the relationship between Pontius Pilate and his wife. Whilst rewriting history was a concern, it didn’t cause half as much a commotion as being anti-Semitic.
One person who viewed the film before its release was Southern Baptist Arch Bonnema in Dallas, Texas, who was instrumental in the film’s success. “It had a profound impact on my life,” said Bonnema. So he told his wife, “We’ve got to get as many people as we can to see this film because it’s changed my life.” Even though she hadn’t seen the film, she allowed him to visit a Cinemark theatre to ask about the possibility of hiring out a single screen. He ultimately brought out 20 screens, purchasing 6,000 tickets worth $42,000 so that people can see the film on its opening day. He distributed 3,000 tickets through his church and another 1,000 to the Dallas Theological Seminary. With the remaining 2,000, Bonnema emailed a few friends to see if they knew anyone that would be interested in watching the film. “In three days, I had 23,000 requests,” he said. People were also requested to “invite a friend.” The publicity that this created was genius. On the film’s opening day news trucks were outside the Cinemark theatre reporting the story, which spread across the country. Other churches across the US had followed suit and used the film as a recruiting aid. A foreign language film was suddenly turning into an event movie, and as advanced ticket sales exceeded $10 million the film predicted to earn as much as $40 million within its first week at the US box office.
In January 2004 Gibson revealed the risk of having directed the film, saying, “I don’t know if I’ll ever work again. I’ve said that this is a career killer, and it could well be.” The Passion of the Christ opened on Wednesday, February 25, 2004, Ash Wednesday. The film achieved an opening day gross of $26.5 million. Something was clearly up. It reached #1 with a miraculous opening weekend gross of $83.8 million. Add in the Wednesday and Thursday numbers and it had managed to earn an unbelievable $125 million in just five days. At this point, the record for the highest grossing foreign language film in the US was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which managed to earn $128 million back in 2000. The Passion of the Christ was able to surpass this on its sixth day of release. It remained at the top spot for three weeks only to be knocked off by Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead. Interestingly, it managed to climb back to #1 in its seventh week (!), which just so happened to be the Easter weekend. With a domestic gross of $370 million, not only is it still the highest grossing R-rated film at the US box office, but it is also the highest grossing foreign language film. Churches across the world also employed the same tactic of buying out screens for their congregation, and the film brought in an additional $241 million overseas, making for a total worldwide gross of $611 million. By the end of March 2004, 20th Century Fox stepped back in to announce that they would like a piece of the pie and would be distributing the film on DVD.
The powerful effect it was having on its audience also made headlines, and wasn’t just moving them to go to church or read a Bible. The Passion of the Christ carries a death toll, with two people having died from heart attacks when viewing the film. However, the most unusual story concerns Dan Leach, a 21-year-old Texan man who was so moved after seeing the film that he felt remorse and confessed to having murdered his 19-year-old pregnant girlfriend. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
I viewed the film on its opening day. Weirdly three people got up and left within the first five minutes (I can only assume that they don’t like subtitles). There were frequent gasps and shrieks. I had to go a little out of my way to see it, for my local multiplex where I was working at the time decided not to pick the film up (the general manager there recounted to me what happened when The Last Temptation of Christ opened, and he was worried that there would be a similar occurrence). The decision backfired when (boosted by preview screenings) the film reached #1.
Gibson said that the film was meant to “inspire, not offend,” and that his intention was “to create a lasting work of art and engender serious thought among audiences of diverse faith backgrounds.” As proof of the film’s lasting impact; when reading the words, “And they crucified him,” for anyone that has viewed the film, it is the images from Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ that now come to mind. It’s probably the most accurate portrayal of Christ’s final hours that we’ll ever see; that is until someone decides to remake it in 3D.