www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall 'Passion' film to be released on 2,000 screens

Mel Gibson's 'Passion' film to be released on 2,000 screens

LOS ANGELES (AP) � Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, a drama about the last hours of Jesus, is set to debut on 2,000 screens � an unusually large release for an independent religious film made in dead languages.

The movie, with dialogue in Latin and Aramaic and English subtitles, will hit theaters on Feb. 25, which is Ash Wednesday on some Christian calendars.

That would mark the widest opening ever of a subtitled picture, Variety reported Wednesday. The previous record was 1,225 screens for the Hong Kong action film Iron Monkey in 2001.

Some critics of The Passion of the Christ worry that its depiction of the role of Jewish leaders in Jesus' final hours will revive the idea that all Jews are to blame for his death.

Gibson has repeatedly denied that his film maligns Jews. It has won praise from many prominent Christians including evangelist Billy Graham. An aide to Pope John Paul II has said the pontiff felt the film accurately shows what Jesus went through.

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Yup. Forgot to mention it here, but I was at Regal Cinemas a week ago and saw one of their little 2'x1.5' advertisements for the movie. I know for certain that all Regal Cinemas and Carmike Theatres are showing it.

YAY!

Logos Teen

Hopefully their will be an early showing of the Passion on Ash Wednesday. If possible I'd like to see the movie then go get Ashes on my head.

Here's an interesting update about the pope's supposed comments about this film:

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/20040119.htm

--Tim Cuprisin

Dear Brethren,

For those of you lucky enough to have EWTN at night, there will be a NEW interview with Mel Gibson re: 'The Passion', on Friday, Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. (EST).

In Christ,
Alice

Hey Tim,

Thanks for the update.

Alice,

I can't wait. If you don't have EWTN on the tv, you can view it on the computer at their site.

an interesting review ;-)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0345/winter.php

I am glad I found this theme or I would have started one. My question is, what is the Catholic Church doing to invite us to watch this movie? I have heard from different protestant denominations that they have watched the movie or that their pastors are getting the congregation together to watch it as a group. Considering that this is a Catholic producer with some Catholic actors as well, why aren't we getting together like the protestant brothers to go watch the movie. I really think that this can change people heart, I asked my RCIA coordinator yesterday, lets go as a group and she was hesitant and told me that she would let me know.

At least my family, bible study friends will be going together but I do get dissapointed that eventhough we are all in communion as brothers and sisters in Christ, some other times we are just as divided as the protestant sects. I don't want to offend anyone but this is how I am feeling.

How can this trailer make some people doubt that the movie should not be watched? How?

http://www.thepassionofchrist.com/splash.htm

EWTN have been very positive in there coverage of the movie, and today the host of the show "Life On The Rock" urged people to go see it.

Why is there opposition to the movie ? My guess is some people are just very uncomfortable with the idea that Christ had to be crucified for the sins of the world.

Am I the only one afraid to see this movie? I don't know why I feel this way.

In that I don't watch violent movies or tv shows, perhaps it isn't the subject matter but maybe just the idea of violence.

Rose I think you are not alone, several of us are afraid or ashamed? to watch the movie?
You know what I mean? All we have seen is pictures and stories and some TV movies, we have never seen the reality of how the Romans crucified, how the skin reacts to the wipings and how the lungs collapse. I am afraid of not doing enough after what he did for me.

Maybe this will help:

Jim Caviezel: How The Passion Changed Him

The complete story is below this~~~~~

�It�s Love That Did This�

The scourging at the pillar, I understand, was a painful scene for you. Literally.

Every day when I came to play, when I started to complain of the pain, that pain gave in to understanding as to what this was like. During the scourging scene, Mel had set it up so there was a board behind my back so the Roman soldiers wouldn�t hit me. They were to strike and I could see through a mirror �off-camera� when it was coming.

I had an idea how bad that would hurt, but one of them missed and it hit me, flush, right on the back. It ripped the skin right off my back, but I couldn�t scream because the pain knocked the wind out of me. It was so horrendous that my voice got away from me, quicker than I could scream. I fell over and Mel said, �Jim, get back up.� He didn�t realize I got hit.

But that mark on my back was the mark that we based all the other scourging marks off of and how it really looked. I wasn�t struck again after that, but that incident let me begin to understand what it was like.

http://www.catholicexchange.com/vm/index.asp?vm_id=2&art_id=22093


I personallly think Jesus wants to open our eyes to what really happened for our sake. I saw something scribbled on the back of a tractor-trailor rig today. It said Jesus paid our hell for us!

I am sure there will be many who want go to see this, but for everyone that does, I hope there will be a zeal placed on their hearts, mine included for evangelization. I think there is going to be real sense of repentance and conversion coming from this film.

Alice posted this review by Deacon Keith Fournier about the Passion. I thought it was excellent. If you are not famiar with Keith he first started at the University of Steubenville with the summer conferences. As an attorney, He has argued many very high court cases, I believe the Supreme Court.
https://www.byzcath.org/bboard/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001306#000000

Some of the priest on Life on the Rock on EWTN tonight, made the statement that this movie was to be ENCOUNTERED not just seen. They said it is excellent.

And it is opening in 4,000 theaters now.

Dear Friends,

I will certainly go and see this movie - but IF its emphasis is on the gruesome suffering of Christ, then this is definitely NOT something related to Eastern spirituality.

The Christian East does not emphasize Christ's suffering to the extent that the West does, especially from the medieval period.

Both the humility AND the glory of Christ must be emphasized together - perhaps the movie does this, but we shall have to see . . .

I once did a paper on crucifixion and what struck me was the extent to which the ancient peoples knew sufficiently about the human body to inflict such pain on it.

The cross was a gibbet and the victims were offered as a kind of "atonement" to the gods for the crimes they committed.

The scourging beforehand was a way to weaken the body and to begin the process of the victims' dying, some did not survive the scourging.

I remember when our museum here had on display an archaeological find - the ankle-bone of a teen-ager crucified by the Romans long ago with the nail still in the ankle itself.

Alex

Hmmmm.


The Village Voice reviewer seems determined to make a less than charitable point about a movie he or she hasn't seen.


That said - I don't know if I'll see the movie or not, but ya know, I'm puzzled about the perception that some folks seem to have that this movie is a Catholic movie, that seeing this movie will be good, helpful, or __________(insert your choice of adjectives) to your faith - as if it's some sort of multimedia catechetical work.

Mr. Gibson is a good actor, a director of some skill, and he certainly does not pain the eyes. He is also a man of known piety, although if reports are accurate, that piety does not extend to submission to the magisterium of the Church.
(That doesn't determine whether his movie will be good or bad.)

But I am still puzzled by the notion that it is somehow a duty incumbent upon us as Christians or Catholics to attend a movie.

Sharon