Gibson seeks a few apostles

What do the pope and Internet movie guru Harry Knowles have in common?

Both have been targeted by Mel Gibson for screenings of his yet-to-be-released movie “The Passion of the Christ� in an effort to build grass-roots support for the film before it opens next spring.

The film, a graphic depiction of the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus, is set to open nationwide on Feb. 25 -- Ash Wednesday. Gibson has invested $25 million of his own money in the project, which already has become a lightning rod for debate, pitting those who are hoping for a religious and artistic masterpiece against those who fear it may fuel anti-Semitism in its retelling of the ancient story of the death of Christ and who was to blame.

Despite the controversy -- or perhaps because of it -- many exhibitors across the United States seem eager to play it. Gibson’s Icon Productions and distributor Newmarket Films plan on releasing the film to a relatively wide audience in roughly 2,000 theaters nationwide. (“Seabiscuit,� by comparison, opened in 1,989 theaters, eventually expanding to 2,523.)

Even a moderately wide release strategy may seem unusual for a subtitled movie that tells the story of Christ in the ancient language of Aramaic and in Latin, but exhibitors are “rattling at the cage� to book the film, said Ted Mundorff, vice president of film for Pacific Theatres, who is among executives from several exhibitors, including the Mann and Regal chains, who have seen “The Passion.� Pacific plans to show the film at the ArcLight in Hollywood as well as other venues, including, possibly, the Grove. Already, trailers for “The Passion� are playing in theaters preceding “The Last Samurai.�

“It’s really hard to watch because of the suffering and the pain,� Mundorff said. “It depicts what it set out to do, which is depict the Crucifixion as we have read in the Bible. It’s going to be an important movie. I think the underbelly [of support for] the film will be [religious people], but initially there will be so much publicity on this film that I think it will be a broader audience.�

Gibson, who with his partners at Icon has been leading the marketing campaign on the film, has been very specific about who has been invited to see the film ahead of its release. While initially his strategy included mainly religious figures -- both Christians and Jews -- it has widened of late to include some hand-picked Hollywood producers, high school students, exhibitors and, in his biggest gamble, 250 self-described film geeks who attended Knowles’ Butt-Numb-A-Thon film festival Dec. 6-7 in Austin, Texas.

In October, Gibson enlisted Newmarket Films, headed by independent film and grass-roots campaign veteran Bob Berney to help distribute the movie. Berney led the successful distribution campaigns for such hits as “Memento,� “Whale Rider� and, while at IFC Films, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.�

Avoiding for the moment many of the traditional opinion makers, such as journalists and critics, Gibson -- who declined to comment for this story -- also bypassed the ritual of showing the film around the industry while he was looking for a distributor.

And he has not tried to win over any of the most vocal critics of the project. The Anti-Defamation League’s national director, Abraham Foxman, for example, has not been invited to a screening, and it doesn’t appear likely he will be.

Foxman and some Roman Catholic scholars grew concerned about the movie, based on an early script that was leaked. Foxman said he is skeptical its message will be good news for Jews at a time when hate crimes against Jews are on the rise in the United States and particularly in Europe.

“If it is so wonderful and not hurtful or subject to being offensive to the Jewish community,� Foxman said, “I don’t understand why Mr. Gibson is so afraid of us seeing it.�

A selective early-viewing strategy allows Gibson to counter such concerns, by reaching either those likely to favor its message or those who pride themselves on being in-the-know on upcoming films.

Knowles and his band of fans fall into the latter category. While giving Knowles access can sometimes backfire -- he doesn’t like everything -- the Hollywood machine has shrewdly played to his image of himself as an insider with privileged information.

Gibson made a personal appearance before Knowles and his group, which saw “The Passion� after 22 hours of movie watching -- including a screening of Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.�

“These are people who in a million years you wouldn’t expect to see in a ‘Jesus’ movie,� said Knowles, noting that many who attend his festival and who argue about movies on his Ain’t It Cool website (aintitcool.com) are not particularly religious. “These people went to see ‘Kill Bill Vol. 1’ five times. Jesus isn’t necessarily their friend.�

Gibson, who appeared after the screening and spent 90 minutes answering questions, appeared nervous initially, said Knowles. “His hands were shaking.�

But as the question-and-answer period proceeded, it became clear most of the audience, including Knowles, had liked the film. Gibson, Knowles said, seemed to relax at that point.

Not that the approval was universal. One fan said, on Knowles’ site: “After listening to Mel talk about the project with such affection, I wanted to love it the way he did. I didn’t.� His objections, however, had to do with the film’s pacing and what he described as a lack of emotional connection to Christ, not with anti-Semitism.

An invitation-only screening in Rome, organized by Icon and hosted by producer Steve McEveety, included Archbishop John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications; Msgr. Kevin McCoy, rector of the North American College in Vatican City; and the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, James Nicholson.

Although the Catholic News Service reported that a tape of the film had been delivered to Pope John Paul II’s living quarters, it was not known whether the pontiff has watched it. His spokesman did not return phone calls.

Several of those who attended the screening came away with favorable impressions -- with some calling it a “powerful� film of “exquisite artistic and religious sensitivity.�

Elizabeth Lev, an art historian who specializes in Christian art and architecture at Rome’s Duquesne University, attended the Rome screening. Acknowledging she was a “die-hard Mel Gibson fan,� Lev called the movie “a masterpiece of religious art� in the “High Renaissance tradition� using a “Caravaggesque play of light and dark.�

Father Augustine Di Noia, a Dominican priest who attended the screening, said in a telephone interview Thursday from Rome: “I think the whole anti-Semitism thing will disappear once people have had a chance to see the movie and judge it on its merits. There is absolutely nothing anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish about Mel Gibson’s film.�

Di Noia said the film suggests all of humanity is to blame for the death of Christ.

(Di Noia emphasized that he and other Vatican officials who watched the movie were expressing personal opinions that did not represent an official Vatican judgment of Gibson’s work. It is extremely rare, though not unheard-of, for the Vatican to endorse a movie.)

Knowles, a self-described agnostic, agreed.

“The Jews are shown less to be a religious group and more of a political group,� he said in a telephone interview from his home in Austin. “I would say that the Jewish community is by no means shown to be responsible.... It is not ‘the Jews killed Christ.’ It is more about the final lesson of Christ, which is ‘turn the other cheek and love thy enemy.’ It is incredibly powerful.�

Though the Anti-Defamation League’s Foxman is not on the early screening guest list, other Jews have been included.

Among them are Michael Medved, a conservative film critic and nationally syndicated radio host, and Dean Devlin, Gibson’s friend and a producer of “The Patriot.� Gibson consulted Devlin to make sure his film was not going to stir charges of anti-Semitism, the producer said.

“Mel asked me to see the picture. He knows I am Jewish and super-sensitive to anti-Semitism,� said Devlin. “He has been very concerned about these criticisms. And the last thing he wanted to make was something about hate. I didn’t find the film anti-Semitic in any way, shape or form. I thought it was a beautiful film about love and forgiveness and not about hate.�

But there are some things that can’t be controlled, even in the most tightly managed marketing campaign. In addition to the early leaked script, a decidedly unauthorized screening was held last month by the New York Post. The paper, which obtained a pirated “rough-cut� version of the film, showed it to a panel that included a rabbi, a priest and a film critic. The FBI has opened an investigation into how the Post obtained the print, which it since has returned. The Post panel’s verdict on the film: less than favorable.

Munoz reported from Los Angeles; Wilkinson from Rome.