Passion News round up

Loads more articles on The Passion of the Christ including this one from The Observer by Paul Harris:

Who killed Christ?
Mel Gibson's controversial film on the Crucifixion has been pilloried by Jewish leaders but is being hailed by US Catholics as the best recruiting tool for 2,000 years, reports Paul Harris in New York

One thing is certain though: the hype surrounding the film is going to ensure a box-office smash. Experts predict Gibson will recoup his $25m investment on the opening weekend alone.

And this one from The Scotsman by Rachel Zoll:

Faithful sell film with a passion

"When they attack him, they attack millions of people in America," said Jennifer Giroux, a Roman Catholic nurse from Cincinnati who created seethepassion.com "We have watched films concerning the Holocaust with compassion, concern and sorrow, and we just want to be able to watch this beautiful movie about our faith."

And this one from DallasNews.com by Jeffrey Weiss:

Passion or prejudice?
New movie about Jesus' death stirs anti-Semitism question

which features this great quotation from Dr. Leonard Swidler, professor of Catholic thought and interreligious dialogue at Temple University:

"What we know about Pilate otherwise is that the governor was a self-centered thug who would sell his mother on Sunday morning to get himself extra breakfast," he said. "He crucified scores of people at the drop of a turban."

This article by James Murrary is from The Australian is one of those nice review articles which goes through several Jesus films (with a predictable title):

Jesus Christ movie star

On past experience, Jesus films usually succeed, if only because there are enough believers to pack the cinemas. Experience also suggests that the reverential approach is preferred: Jesus the miraculous, the sentimental, the sensational, in an ancient landscape with Roman artefacts and gospel goodies and baddies.

The Passion of the Christ may prove too realistic for those who like their religion sugar-coated.

Finally, Jim West emails me to draw attention to a PAX TV one-hour special to air in the USA, "The making of 'The Passion of The Christ'" in advance of film's Feb. 25 premiere on Feb. 22 and Feb. 24 at 9 p.m. Eastern.

The behind-the-scenes look is meant to help viewers understand Gibson's vision for the film, and it will present never-before-seen footage of the actors and directors at work. The special also will feature on-set interviews of the cast and crew and stories of how the sets were created."