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Peter Bart/Editor, Variety
The precept of freedom of expression often takes a back seat once the ideologues and pedants get involved. Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion, provides the latest and most vivid example. Though Gibson is still editing his film and has shown it to a very small number of people, there already are cries of protest and dark insinuations of an anti-Semitic subtext. …These blatherings strike us as irresponsible. The film, which depicts the final hours of Jesus’ life, was fully financed by Gibson, who directed it but did not appear in it. It is clearly an art film, dark and disturbing.
Some will be moved by this film, others disturbed. As with all previous films depicting the period, some scholars and theologians will doubtless challenge Gibson’s historical accuracy – indeed he is an actor, not a Biblical scholar. But to condemn both the film and the filmmaker in advance reflects both bigotry and a disdain for free expression.
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