Posted on 09/29/2003 8:25:13 AM PDT by presidio9
Cecil B. DeMille was smarter than Mel Gibson. In 1927, when DeMille filmed his version of the life of Christ, "The King of Kings," he covered all the theological bases by placing on the payroll a Protestant minister, a Catholic priest and a rabbi. Gibson, director and co-author of "The Passion," billed as the most authentic version of the life and death of Christ ever filmed, refused to have the high priests of official religion vet his vision and, the way things are going, they're going to crucify him.
Though "The Passion" won't be released until Ash Wednesday in April, it has already sparked a storm of controversy because of fears that Gibson will resurrect not the good word of the New Testament but the old libel of the Jews as "Christ killers."
Responding to Gibson's unrepentant defense of the film in last week's New Yorker, Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, accused the director of entertaining "views that can only be described as anti-Semitic."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Probably the best compliment he can receive.
I consider myself Catholic and regilious, but certainly don't need my religion filtered through men of questionable morals.
Or my movies.
Don't be such a baby!
Judging from the shrill of Abraham Foxman, he doesn't seem to committed to his. What a classless individual.
I'd have to agree with him on that account, and don't blame him. I do hope that when the DVD is released, we'll have the choice to turn the subtitles off.
I am really anxious to see the movie as Mel had intended it.
So is Pontius Pilate going to be out there in his football pads ? Will Judas Iscariot be driving the gyrocopter ?
And where will the Roman soldier be with the steel boomerang ?
Set in the future, Jesus comes back to a post-apocolypse Australia.
BLACK AND WHITE ACADEMY FORMAT
la. THE WASTELAND. DAY.
Flurries of dust and sand swirl around us as we move
through an eerie, barren land. The only sound is the
howl of a rising wind.
Ahead something looms out of the storm. As we approach
we see that it is the rusting remains of a massive oil pump, set in the form of a crucifix.
The wind drops to be replaced by the voice of a very
old man. This Is the Narrator:
NARRATOR v/o
The vision dims and all that
remains are mememories.
They take me back - back to
the place where the black
pump sucked guzzolene from
the earth...
DISSOLVE.
lb. ANOTHER PART OF THE WASTELAND. DAY.
Out of the dust storm emerges the ancient wreck of
a prime mover and fuel tanker. It is partly
charred, its wheels and sides studded with metal
crossbow bolts.
NARRATOR v/o
And I remember the terrible
battle we fought - the day
we left that place forever...
DISSOLVE.
1c. A HILLTOP IN THE WASTELAND. DAY.
A warrior, dressed in leather and steel, stands on
a hill crest. This is JESUS. Behind him is a strange
road vehicle: two engines and a seat mounted on a
chassis.
NARRATOR v/o
But, most of all, I remember
the courage of a stranger, a
soul warrior called Jesus.
To understand who he was you
must go back to the last days
of the old world ...
FADE TO BLACK.
7. THE MARAUDERS CATCH UP - HIGHWAY. DAY.
A light flashes on Jesus's dashboard, an alarm whoops.
Jesus looks down at the fuel gauge: close to empty.
He curses and performs a miracle, creating a newly-filled
gas tank.
The black-on-black slows anyways...
The DOG whimpers, crawls off its chair and under Jesus's
seat.
Judas overhauls Jesus on the passenger side, He raises his
forearm, aiming his gauntlet-style crossbow at Jesus's
head.
Jesus barely has time to glimpse the road racer drawing
alongside the driver's door.
The passenger - a BERSERKER - wields a brutal,
gas-powered 'gun': the heads of six metal arrows
protrude from a big barrel. This weapon is the
"Porta-pak".
Jesus hits the brakes.
The road racer and the bike surge past the black car...
just as the porta-pak fires.
Two arrows thud into the black car, three go astray
and one hits Judas in the arm.
Jesus throws the black car in behind the road racer ...
Judas, fighting to control the bike, leaves the road...
Jesus changes down and hits the supercharger...
The black car leaps forward, ramming into the back of
the road racer, bullying it along.
Wheels and metal screaming, the two cars approach an
intersection littered with furniture and other debris.
A road rig lies abandoned on the roadside.
Jesus eases back for a moment then flattens the
accelerator...
The black car slams into the back of the road racer...
hurling it forward, just as the dune buggy regains the
highway...
Refinin it they are, ka chunga ka chunga junga ....
Not self service mind you, but a man with your sensibilities ?
other noted Thomas lines to Jesus ...
Oh Jesus, they got ya all wrong, you're not a coward.
Stupid maybe but not a coward.
.... Remember lingerie ???
..... we need to send a script to Gibson.
50. NO MANS LAND. DAY.
The vanguard of 5 chariots stops on the causeway,
just out of range.
Jesus and Judas look across no man's land, recognising
each other. Judas grins, a gold tooth flashing.
The Leper, a comically dressed Roman perched on
the top of the Herod vehicle, waves his arms. The
Romans cut their motors ... Silence.
The Leper announces:
LEPER
Greetings from the Lord Herod
The King of the Wasteland!
The Ayatollah of Rock and Roller.
Camera cranes up to King Herod as he rises in his
seat. His voice is amplified by two loudspeakers
mounted to the roll cage of his vehicle:
HEROD
I am told you wish to take
the gasolene out of the
wasteland...
The SECOND VICTIM lashed onto the Herod vehicle
shouts in defiance:
DEFIANT VICTIM
Shoot! Shoot him! While you've
got the chance ...
The Leper takes the wind out of him with an elbow
to the stomach...
The Jewish kid watches from a rabbit warren near a burnt
out hut.
King Herod continues ...
HEROD
You set out this morning to
find a vehicle. A vehicle
strong enough to haul that
fat tank of gas ...
Suddently, the escaped rabbit runs from a hole in the
barricade and out into the wasteland. Judas whirls his
arm around... thud!... the rabbit falls dead from a
crossbow bolt.
The Jewish Kid eases back down into his hole.
The Leper bellows:
LEPER
You see! There is no escape.
King Herod rules the
wasteland...
DEFIANT VICTIM
Don't give them the gas!
Blow it up!
Judas leaps from his bike and head-butts the man into
unconsciousness. The BROKEN VICTIM sobs uncontrollably.
The Jewish Boy runs from his hole, screaming. He
lets fly with the chrome boomerang...
The projectile whistles past Judas's head and returns
to the KID.
He reaches up and - clunk! catches it in his steel
plated mitten.
The Romans roar with laughter.
The Jewish Kid throws the boomerang again ...
Judas ducks and it buries itself into the head of the
Mary Magdalane.
The Romans are dumbstruck.
51. Jesus' reprise.
Sitting in the battlements, manacled to the post by one arm. Jesus picks the lock on his manacles, straightens up and WHISTLES
JesusTwo days ago I saw a truck that would haul that tanker.
You wanna get out of here ? You talk to me ... and I am the Way.
52. Negotiations over souls.
The camp leaders are gathered over a table with dim lighting. Jesus sits at the head of the table.Jesus
Now to do the job, I need 5 gallons of diesel, a Torah scroll and some high octane gasoline.Pilate's wife (a bitter distrustful Roman matron in toga)
And that's the last we'll ever see of him.Jesus
Think of it as a downpayment.Pontius Pilate
Seems reasonable enough.Barabas
Well, he has to come back for his wheels.
Fade to ditch and ominous music
Jesus
Remember .... my chariot, and all the juice and scrolls and souls I can carry.
I didn't miss it. Her name was/is Sister Angelica and she did a show for EWTN that was some of the best comedy since Chuch Lady on SNL.
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