Gibson film in private screening

By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Religion & Ethics Writer

Mel Gibson, right, directs Jim Caviezel on the set of Gibson's controversial movie, "The Passion of the Christ." Associated Press

Organized by Hawaiian Island Ministries, which includes various Christian denominations, the movie came to Hawai'i at the request of the Rev. Dan Chun, senior pastor at First Presbyterian and founder of HIM.

Movie spokesman Paul Lauer, who set up the screening with Debbie Galloway for Icon Productions, said he "felt the aloha" from the audience, made up of HIM members, representatives of the Hawai'i film industry and surfers.

Peter King, a Los Angeles surfer who had previewed the movie earlier, convinced Lauer that surfers would be interested and went about inviting a few dozen of his closest Hawai'i board friends to come.

The guest list had to be approved in advance, and Chun said all those who viewed the movie were asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. But despite the agreement, several audience members endorsed the film after its screening Thursday night.

It has drawn criticism. The Associated Press quoted Sister Mary C. Boys, a Catholic professor at the Union Theological Seminary who read an early draft of the script, saying she worried Gibson will attract millions to see a violent, bloody recounting of the crucifixion that portrays Jews as a frenzied mob eager to watch Jesus die: "For too many years, Christians have accused Jews of being Christ-killers and used that charge to rationalize violence. This is our fear."

Boys and others on a committee of nine Christian and Jewish scholars that reviewed the script said Gibson may have been skewing public opinion by screening the film primarily for conservatives. Gibson pulled it from a Vatican-sponsored film festival, saying it was unfinished, though Pope John Paul II recently previewed it.

Gibson, a member of an ultraconservative Catholic movement that rejects the Vatican's authority, said the film is faithful to the account of the crucifixion in the four Gospels and is meant "to inspire, not offend," according to AP. He spent nearly $30 million of his own money to produce, co-write and direct the movie, starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene. Filmed entirely in the languages of Aramaic and Latin, it is to open nationwide on Feb. 25.

As Rev. Lane Akiona reached for posters to take back to St. Patrick Church, Isabelita Castillo said she "loved" it, adding: "I would love the younger generation to see this movie. If you see it, you're more compassionate, more forgiving."

Correction: Mel Gibson's comments in a previuos version of this story were not attributed to The Associated Press.