"Very sad, extremely impressive," was the cardinal's verdict. Gibson's homage to the final 12 hours of Jesus' life was passed by the censors, after winning the approval of Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, the patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church who was granted a special preview to assess its moral content and suitability for children. Similarly, the 1998 animated movie "Prince of Egypt" was banned in Egypt for depicting Moses, a prophet.īut Mr. "The Life of Brian," Monty Python's irreverent 1979 spoof on the life of Jesus, remains banned in Lebanon to this day. Even Lebanese President Emile Lahoud is a fan, having expressed "strong admiration" for the movie's "pure objectivity." Censors in Lebanon closely scrutinize movies with religious themes, wary of causing offense or controversy in this multisectarian society. Since being released on March 18, more than 214,000 people have watched "The Passion," he says - a substantial figure for this nation of less than 4 million inhabitants. We completely underestimated the huge success this movie would have." "It's more popular than Titanic and the James Bond films. "It has beaten all records," says Johnny Masri, general manager of Prime Pictures, the movie's Middle East distributors. Many Muslims see political parallels between the Jewish treatment of Jesus in the film and Israel's treatment of the Palestinians today.Īs a result, "The Passion of the Christ," with its two hours of slow-motion bloodletting, is posting record sales in Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Qatar, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. It's also banned in Israel - but for other reasons. For those reasons, the film is banned in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain. Islam forbids the depiction of a prophet, and Koranic verses deny the crucifixion ever occurred. But it's the film's popularity among Muslims - even though it flouts Islamic taboos - that's turning it into a phenomenon. With the approach of Easter, Arab Christians identify primarily with the religious message. Mel Gibson's controversial movie "The Passion of the Christ," is breaking box office records across the Middle East. I think this is how it really happened," said Nicole Shaker. "It was very hard to watch because of all the blood, but as a Christian I am glad I saw it. Instead, the audience sat in rapt silence, punctuated by moments of sobbing. Gone was the incessant ringing of mobile phones and the loud background chitchat of patrons typical of the Beirut moviegoing experience.
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