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When talking about making The Passion of the Christ, actor and director Mel Gibson often sounds like his character Graham Hess in the 2002 thriller Signs. The two-time Oscar winner played a disgruntled priest who described two groups of people: those who see God's hand leading them and those who believe only in chance. Hess asks: "Are you the kind to see signs?"

Gibson does. "There are signals. They are as clear as traffic lights. They just grab you and you know you have to listen and you have to follow," Gibson told The New Yorker last fall. He told another reporter that while making his Jesus movie, "a lot of signs shoved me in the right direction. I just had to do this and I have to roll with it even if it's painful at times. But it's like childbirth—[the vision] had to work itself out."

The Passion of the Christ opened in theaters on February 25, Ash Wednesday. Many respected evangelical leaders have hailed the film as a groundbreaking triumph. In its first five days, the film earned $125.5 million dollars—making it the third most successful five-day opening in history. Evangelist Billy Graham said he was "moved to tears" by the movie. "I doubt if there has ever been a more graphic and moving presentation of Jesus' death and resurrection," Graham added.

But not everyone is praising the film. For more than a year, Gibson and his movie have been the subject of heated debate over criticism of anti-Semitism, historical inaccuracy, and Gibson's own faith. The controversy has revealed Gibson as a messy but passionate believer who adamantly felt called by God to film a bold, graphic, and realistic vision of Christ's last 12 hours on earth.

	"I got to a desperate place. And I just hit my knees. I had to use [Christ's] wounds to heal my wounds."—Mel Gibson

While much of the debate over The Passion of the Christ has centered on Gibson's interpretation of the Gospels, the controversy really starts with his beliefs. A lifelong Catholic who once considered the priesthood, Gibson has long been maligned in the press for conservative views against abortion, birth control, and homosexuality. Though he has earned the support of evangelicals in the promotion of his movie, Gibson adheres to a traditionalist, pre-Vatican II Catholicism that firmly distances his theology from that of Protestants—and even mainstream Catholics.

Gibson often rubs his critics the wrong way because he is notoriously outspoken and brash. He swears frequently, isn't politically correct, and once even threatened the life of a reporter's dog.

"The thing you have to understand is the distance between Mel's heart and mouth is greater than between his imagination and his mouth," Paul Lauer, Gibson's marketing man, told The New Yorker. "He is an artist, and [when] his creative energy kicks in, he comes out with these imaginative, wild things."

By His wounds …
Despite rough edges, Gibson is a passionate believer who has truly been changed by the Cross. He has built his own chapel in Malibu, California, called Holy Family. And several of his films of the last decade—Man Without a Face (1993), We Were Soldiers (2002), and Signs—have had a spiritual focus.

In interviews, the 48-year-old star has connected his faith journey over the last 12 years with leading him to make The Passion of the Christ. Gibson says as a young adult, he grew distant from God. When he was 35, he had a crisis of faith and no longer knew what he was living for. "I got to a desperate place," Gibson told The New Yorker. "And I just hit my knees. I had to use [Christ's] wounds to heal my wounds."

Gibson became obsessed with what the Incarnation meant for him personally. For years, he intensely meditated on Jesus' crucifixion. He told The Sydney Morning Herald that "a closer investigation of the gospels, of the story, of the whole piece, was demanded of me."

One of the questions that seems to drive Gibson is why God would care for unworthy men—let alone send His Son to die for them. "For some reason, we're important in this thing," he told The New Yorker. "We're a bunch of … idiots and failures and creeps. But we're called to the divine; we're called to be better than our nature would have us be. I don't understand it."

Gibson says he felt led by God to make The Passion of the Christ. He also hopes it will change lives. But perhaps the film can best be seen as Gibson's very personal effort to better grasp the Incarnation and Crucifixion. "What I am seeking is a deeper understanding of this event," Gibson told EWTN's The World Over Live. "One of my gifts is one of imagery. So I began to imagine: What was this like really?"

To the foot of the cross
As evidenced by his Oscar-winning directorial debut with 1999's Braveheart, another one of Gibson's gifts is depicting graphic brutality. This could also be the means by which he best comprehends. Therefore, it makes sense that in an attempt to better understand the Crucifixion, he would focus on its violence. He feels no Jesus film has yet to properly capture the delicate balance between the horror and beauty of Christ's sacrifice. Gibson didn't want an ethereal depiction; he wanted to transport viewers to the foot of the cross.

Gibson's vision was to faithfully interpret the four Gospels and realistically portray the political turmoil, spiritual heartbreak, and physical torture of the story. The movie, which uses subtitles, was filmed entirely in Aramaic and Latin, and is so graphic it earned an

R-rating. "Blood was always required in covenants of the Old Testament," Gibson told a crowd of pastors at an early Chicago-area screening of the film. "Blood was really required here and every drop of it. It's a blood sacrifice."

Gibson poured $25 million of his own money into the film's production. On the set, he was literally driven by his vision. Maia Morgenstern, the Jewish actress who played Jesus' mother, called Gibson "a man who was utterly enthusiastic and confident of his artistic vision."

When Catholic actor Jim Caviezel was asked to play Gibson's Jesus, he asked the director if he'd bring as much passion to it as he did Braveheart. Gibson responded: "More than anything I've ever done."

And he never backed down, despite intense criticism from some scholars who argued that Gibson is not academically suited to interpret the Bible, and from Hollywood insiders who grumbled that his religious beliefs are too extreme. Since its release, the film has been savaged by mainstream critics. Some say it's for the devout only; others call it "a Christian snuff film." But Gibson knew from the start that the message—and his vision—of the Cross is controversial and divisive and possibly a "career-killer."

"It will probably be savaged by critics," he told the 5,000 pastors at the Chicago screening. "But I've had my career, and I'm bored with it. I created a secular utopia for myself in Hollywood, but it was empty. There are more important things. Civilization was changed forever by Christ. Whether you're a believer or not, His death affects you."

Editor's Note: For information on how to use The Passion of the Christ as a tool for evangelism, visit www.thepassiontoolbox.com, or www.thepassionoutreach.com.

Todd Hertz is an associate editor for Campus Life magazine.

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