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24 SEPTEMBER 2002
Mel Gibson’s latest box office hit Signs is a story about a test of faith, but it seems the star himself is willing to take a leap of faith with his next project. The actor-director has arrived in Rome to begin shooting religious epic The Passion, which he says will be filmed entirely in Latin and Aramaic, without subtitles, transcending language barriers with “filmic storytelling”.
The movie, which Mel will direct, is about Jesus Christ's last 12 hours, and is a labour of love for the staunch Catholic, as no American studio has been willing sign on as distributor. “Obviously, nobody wants to touch something filmed in two dead languages,” he told a Rome press conference. “They think I’m crazy, and maybe I am. But maybe I’m a genius.”
As a result, Mel is dipping into his fortune – he reportedly took in Ł27 million last year – to finance the risky endeavour, which stars Angel Eyes's Jim Caviezel. Declining to reveal the budget, he joked the film is “good for the soul, not the wallet”.
The Oscar-winning director has enlisted the help of a Jesuit linguistics professor to translate the screenplay and act as an on-set dialogue coach, and has also consulted with Vatican officials about the film. “I want to show the humanity of Christ,” he says, “as well as the divine aspect. It is a rendering that for me is very realistic and as close as possible to what I perceive the truth to be.”
Forty-six-year-old Mel, who has been married to wife Robyn for 22 years and has seven children, recently revealed his only daughter, 21-year-old Hannah, is joining a religious order. “I believe in God and I was happy when Hannah decided to become a nun,” he told an Italian newspaper earlier this month.
The Australian star is known for his religious beliefs and conservative views on divorce, abortion and contraception. In his California home there is a private chapel where Mass is celebrated in the traditional Latin every Sunday – a service which calls for a special permission as the Church abolished Latin in favour of the vernacular in the Sixties.
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