Q&A with Mel Gibson And Jim Caviezel

when the film ended the last time I felt that way was Schindler's List and Private Ryan I didn't know what to say just in and when the film was over it's not really something you can just talk about it has to live with you for a while and then I think it's going to be that way with most people that walk out of the theater right I don't assume anything I prayed it will happen I pray that because man always has his choice just rejected and for people that look at me already and say oh I hear you are one of those guys this Christian guys uh you know I gently will say I hope you see it I hope you accept it but you had your gotta your own life you're going to pick what you want to do I hope you picked Christ I hope you can see it I'd say 12 and up understanding what they're saying there's nothing gratuitous in the film the violence is there for a purpose it's just you know I think if Private Ryan or Schindler's List which were both effective films and telling a story of what of what happened in history and what not to do again I would say then if those were our rated films and this was probably already film certainly it would be a shame if people say you know I don't go to our films you can see what good those two other films have done this certainly is going to do at least that and choosing this role I already made a decision how it changed me it was from the beginning of of doing the movie I knew that this is the way it's always going to be so that's and you know metal actually said that to me when I took the film he says you know he says you may never work again but I could go down in the ship if this is the one that takes me out that's fine with me I'd like to work again but not I'd never been a guy who who would sell him a soul to get you know money or fame wasn't was never my goal it was to serve my faith my god in the midst of studio 5 at Cinecitta a long-haired figure appears to be in prayer is the actor Jim Caviezel awaiting his cue to enter Gethsemane in moment says Jesus he will be arrested for the opening shot of the passion on the other side of the studio surrounded by Harrods guard Mel Gibson is engaged in his own athletic directing style he tries to help the actors see the bold at times stark vision that is for the moment confined to his head this kinetic approach surpasses the performance of the day players what becomes quickly apparent is the passion of the actor director himself Gibson is director co-author and sole financier of the entire project the question is why why would one of Hollywood's biggest stars take on a film he himself has described as a career killer what is his vision and how is this Jesus picture different from the others I recently sat down with Gibson to get some answers well there are roughly 100 Jesus movies why do we need another 100 I didn't know there was that many well they just dug up another one from 1916 101 yeah they just found it and it was like it's one of the first ones ever on film it's incredibly naive but it's really kind of interesting to watch it they go through the entire life in like it's less than an hour it's like wow it's like right I went by that I don't think it's ever been told as it should be I don't think it's ever been adhered to in the way what way it suffers either in most cases that I've seen I haven't seen all hundreds so I could be wrong but I've seen like probably the big desert and accuracy historical ask accuracy accuracy as far as the Gospels go accuracy is as far as the extent of not only the political turmoil and everything that was going on at the time but just the extent of the sacrifice and the torture involved which is like it's not mistake about this is graphic right and I would never even recommend that anyone under the age of 12 go and see it because it's hard but you know anybody that does go on state and states through it I think and my aim is to profoundly change people with it yeah that's my question why restrict yourself to just the last twelve hours because that's the kind of pinnacle of the sacrifice I think that's where a lot was achieved and to try and commit more than that to film it's almost an impossible task yeah but to focus on the on the high point or the low point if you like leading up to the climax of the whole thing where it all just happens I think also I can I can feed back into previous scenes you know there's flashbacks to little pieces of scenes right that suggests and remind people who are familiar with the material yeah exactly you know what where it all came and what this all really means it's sort of underscores and I've read the script there's a lot of attention to the last supper yeah as you go along what's the what's the why visually cast it in that way well I wanted to juxtapose the the sacrifice of the cross with the sacrifice of the altar which is the same thing and just kind of demonstrate that yeah that as he's being tortured and murdered and killed and everything that you cut back and through the eyes of John who's at the foot of the cross you just cut back to him remembering like oh yeah with the bread and the wine and I get it so that it he the penny drops for him at that point now I don't know whether the penny did drop for him at that point or not but I think he was a pretty smart guy and it maybe it did Hollywood rolls out the red carpet to be honest they produce great little fluff pieces he's not receiving that sort of a claim they're saying the strangest Hollywood project to come along in years why the icy reception why that weird suspicion well it's it's not done in a language that they understand and it's dealing with materials that could be dangerous it's dangerous material you're talking about the single event that probably influenced civilization as we know now even in the negative aspect in some way you could say that it goes back to that I mean it's you know created our laws and behavior and you know the knowledge of good and evil and all that influenced art and literature and in every it's affected every possible aspect of anyone's life whether they know it or not it has and so that this is big stuff you're dealing with and it's it's it's it's going to be graphic and it's going to be accurate as I can make it it has areas of poetic license that I've added to it I see as not unreasonable right and now some would say why do you have to be so graphic if that removes the art that that kills the imagination that we can all apply to this no I being so on the nose no no no that's that's it's a puzzle that I have I think what I have to do is be truthful to the to take you through suffering with it mm-hmm the audience has to suffer to understand it more and what I'm seeking here is a deeper understanding of this event and and as well as being graphic and probably in your face a little bit it's not always like that I mean I use a certain art to get around some of that and I think that even in the the more horrific aspects of it I've tried to incorporate a Beauty to it so that um it's a balance and and you pull back a little bit from what your original intention for this I mean originally if I really if I put down exactly what happened is too it's too hard to take and you found that in the doing when you want you was shooting it or you laid it out you said I can't go there some parts yeah and like you know I mean you know you're not going to see every foot and hand get nailed it's tough but you'll certainly know what's going on you won't see every hit of the whip but you'll know what's happening and when it does happen it's going to be in a very real estate it'll be very realistic so you won't quite know when you're going to see it when you're not which will add to this sort of I suppose you know gripping the armchair thing you know I know it's not going to be everybody's cup of tea but it's the way I want to present it and it speaks to me that way and that's all I know you say whenever is an interview when you approach this sort of material this subject you draw enemies I sure did you mean by that well I think there is in the world there is good and bad and anybody who wants to tell a story of this magnitude about the nature of good and evil is going to draw people who are influenced by something dark and it's going to come in a flicked you in some way and I'm not just talking about only people I'm talking about a whole other realm because I believe in these realms you try to leave there's realms outside our own if I didn't then I you know I would I would wonder about the point of this here now breathing if there isn't something else outside this realm then I'm a little late on world conquest that's all I'm trying to say and total subservience of every living creature to my will so I mean that's a really harsh way of putting it I got it but this something bigger than if there's something if there's not something bigger than this why am I trying tell me about the authenticity this bill well it's it's I'm trying to make it as authentic as I possibly can right down to the clothing right down to the eating customs of the Jews of the old law and and to make it truly about people a man born into the house of David in Jerusalem I mean the Pharisees are all there and God when I saw Jim the other day this is the most Jewish looking Christ I've seen on film well he should be here normally he looks so Aryan I mean gosh sure yeah they usually got that the blue-eyed guy and Jim has blue eyes yes he does but I'm gonna change that and in digitally out I'll make his eye color different will be more like that Coptic look you know and of course we fiddled with his facial features a bit him look like he comes from more rugged time and make him okay he comes from the Middle East he he looks Semitic in in the way it looks look sciatic the woman playing his mother she's remaining and she's Jewish and she's just beautiful there's great big soulful brown eyes you know and she's giving it everything she's amazing you know talk to me about the Marian component here Mary is really a a key figure in this normally she fades to the background you don't see it you never see oleander the real there right she's here every step of the way she goes why was that important because I think she suffered as much almost I mean she didn't have to bear the wounds and stuff but imagine if it was your child yeah and not only that but your child who you know is the deity I mean imagine that what that's doing to you you know so I thought it was absolutely necessary to sort of put her right there on the front row to watch the whole thing and to see her sort of bear it and to see her suffering and she's done a remarkable job you know do you think some of the and there have been those are perhaps quietly at this point who say you know Mel Gibson's totally crazy to do a project like this what's he doing do you think that's religiously motivated is there a bit of religious bigotry in there is there bit of suspicion for what you believe I don't know and their discomfort with your acting on that belief or at least allowing that belief to shape what you're involved in here I think from a totally sort of earthbound point of view it's just bad business decision it's like what little that's a lot of dough to throw at that it's not even in the language we understand and it's going to like tell a lot of people what's the deal but it's like it's like childbirth I mean it's either got a welp itself out or I just got to do it it's one of those things and chips fall where they may you know what about the language let's talk about the language for a second why in Aramaic it's just totally I mean one once you see a hunk of this all chopped together and people are talking that language it's utterly riveting for me now I don't understand I think I think the image hopefully the image will transcend the language now and you'll be able to tell your story very clearly without the aid of a language that you know however any knowledge on the subject will kind of give I'll give you a little clues all along the way and it's it's also something very real about it and and also many of the people involved in the casting you haven't seen you know Burt Lancaster's not in it okay it's just guys or not the guys used to run for you know Jim Caviezel people may have seen him but he doesn't even look like himself in this I mean he just looks different he looks like Christ and so that he is and a very if I may say so the best-looking one I've ever seen I mean he's masculine he's like he doesn't look too pretty or any of you know and that did that worried you about the other ones you've seen the previous depictions of Jesus a little to a theory yes exactly a little feminine and and just not they weren't guys that worked on a piece of wood for you know however long you know making tables and cabinets how much of that moment that sacrifice how important is that moment that you're trying to depict on film to your faith to me to you how important is that right that is Accra Feist is everything it's it's it's absolutely everything I mean if it wasn't what there be there would be nothing there would only be world conquest and dominion over every human being on the planet you know I mean hey why not go for it and that's it go out big yeah but Mars will be hung for a sheep as a lamb something like that a stitch in time saves nine give any others no I'm out either but that the the incarnation all these things the the message that the complete and total deposit left with us and the backing up of all those things and the fruition of all those things is it's a pretty clear message I think and it's it's it's it's unfortunate that more people don't heat it in a tough shoot for you I mean you've had flu everybody here sick Steve was coughing on me earlier Jim's been ill pulled the shoulder I mean everybody seemed that this is not an easy sweet shoot ya know it's full of discomfort Jim's actually suffered quite a bit on the cross I mean it's like one time when they when he was being beaten some of the guys got him with those things I mean he had marks and welts on his back it was like I mean he's getting some of it and sometimes I think you know one day he was like he was getting a headache and it was like it was and I thought I wonder if he's experiencing something a little otherworldly here I wasn't quite sure because it seemed to be just coming from nowhere and it was but no there's been a lot of obstacles thrown in the way you know there's a lot of what would you call it poltergeist activity or something I don't know a lot of a lot of things spiritual stuff Hank and and I understand that it's the other realm warring and I believe that that's a very real thing and I've taken steps wherever I can to sort of like put on some armor like what I there's a an old priest every day says the mass every day and and then try and just stay squeaky clean myself that's all I mean it's like and bro that's a tough job it's tell me all about it yeah really yeah do that it's like a kind of like you know detergent for your soul but and just try and just get through this but having engaged it like that and having given such credence to things that are so intangible as the other realms of good and evil I think it's really drawn the whole thing into focus and we're all struggling over a piece of film and it's a piece of film after all it's not the real event but I'm hoping that my hope is that and it's very strong even for me watching it it's very strong and I know how it's being put together like when it's finally put together it's going to be ten times as strong so that my hope is that anyone who goes in and can manage to stay through it and suffer through with it you know they should be given like a little bed I went to see and I actually sat through the end reel which is it's necessary to keep it like 90 minutes because it's just our two hours of this is just it make you go nuts but but that they're changed when they leave I mean I mean I'm seeking out than anyone who views it has a profound change

Channel: interlinc

Views: 573,225

Keywords: qna

Id: LsmyB7NR-T8

Length: 18min 39sec (1119 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 02 2012