It\u2019s hard to watch Mel Gibson\u2019s \u201cThe Passion of the Christ\u201d without concluding that the suicidal Judas Iscariot was chased by demons into the pit of hell.<\/p>\n\n
On the other hand, it\u2019s hard to watch the ABC television movie \u201cJudas\u201d without concluding that somehow, before he hanged himself, his sense of remorse put him back on the road to redemption.<\/p>\n\n
These movies offer radically different takes on the Passion and events that led to it. While Gibson has been attacked for his stark, traditional Catholicism, \u201cJudas\u201d (March 8, 9 p.m. EST) offers a modern, made-for-television, post-Vatican II Catholic approach.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to have your little movie compared to a $25 million epic by an Academy Award winner,\u201d said Charles Robert Carner, who directed \u201cJudas\u201d when it was filmed back in the summer of 2001. \u201cWe don\u2019t want people to see this as some kind of cheesy TV rip-off of this big movie. \u2026<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe did our thing long before anybody knew Mel Gibson was making the Passion. We\u2019re just thankful that our movie finally has a chance to be seen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Produced by the Catholic media pioneers at Paulist Productions, \u201cJudas\u201d began nearly a decade ago as one of the final projects of the late Rev. Ellwood \u201cBud\u201d Kieser, founder of the Humanitas Prize. The goal was to create a miniseries called \u201cJesus and Company,\u201d which would tell the same story a number of times, only seen through the eyes of characters such as Peter, Mary Magdalene, Judas and others. In the end, only \u201cJudas\u201d became a reality.<\/p>\n\n
The movie was shot in only 23 days in Morocco with a $5 million budget. The 106-page script came from executive producer Tom Fontana, who is best known for his gritty work in crime dramas such as \u201cOz\u201d and \u201cHomicide: Life on the Streets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
\u201cJudas\u201d was supposed to have aired during the Easter season in 2002.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe movie is coming out now because of \u2018The Passion\u2019 and all of the publicity it has generated,\u201d said the Rev. Frank Desiderio, president of Paulist Productions. \u201cOur movie deals with some of the same material, but in a very different way. We would like to bring more light, rather than heat, to some of the issues that are being discussed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
\u201cJudas\u201d opens with a crucifixion, only the man on the cross is one of hundreds of Jews being executed by the Romans. The man is Judas\u2019 father and this event plants a fierce hatred of the \u201cRoman bloodsuckers\u201d in the heart of his young son. Judas grows up to become a bitter urban rebel and his anti-establishment anger prevents him from grasping the peaceful, sacrificial message of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n
The goal was to look traditional and sound contemporary. Jesus is shown performing miracles that literally take place onscreen, while speaking in modern, even chatty, language. Some viewers and critics may find it jarring, but the \u201cJudas\u201d team did this intentionally.<\/p>\n\n
Desiderio is also unapologetic about the movie\u2019s hopeful ending.<\/p>\n\n
Judas, of course, hangs himself in a fit of guilt, despair and madness.<\/p>\n\n
Still, the voice of Jesus is heard in a flashback, telling Judas: \u201cI want you to spend eternity with me _ with my father. It\u2019s not too late. It\u2019s never too late.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Later, Peter and two apostles pray over the traitor\u2019s lifeless body, because that is what Jesus would have wanted them to do.<\/p>\n\n
So did Judas go to heaven? This may seem like a radical idea, said Desiderio. But it\u2019s a logical question for modern Catholics.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWithout that flashback, I would never have made the movie,\u201d said the priest. \u201cThat\u2019s the point. It\u2019s never too late. That\u2019s the message to Judas and to each and every one of us. \u2026 The Catholic Church teaches that there is a hell, but we don\u2019t know if anyone is in it. Only God knows if Judas was somehow able to repent and find forgiveness.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThat is what this movie is saying: It\u2019s never too late to turn back to God.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s hard to watch Mel Gibson\u2019s \u201cThe Passion of the Christ\u201d without concluding that the suicidal Judas Iscariot was chased by demons into the pit of hell. On the other hand, it\u2019s hard to watch the ABC television movie \u201cJudas\u201d without concluding that somehow, before he hanged himself, his sense of remorse put him back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[431,544,642,882],"class_list":["post-1270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-hollywood","tag-mel-gibson","tag-passion","tag-tv-religion"],"yoast_head":"\n