- They emerged from the cinema whey-faced, red-eyed and
numb: whatever their expectations had been, the first members of the public
to see Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ were in various degrees of
shock.
-
- Some could not stand the two hours of scourging, blood
and crucifixion, and eight of the 180-strong audience at yesterday's afternoon
screening at the Odeon in Maidstone, Kent, walked out angrily long before
the end.
-
- One woman had to be comforted with cups of tea after
she had been escorted out on the brink of tears.
-
- Pearl Crown, 82, said: "It was awful, just awful.
I should never have come. I have never seen anything so violent and awful
in my life."
-
- Mrs Crown and her husband, Frank, 88, were among those
who received free tickets to the screening from a group of local churches
led by St Luke's in Maidstone, which spent £20,000 buying all the
seats for the first three days.
-
- She said her Methodist faith had not been rocked by the
film but she could not bear to watch the torture meted out to Christ, brutally
enhanced by the digital soundtrack and graphic visual images of a Hollywood
production. Her husband warned: "If you are sensitive, do not come
and see this film."
-
- Another man who left in a hurry after the scourging scene
was blunter. "I am offended that the Church has decided to give out
free tickets to a film like this. It is almost blasphemous."
-
- But that view was not shared by the majority who filed
out at the end dazed and struggling for words, but clearly moved.
-
- "I'm gobsmacked after seeing that film," said
Jo Marvell, 27, a holistic therapist. "I feel a bit drippy and embarrassed.
I just want to go home."
-
- A non-churchgoer - she had been in a church last month
for the first time since her christening because she was preparing to get
married - her eyes glistened.
-
- "I don't like brutality and I covered my eyes for
most of the time," she said. "Part of me believes in God and
part of me doesn't. I don't think I feel differently."
-
- Her boyfriend, Jeremy Druce, 37, said: "I didn't
expect to come out feeling as upset as I do. It is very brutal, very moving.
It moved me spiritually a little but more in despair at mankind."
-
- Valerie Hawkins, 62, said: "I felt it reminded me
of what our faith cost and what we owe. Sometimes we forget the price and
that someone had to pay it. I feel numb."
-
- James Williams, 18, who described himself as a lapsed
churchgoer, said: "With most films, you come out feeling you want
to talk about them. Here you come out in shock."
-
- Russ Hughes, the director of worship and prophecy at
St Luke's, defended the church scheme to give out free tickets to the film.
-
- "This is a great way to reintroduce people to Jesus.
This is not about attracting people into church but, if one person commits
themselves to Jesus as a result, it will be worth the £20,000."
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004.
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- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/03/27/
nxodus27.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/03/27/ixhome.html
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