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If the success of Mel Gibson's The Passion of The Christ, which opened in the UK last week, is to be measured in either box office turnover, or by provoking headlines and debate, then the film must have its place among the cinematic greats. US earnings in just one month have already reached $300million , "not bad for a subtitled indie film spoken entirely in dead languages, retelling a story that everyone already knows"(The Times 20/3). The Daily Star headlined its review with "THE CASH-IN OF THE CHRIST".

As an accurate portrayal of an historical and religious story, the film courts controversy: allegations of gratuitous use of violence, poor portrayal of the Jews and its "bad history"and "bad theology"(Ned Temko, Editor The Jewish Chronicle, BBC.co.uk, 25/3). But according to Jesus actor Jim Caviezel, Gibson "didn't want any passive onlookers"(The Sun, 23/3).

Perhaps the real shortcoming of the film, viewed by some as an evangelical tool for Christian conversion, is that the spirituality and love of Christ's teachings appear to have been lost in an "appalling pageant of blood-spattered cruelty and sadism"(Anthony Quinn, Independent, 26/3). This is the director's cut, the sum of Gibson's cathartic rediscovery of his faith. "It is his agenda, his interpretation, it is the Gospel according to Mel Gibson"(John Harvey, Anglican Vicar, Liverpool Post, 25/3).