THE PASSION ACCORDING TO JUDAS

By Terry Mattingly

It’s hard to watch Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ without concluding that the suicidal Judas Iscariot was chased by demons into the pit of hell.

On the other hand, it’s hard to watch the ABC television movie Judas without concluding that somehow, before he hung himself, his sense of remorse put him back on the road to redemption.

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, Judas (March 8, 9 p.m. ET) offers a modern, made-for-television, post-Vatican II Catholic approach.

“It’s hard to have your little movie compared to a $25 million epic by an Academy Award winner,” said Charles Robert Carner, who directed Judas when it was filmed back in the summer of ’01. “We don’t want people to see this as some kind of cheesy TV rip-off of this big movie.”

“We did our thing long before anybody knew Mel Gibson was making the Passion. We’re just thankful that our movie finally has a chance to be seen.”

Produced by the Catholic media pioneers at Paulist Productions, Judas began nearly a decade ago as one of the final projects of the late Father Ellwood “Bud” Kieser, founder of the Humanitas Prize. The goal was to create a mini-series called Jesus and Company, 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 Judas became a reality.

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 Oz and Homicide: Life on the Streets.

Judas was supposed to have aired during the Easter season in ’02.

“The movie is coming out now because of The Passion and all of the publicity it has generated,” said Father Frank Desiderio, president of Paulist Productions. “Our 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.”

Judas 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’s father and this event plants a fierce hatred of the “Roman bloodsuckers” 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.

Another major difference between Judas and the controversial Gibson movie is that Pontius Pilate is portrayed as a kind of Machiavellian hedonist who conspires to pin the blame for the death of Jesus on Caiaphas and a few other corrupt members of the Jewish establishment.

The goal was to look traditional and sound contemporary. Jesus is shown performing miracles that literally take place on screen, while speaking in modern, even chatty, language. Some viewers and critics may find it jarring, but the Judas team did this intentionally.

Desiderio is also unapologetic about the movie’s hopeful ending.

Judas, of course, hangs himself in a fit of guilt, despair and madness. Still, the voice of Jesus is heard in a flashback, telling Judas: “I want you to spend eternity with me — with my Father. It’s not too late. It’s never too late.” Later, Peter and two apostles pray over the traitor’s lifeless body, because that is what Jesus would have wanted them to do.

So did Judas go to heaven? This may seem like a radical idea, said Desiderio. But it’s a logical question for modern Catholics.

“Without that flashback, I would never have made the movie,” said the priest. “That’s the point. It’s never too late. That’s the message to Judas and to each and every one of us. The Catholic church teaches that there is a hell, but we don’t know if anyone is in it. Only God knows if Judas was somehow able to repent and find forgiveness.

“That is what this movie is saying: It’s never too late to turn back to God.”

Terry Mattingly (www.tmatt.net ) teaches at Palm Beach Atlantic University and is senior fellow for journalism at the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. He writes this weekly column for the Scripps Howard News Service.