Mexico nails over-18 rating on 'Passion'

Scorsese's 'Christ' to finally bow, 15 years after its U.S. release

By KEN BENSINGER

MEXICO CITY -- The Mexican government slapped an adults-only rating on "The Passion of the Christ" late Wednesday, infuriating Twentieth Century Fox Films. Meanwhile, United Intl. Pictures will finally debut Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ" in Mexico on Friday, 15 years and seven months after its Stateside bow.

"Passion's" restrictive C rating limits entry to those 18 and above when it opens March 18.

Fox Mexico general director Juan Jose Hernandez was outraged at the news, which came shortly after a private screening of "Passion" for Catholic officials.

"This hasn't happened in any country in the world," he said, adding that the most restrictive rating elsewhere in Latin America is in Argentina, which is for 16 years and above. Pic is rated "R" in the U.S.

Hernandez has demanded an explanation from classification board the RTC and has filed an appeal. He wants a B-15 rating, the rough equivalent to a PG-13.

Refunds in order?

The C rating could have serious commercial implications for "Passion" in Mexico, where the pic will be distributed on 550 copies. Tens of thousands of tickets have already been sold, and theaters will have to turn away under 18s.

"I have no idea what we're going to do," Hernandez said, adding that with the massive publicity surrounding "Passion," any attempt to restrict audiences would encourage piracy.

Hernandez also fears that "Temptation" is "taking advantage of the massive publicity" for "Passion" and expressed fears that auds would confuse the two.

"Temptation" raised a firestorm of controversy here in 1988, when it was originally set to appear, including a ban by the nation's Catholic hierarchy. The controversy over pic, which ponders the question of what would have happened had Christ chosen to live like a normal man, is far from over.

UIP could convince only Cinemex and MM Cinemas to show "Temptation," and both on a very limited number of copies: Cinemex, primarily based in Mexico City, on 37 prints, MM Cinemas, strong in the north, on 34.

Many here still oppose the pic's exhibition. Jorge Serrano Limon, president of Mexico's largest Catholic pro-life group, called "Temptation" anticlerical and anachronistic, adding that the film was part of a "great conspiracy" against "the Pope, priests and values."