The greatest story never told

HOLLYWOOD -- For those who find "The Passion of Christ" beyond the pale in laying blame for Jesus' death at the feet of the Jews and letting Pontius Pilate off too easily, the complete antithesis to Mel Gibson's film can be found in a treatment of the Nazarene's life written but, regrettably, never filmed by the late, great Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer.

Just as the brutality of "The Passion" marks it very much as a film of today, so was Dreyer's "Jesus" a product of its time.

Dreyer endured more than five years of Nazi occupation, and when he set out to write his tale of the Christ while staying in Independence, Mo. (1948-49), the Nazi bootprint informed his portrait of Judea under the Romans.

Despite having made one of the greatest films on a religious subject, "The Passion of Joan of Arc" in 1928, Dreyer spent the last 20 years of his life in futile search for backing for his Jesus film.

Before he died in 1968, he authorized his English-language script of "Jesus" for publication and wrote two accompanying essays, "Who Crucified Jesus?" and "The Roots of Anti-Semitism."

Backed by detailed research, the Lutheran Dreyer stated his intention "to refute the accusations against the Jews of having murdered Jesus." He saw Caiaphas as a "collaborationist" who "considered it wisest for the Jewish people to cooperate rather than face the loss of the little freedom that was left them."

In another essay related to the script, which was published by Dial Press in 1972, Dreyer associate Preben Thorsen reports that, in "Jesus," the director "wanted to strike at European anti-Semitism. He had got this idea from reading a book by the American Jewish historian Solomon Zeitlin, who describes Caiaphas as a sort of Quisling. Dreyer also wanted to defend Caiaphas."

The script to "Jesus" bears this out.

Unlike any other version of the Christ tale, the Pharisees are seen throughout taking a sympathetic interest in Jesus, sharing meals and debates with him. Dreyer also highlights the activities of a group of Jewish "revolutionaries," the better to play up the Romans' close surveillance of any possible insurrections.

In the end, Caiaphas, disappointed that the "King of the Jews" has not denied that he is the Messiah, says, "It is with heavy hearts that we hand you over to the Romans."

Pilate, pointedly addressing Jesus in Greek, wastes little time interviewing the accused before ordering him to "Go to your cross;" there is no hesitation or hand-washing.

Nor, in the most overt contrast to Gibson's treatment, is there any flogging or torture, just ridicule from some Roman soldiers before marching Jesus out (with cross-beam only), into streets where "there are few people about; everyone is asleep after the feast."