Mel Gibson to produce Jewish icon film about Judah Maccabee

[briann]

I think he is a brilliant filmmaker, but I still think he is evil for his wicked statements a few years back.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/09/shocker-mel-gibson-and-joe-eszterhas-to-tell-iconic-jewish-hero-judah-maccabee-story-for-warner-bros/

SHOCKER! Mel Gibson And Joe Eszterhas To Collaborate On Film Telling Jewish Hero Judah Maccabee Story For Warner Bros
By MIKE FLEMING | Thursday September 8, 2011 @ 7:36pm EDTTags: Icon Productions, Joe Eszterhas, Judah Maccabee, Mel Gibson, Warner Bros
Comments 143
Mike Fleming

Mel Gibson Judah Maccabee MovieEXCLUSIVE: It’s a project that will have everybody in Hollywood and beyond talking. I’ve learned that Warner Bros has set up an untitled drama that teams Gibson and screenwriter Joe Eszterhas on the telling of the heroic story of Jewish warrior Judah Maccabee. Eszterhas will write the script, and I understand that Gibson will collaborate with him. Joe Eszterhas Judah Maccabee MovieMaccabee teamed with his father and four brothers to lead the Jewish revolt against the Greek-Syrian armies that had conquered Judea in the second century B.C. Gibson has the first option to direct but will definitely produce the film through his Icon Productions banner. It’s understandable why Warner Bros would want to be back in business with Gibson, who was once a high-profile fixture there and who made a fortune for that studio with the Lethal Weapon series and other films.

Having put some painful personal issues behind him, Gibson is determined to get back to making movies. He has long wanted to make this film about heroic Jews, Mel Gibson Jew Movieand it was discussed even when he was under fire after his drunken anti-Semitic rant during a 2006 Malibu arrest. Maccabee’s triumph and struggle against tyranny and oppression where people gave their lives so that others would be free to worship is celebrated by Jews all over the world through Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. This subject matter is a decided departure for the filmmaker famous for directing The Passion of the Christ. But in a way the subject matter is in his wheelhouse: Maccabee is a close cousin to William Wallace, leader of the Scottish rebellion against the British in Braveheart, the film that brought Gibson two Oscars: for Best Picture and Best Director. Gibson last directed Apocalypto about the Mayan civilization and a tribesman who escapes human sacrifice and saves his family. While Gibson has experienced tremendous success as a producer and director, his recent star turn in front of the camera in The Beaver was a box office failure even though it received a rousing ovation at this past Cannes Film Festival.

This new deal also marks a major return to filmmaking for Joe Eszterhas, once Hollywood’s highest paid screenwriter for pics like Basic Instinct, Jagged Edge, and Flashdance. His credits also include two films that focused on Jewish themes: the 1987 Betrayed, which starred Debra Winger as an undercover FBI agent probing white supremacists, and 1989’s Music Box, which starred Jessica Lange whose Hungarian immigrant father is accused of engaging in atrocities during World War II. Both films were directed by Costa-Gavras and produced by Irwin Winkler. Music Box resulted in Eszterhas being condemned by the Hungarian Parliament for “betraying his heritage” by revealing the massacre of Jewish Hungarians by other Hungarians at the end of World War II. However, in 1995, Eszterhas was awarded the Emanuel Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his writings about the Holocaust in Hungary.

In recent years, Eszterhas stepped away from Hollywood, moved to Cleveland, overcame cancer, and focused on writing books instead of films. Both he and Gibson have had their share of travails, and make an unexpected and intriguing pairing on an unexpected and intriguing subject.

[muman613]

I would not trust Gibsons portrayal of anything Jewish.... Im sorry but with Passion and other statements he has made there is nothing he can do to turn it around. I also don't appreciate that he is portraying such a Jewish hero as Judah Maccabee. I doubt it will be faithful to our tradition...

[briann]

I would not trust Gibsons portrayal of anything Jewish.... Im sorry but with Passion and other statements he has made there is nothing he can do to turn it around. I also don't appreciate that he is portraying such a Jewish hero as Judah Maccabee. I doubt it will be faithful to our tradition...

I have a feeling you are right.  He will twist in in a way that will be offensive.

[angryChineseKahanist]

must feel guilty about his drunken speech.

[muman613]

I have a feeling you are right.  He will twist in in a way that will be offensive.

I have a 'Ten Commandments' movie which I bought several years ago. It was a recent made-for-TV miniseries format with two parts... Although it uses great special effects for the plagues and the parting of the sea, I can name so many parts which I find offensive to the Jewish tradition. For example they portray Aaron as jealous of Moses, they purport that Moses had an Egyptian brother and several times the writer elicits sympathy for the Egyptians, the have Yitro say something ominous and evil {while the Torah paints Yitro as a great convert to Judaism and contributed to the creation of judges}, and their Moses character looks virtually like the typical long-haired Jesus... Anyway it was not made by Jews... I find non-Jewish treatment of Torah stories as very tedious to watch considering I have learned several of the Midrash {stories behind the Torah}...

[Zelhar]

Why can't he stick to Jesus ?!

[mord]

I think Gibson and Eszterhas will make a great movie i'm sure that Gibson will check it out by real Rabbis.No offense to any other Jews but Orthodox are real Rabbis,at least many of them.

[Dr. Dan]

It's an embarrassment that an anti-semite has made the initiative to create a movie about the heroic Maccabees and not a Jew.  But then again with the self hating Jews in Hollywood probably prefer Mel Gibson to do the injustice than Spielberg, YSV.

[maelgwyn]

I wont be seeing it, hes not even a good actor !

[mord]

It's an embarrassment that an anti-semite has made the initiative to create a movie about the heroic Maccabees and not a Jew.  But then again with the self hating Jews in Hollywood probably prefer Mel Gibson to do the injustice than Spielberg, YSV.

Actually i think it's better that Gibson is making it rather then self hating P.C. communist Hollywood Jews.They would make it Judith the maccabee having at least 2 of the brothers being gay and we must not forget to give both sides of event.

[TheCoon]

A Hollywood Jew would never make the story of the Maccabees because it would be a movie about religious Jews winning over, well, Hollywood Jews. I never saw Passion of the Christ but I know people who saw it who aren't anti-Semitic and they said it was really good. If he gets real rabbis to help him make it and it appears historically accurate, I would consider seeing it.

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

This doesn't fix anything.

[Rin Tin Tin]

 
 
EDITION:  U.S.
INTERNATIONAL
 
By Alan Duke, CNN
September 9, 2011 4:26 p.m. EDT
 
Mel Gibson's involvment in a planned a film about Judean priest Judah Maccabee has sparked some outrage.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Gibson is working on a film about Jewish icon Judah Maccabee, his rep says
It's like casting Bernie Madoff to be the SEC chief, Rabbi Marvin Hier says
"Mel Gibson is an anti-Semite," Hier says
"They do have the freedom of expression," Gibson rep says of critics
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Mel Gibson will not have an acting role in a movie about Jewish historical icon Judah Maccabee, although he may direct the film, Gibson's representative said Friday.
The possibility of Gibson's involvement in the Warner Bros. Studios production brought harsh reactions from some Jewish leaders in the United States, including Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.
"I think it's, quite frankly, preposterous," Hier told CNN on Friday. "Judah Maccabee is one of the greatest heroes in Jewish history. Mel Gibson is an anti-Semite. He has made anti-Semitic remarks in the past. I don't know what Warner Bros. was thinking."
Maccabee was a Judean priest who commanded the Judean resistance to Greek forces around 165 BC.
"Casting him as a director or star of Judah Maccabee is like casting Bernie Madoff to be the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission," Hier said.
Gibson's representative, in an email exchange with CNN on Friday, said, "There are no plans at this stage for Mel to be in the film." The rep asked not to be identified.
"He is way too old to play the lead character," his rep said. "(The) finished script will determine whether he directs or not but the studio would obviously prefer he direct than not. It's an amazing story that should be told cinematically."
Gibson's rep pointed to his work on "Braveheart," "Passion of the Christ" and "Apocalypto" as "all great stories that translate beautifully on the big screen with such a visual filmmaker as Gibson."
Hier disagreed, saying that "The Passion of the Christ," which Gibson produced and directed, depicted every Jew, with the exception of Jesus, as a "tyrant, buffoon, or an idiot."
Hier alluded to Gibson's infamous rant after his arrest on a drunken driving charge in 2006. The sheriff's arrest report said the actor asked the deputy if he was a Jew and said, "F---ing Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."
"My anger with Mel Gibson is he has never made efforts to fix his past mistakes," Hier said. He said he would have no problem with Gibson becoming involved in a Maccabee movie if he had made amends for what he did.
"They do have the freedom of expression, which we all welcome, don't we?" Gibson's representative said in response to the criticism.
CNN's Jennifer Wolfe and Matthew Carey contributed to this report
      

 

[muman613]

We spoke about this yesterday...

http://jtf.org/forum/index.php/topic,57265.0.html

[Rin Tin Tin]

Does anybody remember the job that "Palestinian-loving" Vanessa Redgrave gave in the movie "Playing for Time" (1980) playing holocaust survivor Fania Fenelon?  It was the most accurate dead-on moving performance ever captured on film.  Just because an actor/actress is satanic, doesn't mean that he/she isn't extremely capable.

[muman613]

Does anybody remember the job that "Palestinian-loving" Vanessa Redgrave gave in the movie "Playing for Time" (1980) playing holocaust survivor Fania Fenelon?  It was the most accurate dead-on moving performances ever captured on film.  Just because an actor/actress is satanic, doesn't mean that he/she isn't extremely capable.

The issue is not whether it will be a good 'performance' but rather what interpretation of the story of the Maccebees is being presented. As I said in the previous post, there are several issues about the story of the Maccabees which are interpreted differently by Christians and Jews. I am of the opinion that this presentation will not be the Jewish understanding of the story. This story is the centerpiece of our Channukah celebration.

Imagine a Jew were to write and direct a story about Christmas?

I am pretty much against any Hollywood treatment of our holy Torah characters. People who watch these movies form opinions which are not accurate to the interpretation of the Jewish sages. Once a person has formed these opinions from watching a movie it becomes very difficult to change their opinions {seeing is believing, so they say}...

[jbeige]

Imagine a Jew were to write and direct a story about Christmas?
Are you joking?, The Jewish people have been writing, producing, directing stories about Christmas and other Christian religious stories for years.

[jbeige]

We will have to wait to see what the actual movie is before we judge it, but usually Mel Gibson does a very accurate job.
I don't know what his personal views are of people but when it comes to his work I think he's fair.

[TheCoon]

I don't think the directer/writer's religion has anything to do with their ability to tell the story of Judah Maccabee properly. Yeah, Mel Gibson probably is an anti-Semite but he seems to have a desire to portray Bible stories in a non-PC manner. Whether you agree with his portrayal, he's not being like Spielberg and willfully distorting/ignoring the truths like in Prince of Egypt.

[muman613]

One thing which I realized this Shabbat is that the Book of Maccabees is not considered a part of the Jewish scriptures. Although we recall the events of that period during the Holiday of Chanukkah, there is nothing aside from a mention in the Talmud as to the meaning of the Holiday {"What is Chanukah?"}. Even though the Book Of Maccabees was an authentic Jewish source for the story, there are conflicting issues with a second book called the Megillah Antiochus and thus the Men of the Great Assembly, and the sages decided to not accept the Book of Maccabees into Jewish canon.

Despite this fact the Roman Catholic church and others consider the Book of Maccabees to be a part of the Bible. Jewish sages consider it a part of the writings called Apocrypha.

Here is what Rabbi Apple says about this topic:


http://www.oztorah.com/2008/12/the-source-of-chanukah-ask-the-rabbi/


The source of Chanukah – Ask the Rabbi

Q. I know Chanukah does not figure in the Bible. But are there any ancient books that tell the story?

A. There are three books that narrate the story without being in the Bible: the first and second books of Maccabees and the Scroll of Antiochus (M’gillat Antiochus). The books of Maccabees are in the Apocrypha, a collection which was not accepted as scriptural in Judaism though it has status in the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox faiths. However, the two books of Maccabees are not like the first and second books of Samuel, Kings or Chronicles in the T’nach, i.e. continuations of the same story, but two independent works which do not cover exactly the same period and even contradict each other. Their value however is that, with all their deficiencies, they preserve stories such as that of Hannah and her seven sons. The first book was probably written in Hebrew and the second in Greek. Both authors appear to have been faithful, observant Jews.

The medieval book called M’gillat Antiochus, while telling the story, does not always agree with the books of Maccabees. I Maccabees, for example, says that the father, Mattathias, started out leading the people but then died and Judah assumed command of the campaign; in M’gillat Antiochus, however, it is Judah who died early and Mattathias took over. M’gillat Antiochus was known in the tenth century, the period of Saadia Gaon, and was even read in the synagogue. Tosafot to Sukkah 44b speaks of it being read in synagogue in 13th century Italy. Though the text we have is in Hebrew, it was probably written in Aramaic.

[muman613]

Here is the discussion of the Talmud Mesechet Shabbat which asks 'What is Chanukkah?'

http://www.ou.org/chagim/chanukah/whatischanukah.htm

What is Chanukah?

It is with the above words that the Talmudic tractate Shabbat (Masechet Shabbat) introduces the historical background and the basis for the observance of the eight-day Festival of Chanukah. Seven lines(!) are devoted to the presentation of this information, and a mere seven pages(!) are allocated to a discussion of its laws, within a chapter basically devoted to another subject, within a tractate basically concerned with the topic of Shabbat.

Contrast this with Purim, another holiday that is not mentioned within the Five Books of Moshe.  It was added to the Jewish Calendar by our Sages, under the guidance of the "Ruach HaKodesh," the "Divine Spirit." Purim, associated with a period slightly earlier in history, was granted a place in the Biblical canon, with "Megillat Esther," and an entire tractate in the Talmud called, appropriately enough, "Megillah," devoted to an explanation of its background and laws.

This paucity of information about Chanukah contained within the Written Tradition (although there is a semi-Biblical work called "Megillat Chashmonaim,") and the Oral Tradition (basically, the Talmud), is one of the central mysteries of Chanukah.

Another mystery is why the Talmud seems to play down the great military victory which the vastly outnumbered Jewish People, under the leadership of the Priestly Family, the Hasmoneans ("Chashmonaim" in Hebrew), won over the forces of the Syrian Greeks. The focus instead is placed on what appears, at first glance, to be a relatively minor miracle which occurred during the rededication of the Temple, after its defilement by the Greeks (see below).

A third mystery is what happened to the undeniably great heroes of the story, the Chashmonaim, under the leadership of their patriarch, Matityahu, Kohen Gadol (High Priest), and his five sons: Shimon, Yehuda HaMacabee (who led the undermanned, but valiant Jewish army), Elazar, Yochanan and Yonatan (We do know the fate of Yochanan, who was unfortunately crushed by a military elephant). These great individuals, who dared to rise up in defiance of the Greek Empire and miraculously led them to victory, continued to lead the Jewish People afterwards for a few generations, and then disappeared from the stage of history. Why?

Hopefully, the following sections will shed light on the first two puzzles, and we will return at the end to try to deal with the third.

The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat begins:

"What is Chanukah? The Rabbis have expounded: Beginning with the 25th of Kislev, eight days of Chanukah are observed, during which no eulogies are delivered, nor is fasting permitted. For when the Greeks entered the Sanctuary, they defiled all the holy oils used for the Menorah in the temple, and when the Hasmonean house prevailed and vanquished them, they searched and found only one remaining jar of oil with the Kohen Gadol's seal.

Although it contained only enough oil to burn for one day, a miracle occurred, and the oil burned for eight days. A year later they (the Rabbis) designated these days as Yamim Tovim (holidays) on which praise and thanksgiving were to be said." (Tractate Shabbat 21)

Maimonides, the great 12th century Jewish scholar and codifier, known in Jewish tradition as the Rambam (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon), clarifies and expands upon the above, as follows:

"During the period of the Second Temple, the Greek kings issued harsh decrees against Israel; they outlawed their religion, forbade them to engage in the study of Torah and their practice of mitzvot, laid hands upon their money and their daughters, entered the Sanctuary and ravaged it, and defiled all that had been ritually pure. They caused Israel great anguish, until the G-d of our Fathers granted them mercy and delivered them from the hands of their enemies.

The Chashmonai Kohanim Gedolim (Head Priests) prevailed, slew them, and delivered Israel from their hands. They designated a king from among the Kohanim, and the Kingdom of Israel was restored for more than 200 years, till the second Destruction. Israel prevailed against their enemies and vanquished them, on the 25th day of the month of Kislev.

They entered the Sanctuary and found only one jar of ritually pure oil that was sufficient to burn only for one day; but they lit the lights of the Menorah from it for eight days, till they pressed olives and extracted additional pure oil." (Rambam, Hilchot Chanukah,Chapter 3)

The Sages of that generation therefore decreed, that eight days beginning with the 25th of Kislev should be days of rejoicing; Hallel (a collection of Psalms expressing special praise) be recited, and that lights be lit at the entrance of the house, each of the eight nights, so as to publicize the miracle. And these days are called "Chanukah" that is to say, Chanu Kaf-Hay; that is, the Holiday's name, "Chanukah," is spelled chet, nun, vav, kaf, hay. The first three letters spell the Hebrew word "Chanu," which means "They rested;" for the last two letters, we don't look at what they spell, but at their numerical equivalent (NE). The NE of Kaf is 20; the NE of Hay is 5; their sum is 25. Hence, the name means that on the 25th of Kislev they rested from their enemies.

In the above expression of the Talmud: "They made it a Yom Tov for praise and thanksgiving," "praise" refers to the literal recitation of Hallel, and therefore, the complete Hallel (as opposed to the "partial Hallel" recited on other joyous occasions) is recited during Shacharit on all eight days of Chanukah.

The term 'thanksgiving' refers to the recitation of "Al Hanisim" ("For the Miracles"), a prayer of gratitude to G-d for our deliverance which is included in each person's Shemoneh Esreh, a basic prayer said three times a day consisting originally of 18 (now 19) blessings, during all the days of Chanukah, as well as in Birkat Hamazon (Grace after meals).

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

Actually i think it's better that Gibson is making it rather then self hating P.C. communist Hollywood Jews.They would make it Judith the maccabee having at least 2 of the brothers being gay and we must not forget to give both sides of event.