And the more I began to see Caiaphas from his point of view as trying to protect a theological and social order the more reasonable it seemed to me to portray his family life, that he is trying to protect the people he loves, which is a very human instinct. And it became intriguing to me as a writer and Ben Daniels as an actor to explore how one’s own fears and desires to protect leads Caiaphas down this - to him - convincing road. That is one reason.
But the other reason why it became even more compelling is that he acts as a tremendous counterpoint to Jesus and he really illuminates exactly what Jesus is saying. By being a strong and sympathetic opponent to Jesus, Jesus’ arguments have to work harder to come across. And that is a great dramatic situation where in a sense it is right against right, rather than a very simplistic right against wrong.
It certainly is a new approach. When Caiaphas is addressing the Sanhedrin it is a very politically and emotionally charged meeting and at one point he asks is it so wrong to sacrifice one man to save the rest, which is a very powerful statement against Jesus having just before said ‘I have come to sacrifice myself to cleanse the world of sin’. One illuminates the other.
On a simple historical level it gives a context to the story and gives reasons that we can understand today as to why people would behave the way they do.
But it’s ultimately for other people to decide what all of this means to them. My job is to dramatise and humanise the questions and then people bring their own faith, or antipathy to faith or their own lack of faith to watching and they then make their own decisions.
CT: Is that also the thinking behind the open ending?
FD: The thing I enjoyed most about writing the ending was writing the reactions of the disciples and their responses. I didn’t want to approach the story with an attitude of appropriating it for some contemporary agenda or point of view. What we wanted to do was try and open it up from inside and do it in a way that maybe threw some new light onto it. But even in doing that I feel the disciples said what I think people would pretty much say today and that is where I feel the strength of the ending is, that they ask the questions I hope the audience will be asking.
CT: Are you worried Christians might quibble over your use of artistic license and where you have had to elaborate a little bit?
FD: I’ve tried to find a human truth that feels real and that is not always the same as a theological truth and so I would hope that people would be open to the fact they are watching a piece of drama rather than a theological treatise. It’s a different discourse.
CT: What do you hope the viewers will come away with from The Passion?
FD: I hope they come away with a sense of the spiritual wealth of the Gospels and the immense spiritual dignity and power of Jesus as a character. But I wouldn’t take any credit for that - genuinely! I just hope we have brought it to life in a way that is open and fresh and invites in an audience.
