HOWZAT

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger said: "The Vatican and the Pope must explain today ... that the Jewish nation, the Jewish people didn't kill Jesus." Rabbi Metzger said that friends who had seen the film were "deeply shocked by it."

Catholic priests were also among the 800-strong audience at the special premiere, along with members of the media, and their take on the film was markedly different.

Father Mark Hackeson, from Norfolk, said: "I thought it was an excellent and very moving film. I do not believe it is anti-Semitic - Jesus himself was Jewish. Of course it is violent, but the crucifixion was a very violent event.

"The important thing is that the message behind the violence is one of love and forgiveness, not of condemnation."

Joseph Devine, the Bishop of Motherwell, said: "It was stunning. A remarkable achievement."

However not all Christian viewers were impressed: "I've got very mixed feelings about it," said David Lawrence, media officer for the United Reformed Church. "It's very difficult to lose the Monty Python interpretation because the film was so laden with symbolism and the acting was so laboured.

The much-hyped blockbuster drew thousands in early morning screenings in the US yesterday and continued to draw crowds later in the day. It also opened in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Some devout Christians cannot see the film. The Mormon church forbids missionaries from watching television or films and discourages its followers from watching R-rated films, of which The Passion is one.

"I don't think our Lord would want me to see an R-rated film about his son," said 20-year-old Shawn Watts, a Mormon missionary, in Salt Lake City.

One viewer reported died after collapsing during the bloody crucifixion scene. The Witchita Eagle reported that the cause of death for Peggy Law Scott, 57 of Wichita, Kansas, was not immediately known.

The current first-day box office record for a film released outside the summer and Christmas seasons is held by Hannibal which took $19.8m in February 2001.

The biggest takings for a film opening on a Wednesday stand at $34.1 million (£18.3m) for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

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