I understand that Gibson's film will be subtitled in America too. Except, I expect in English rather than German.

Mr. Gibson probably missed it a bit on the language, since he having the Roman soldiers using Latin and they more likely used Greek, but he apparently has a thing about Latin anyway.

I don't know anything about Mel Gibson's father except what I've heard and read in connection with the current teapot tempest about the film, so I take it all with a measure of cautious skepticism. He may be notorious, but I was unaware of his notoriety until the film publicity started up.

I also don't know about "most of the 'classic' passion plays of years gone by," because again, I haven't seen or read very much of very many of them, and only know of them generally and mostly as hearsay about their messages. I expect that an antisemitic theme might have been commonplace in the Middle Ages, but haven't consulted the primary sources available to know one way or another.

There is a history of presumption about the Jews as a people being cursed for the death of Jesus, expressed in various religious teachings, mostly of the past, especially of the Middle Ages, but not entirely past. Somehow "teachers" lost sight of the fact that while Peter confronted those actually involved in the rejection and death of Jesus quite directly (Acts 2:23, 36, 3:14, 17, 4:10) no New Testament preacher ever accused anyone who wasn't there of participating in that event, or bearing guilt for it. On the contrary, when Paul preached to Jews in Antioch of Pisidia, he said, "Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people." Acts 13:26-31 NIV Third person and past tense throughout, so far as any "blame" is concerned.