The Gospel accounts do differ. In Mark and in Matthew I found a very human Jesus whereas in John he seems almost all the time conscious of his eternal life. I was drawn by the human Jesus who goes to Gethsemane and pleads for his destiny, for the cup to be taken away, and is essentially met by God's silence. I was touched by the transformation of that pain and suffering into something that is greater and transcends suffering and turns it into something more meaningful through sacrifice and love. So the redemptive story was very attractive to me.
CT: This story has been told many times, and there are many film versions. Did you find it a challenge to write something fresh?
FD: I did find it a challenge to write something fresh. If you look at it purely as a text, the more time one spends with the text the more rewarding it becomes. There is such a wealth in the text that it became fresh for me and new to me and I felt a trust that that would come through in the telling.
One of the things that surprised me to be truthful was how a lot of Jesus' message has become - and I don't mean this in a controversial sense at all - but I would say it has become a vaguely virtuous ideal or a set of strict moral codes that at times can seem quite unforgiving.
The more I went into the Gospel texts the more I found a Jesus who was intensely spiritual and for whom there was a very clearly outlined path of sacrifice itself, of one's own vanity, of one's own ego, of acceptance and sacrifice and unconditional love, that outward giving generosity as a response to the dangers and pain and suffering of this world. I suppose that became a sort of touchstone for me to try and find a way of dramatising it. It is a challenge to dramatise unconditional love because it is not something that one tends to see a great deal of unfortunately.
CT: Did you find it difficult to create suspense in re-telling a story in which everyone knows what happens next?
