FIRST OFF . . .

A Danish film director on Monday launched his legal battle against a 1976 government decision that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John have copyright precedence to the Bible’s passages on the life of Jesus Christ. Avant-garde director Jens Jorgen Thorsen intends to call Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman and Scandinavia’s vanguard Surrealist artist Wilhelm Freddie as witnesses in the $400,000 civil trial, which is expected to last three weeks. The case before the Copenhagen District Court finally began 13 years after the Danish state withdrew the $120,000 grant Thorsen was to receive for the production of a film loosely based on the life of Christ. Denmark’s National Film Institute had awarded the funds for the production of a manuscript but withdrew its support eight months later after a public outcry, when it became apparent the film would contain erotic passages. The attorney general then ruled that the authors of the four Gospels had copyright precedence to the story of the life of Christ. The Film Institute was ordered to withdraw its financial support and Thorsen was forced to drop his production. If he wins the case, Thorsen is expected to produce a new Christ manuscript.