Director Gibson has accepted the film is violent

Mel Gibson's controversial film The Passion of the Christ has its nationwide US opening on Wednesday.

The film about the last 12 hours of Jesus' life received an enthusiastic response among filmgoers at preview screenings in the US on Monday. But it has been attacked by some Jewish groups as being anti-Semitic, while critics have denounced what they say is "brutal and graphic" violence.

The Passion of The Christ is released on Ash Wednesday

He accepts that the film is violent but has said: "If you don't like it, don't go. If you want to leave halfway through, go ahead." He has said he faithfully portrayed the Bible's account of Jesus' last hours, and has been supported by Christian groups. The movie opens at 2,800 cinemas in the US after a series of preview screenings which left some early viewers shocked but enthusiastic about its content. Teenager Mayelin Guzman, attending with a church group in Harlem, New York, said the depiction of Jesus' torture was "a little crazy". But she said the film would "change a lot of people's minds about the church" in a positive way.

Rosemary Henderson, who provides home care for the elderly, agreed, saying: "Some people's lives will be changed by this movie.

The film has been criticised by some leading Jewish figures

"I feel Mel Gibson is right on time with this movie. Hats off to him and God bless him. I don't care what the press or any of the critics say." In Overland Park, Kansas, leaders of the First Family Church sold 3,500 seats to nine showings of the movie, offering gospel sermons after the closing credits. Meanwhile, about three dozen Jewish demonstrators carrying placards rallied in front of a Manhattan cinema to protest about the film. Scholars have said it is riddled with historical errors, such as portraying Jesus with long hair, and characters speaking in Latin and Aramaic. Gibson has said he consulted scholars, theologians, priests and spiritual writers before scripting the film.