France: Fundamental Opposition

Nearly all the reels of The Last Temptation of Christ had been packed away, and the smoke had lifted from the fire-bombed Latin Quarter theater that screened the film. But Paris still smoldered with Temptation controversy last week. An investigation into the September attacks aimed at U.S. director Martin Scorsese's movie turned up evidence that militant Christian groups linked to the ultra-right National Front led by Jean-Marie Le Pen might be to blame.

The French press disclosed a sheet of printed instructions for a campaign of harassment against the film that included the use of tear gas. According to the weekend...