This life story of prophet Mohammed is strictly halal - a retelling of the beginning of Islam true to the essence and devoid of popular misconceptions about the religion. This naturally caused a significant filming problem as depiction of Mohammed is haram (forbidden), so director Moustapha Akkad had to devise a way of shooting a movie about the prophet without ever showing him or even supplying him a voice. This actually initiated a popular uprise amongst Muslims, when the movie was first received, as they were fed by the wrongful assumption that Anthony Quinn is indeed portraying Islam's holiest man. In fact however the closest we ever come to seeing Mohammed is a shot of his famous blade Zulfiqar (in some traditions a gift from the Archangel Gabriel), his wooden staff or a first-perspective camera as we look through his eyes.
The story itself is told by secondary figures (as depicting Mohammed's immediate family is also not allowed) like the prophet's uncle Hamza (Anthony Quinn) or adopted son Zaid (Damien Thomas). Other characters featured are the freed slave and first Muezzin Bilal (Johnny Sekka) as well as his first enemies: Hind (Irene Papas), Abu Sofyan (Michael Ansara). Apart from the origins of the religion, its similarity to Old Testament teachings of discarding false pagan idols, kinship to Christianity and Judaism (extremely well depicted when Muslim refugees seek audience with the Christian Emperor of Abyssinia), the movie also indulges into epic warfare with two key battles fought during the emergence of the Islam: the Battle of Badr and the Battle of Uhud (argually the weakest spot in the movie as lacking tension and poorly choreographed). There obviously is a significant problem with the main protagonist of the story hidden from sight and his messages relayed by third persons, as it causes lack of character identification and little involvement into events portrayed apart from a historical and educational standpoint.
As pure contextualisation of Islam "The Message" stands the test of time, at times struggling within the confines of non-presenting the prophet and carrying a mixed bag of performances, but otherwise steadfastly placed within the facts and religion. Somewhat whitewashed, albeit not as much as some detractors would claim, it carries the strong humanist ideal behind Islam, focusing on points which ring self-evidently morally correct in modern time (mainly regarding slavery, equal rights or women emancipation). That does of course bring to the forefront questions whether Islam has been so misrepresented by religious scholars or subverted by tradition, that especially women's rights as nowhere near the place it is presented in the movie.
A strong kinship exists between this movie and those epics dealing with the birth of Christianity, such as "Quo Vadis", "Ben Hur" or "The Ten Commandments". Not only regarding the subject, but a predominant Hollywood model of portraying such religious events. As such faith conversion is never deeply analysed, but treated as a given (obvious superiority of the new faith over idolatry). With such framing right and wrong is obviously divided between religious lines, although a certain grey area does exist and 'villians' are always offered a chance at redemption. Essentially glorified iconography not much can be derived from it as commentary, most heartfelt reactions are brought about by messages inherent to the given religion. Nonetheless an excellently shot movie gifted with a strong budget (apparently given by the late Muammar Gaddafi), nicely pulled in together by a gifted helmer.
Proves that big-budget features can be made in Arab countries. I for one wish for some big financiers to throw together their diamond rings, Maybach's and gold-platted villas to fund a movie portraying the Arab point of view on the Crusades...
The story itself is told by secondary figures (as depicting Mohammed's immediate family is also not allowed) like the prophet's uncle Hamza (Anthony Quinn) or adopted son Zaid (Damien Thomas). Other characters featured are the freed slave and first Muezzin Bilal (Johnny Sekka) as well as his first enemies: Hind (Irene Papas), Abu Sofyan (Michael Ansara). Apart from the origins of the religion, its similarity to Old Testament teachings of discarding false pagan idols, kinship to Christianity and Judaism (extremely well depicted when Muslim refugees seek audience with the Christian Emperor of Abyssinia), the movie also indulges into epic warfare with two key battles fought during the emergence of the Islam: the Battle of Badr and the Battle of Uhud (argually the weakest spot in the movie as lacking tension and poorly choreographed). There obviously is a significant problem with the main protagonist of the story hidden from sight and his messages relayed by third persons, as it causes lack of character identification and little involvement into events portrayed apart from a historical and educational standpoint.
As pure contextualisation of Islam "The Message" stands the test of time, at times struggling within the confines of non-presenting the prophet and carrying a mixed bag of performances, but otherwise steadfastly placed within the facts and religion. Somewhat whitewashed, albeit not as much as some detractors would claim, it carries the strong humanist ideal behind Islam, focusing on points which ring self-evidently morally correct in modern time (mainly regarding slavery, equal rights or women emancipation). That does of course bring to the forefront questions whether Islam has been so misrepresented by religious scholars or subverted by tradition, that especially women's rights as nowhere near the place it is presented in the movie.
A strong kinship exists between this movie and those epics dealing with the birth of Christianity, such as "Quo Vadis", "Ben Hur" or "The Ten Commandments". Not only regarding the subject, but a predominant Hollywood model of portraying such religious events. As such faith conversion is never deeply analysed, but treated as a given (obvious superiority of the new faith over idolatry). With such framing right and wrong is obviously divided between religious lines, although a certain grey area does exist and 'villians' are always offered a chance at redemption. Essentially glorified iconography not much can be derived from it as commentary, most heartfelt reactions are brought about by messages inherent to the given religion. Nonetheless an excellently shot movie gifted with a strong budget (apparently given by the late Muammar Gaddafi), nicely pulled in together by a gifted helmer.
Proves that big-budget features can be made in Arab countries. I for one wish for some big financiers to throw together their diamond rings, Maybach's and gold-platted villas to fund a movie portraying the Arab point of view on the Crusades...