Also known as The Message, this historical epic about
the creation of Islam is handsomely mounted but of little interest to anyone
except true believers—while it’s not a bad film, per se, it’s so reverent that it provides far more detail than casual viewers might want, and
far less insight than serious viewers would need to justify the investment of
three hours. Mohammad, Messenger of God
also has one of the most unusual storytelling problems in the history of
religious cinema: Out of respect for a Muslim custom, Mohammad is never shown
onscreen. As a result, Mohammad,
Messenger of God is a biopic about a person we neither hear nor see. Thanks
to producer-director Moustapha Akkad’s resourceful approach, this
isn’t a fatal storytelling flaw—Akkad uses narration and scenes of characters
addressing the unseen Mohammad to suggest the prophet’s presence. Yet the inability to depict the character around whom the story revolves raises
legitimate questions about why Mohammad,
Messenger of God is so long.
In any event, this is a good-looking movie
with impressive production values, and composer Maurice Jarre contributes a
stirring score in the vein of the music he composed for another desert epic, Laurence of Arabia (1962). Set six
centuries after Christ’s death, the movie begins with the illiterate Mohammad
emerging from a spiritual retreat in the mountains outside Mecca. He returns to
town having received a message from God, who has imbued Mohammad with the
ability to deliver prophecies. Because Mecca is a major trading hub in which the
worship of hundreds of gods is practiced, Mohammad’s message threatens powerful
people including tribal leader Abu-Sofyan (Michael Ansara). Meanwhile, Mohammad gains charismatic supporters, including his uncle, Hamza (Anthony Quinn). For
the first hour of the picture, Mohammad’s following increases even as the
powers-that-be escalate their violent opposition to his teachings. Eventually,
Mohammad leads his people on a 250-mile pilgrimage to find religious sanctuary
until another message from God compels the group to reclaim Mecca.
Although Mohammad, Messenger of God was clearly a
labor of love for Akkad, the picture suffers from problems that often plague
sincere religious movies. Actors don’t so much inhabit roles as pose in ornate
period dress while reciting stilted dialogue that’s written in a faux-classical
style. So, while some scenes are powerful, notably the willing conversion of a
black slave to Islam despite great personal risk, the film is more educational
in nature than entertaining. It’s also awkward that Quinn has top billing, even
though he only appears (fleetingly) during the middle hour of the picture. Most
of the heavy lifting is done by Ansara, whose sonorous speaking voice suits the
role of a regal leader, and by Damien Thomas, who tries to imbue his
characterization of Mohammad’s adopted son Zayd with sensitivity.
Questions of
whether Mohammad, Messenger of God
accurately depicts events or fairly characterizes the nature of the Islamic faith
are for others to explore, though it’s perhaps unsurprising that the U.S.
release of the film sparked controversy. The fact that Lybian dictator Muammar
Gaddafi bankrolled the film did not curry much favor in America, and a bloody
siege on three buildings in Washington, D.C., by radicals who, among other
things, demanded the destruction of Akkad’s movie further tainted the picture’s
debut. The movie enjoyed a much warmer reception internationally, both in this English-language version and in an Arabic-language version that Akkad shot simultaneously.
Mohammad, Messenger of God: FUNKY
1 comment:
A correction. Muhammad did not gain the ability to read and write upon receiving revelation; he gained the ability to prophesy. He never did learn to read and write. There may be some confusion since the first word of revelation, iqra’ is the imperative of a verb that can mean either read (off a page) or recite (from memory). In the case of the illiterate prophet Muhammad, only the latter sense is intended.
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