The Message (1976 film)
The Message | |
---|---|
Directed by | Moustapha Akkad |
Written by |
|
Based on | Muhammad |
Produced by | Moustapha Akkad |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Jack Hildyard |
Edited by | John Bloom |
Music by | Maurice Jarre |
Production company | Filmco International Productions Inc. |
Distributed by | Tarik Film Distributors |
Release dates | |
Running time |
|
Countries | Lebanon Libya Kuwait Morocco United Kingdom |
Languages | Arabic English |
Budget | $17 million |
Box office | $5 million |
The Message (
Released in separately filmed Arabic- and English-language versions, The Message serves as an introduction to the early history of Islam. The international ensemble cast includes Anthony Quinn, Irene Papas, Michael Ansara, Johnny Sekka, Michael Forest, André Morell, Garrick Hagon, Damien Thomas, and Martin Benson. It was an international co-production between Libya, Morocco, Lebanon, Syria and the UK.
The film was nominated for
Plot
The film begins with
Earlier, Muhammad is visited by the angel Gabriel, which shocks him deeply. The angel asks him to start and spread the Quran. Gradually, a small number of people in the city of Mecca begin to convert. As a result, more enemies will come and hunt Muhammad and his companions from Mecca and confiscate their possessions. Some of these followers fled to Abyssinia to seek refuge with the protection given by the king there.
They head north, where they receive a warm welcome in the city of Medina and build the first Islamic mosque. They are told that their possessions are being sold in Mecca on the market. Muhammad chooses peace for a moment, but still gets permission to attack. They are attacked but win the Battle of Badr. The Meccans, desiring revenge, fight back with three thousand men in the Battle of Uhud, killing Hamza. The Muslims run after the Meccans and leave the camp unprotected. Because of this, they are surprised by riders from behind, so they lose the battle. The Meccans and the Muslims close a 10-year truce.
A few years later,
Abu Sufyan seeks an audience with Muhammad on the eve of the attack. The Meccans become very scared but are reassured that people in their houses, by the
The film ends with the narrator discussing the legacy of Islam, followed by actual footage of worshippers making
Cast
- English version
- Hamza
- Hind bint Utbah
- Michael Ansara as Abu Sufyan ibn Harb
- Johnny Sekka as Bilal ibn Rabah
- Michael Forest as Khalid ibn al-Walid
- Abu Talib
- Garrick Hagon as Ammar ibn Yasir
- Zayd
- Martin Benson as Abu Jahl
- Robert Brown as Utbah ibn Rabi'ah
- Sumayyah
- Umayyah ibn Khalaf
- Ja`far ibn Abī Tālib
- Salul
- 'Amr ibn al-'As
- Al-Najashi
- Walid ibn Utbah
- Nicholas Amer as Suhayl ibn Amr
- Mus`ab ibn `Umair
- Michael Godfrey as Baraa'
- Ubaydah
- Yasir
- Wolfe Morris as Abu Lahab
- Ronald Leigh-Hunt as Heraclius
- Leonard Trolley as Silk Merchant
- Gerard Hely as Poet Sinan
- Hudhayfah
- Peter Madden as Toothless Man
- Khosrau II
- Ikrimah
- Elaine Ives-Cameron as Arwa
Arabic version
- Hamza
- Hind
- Hamdi Ghaith as Abu Sufyan ibn Harb
- Sumayyah bint Khabbat
- Ali Ahmed Salem as Bilal
- Mahmoud Said as Khalid
- Ahmad Marey as Zayd
- Mohammad Larbi as Ammar
- Abu Jahl
- Sumayyah
- Khosrau II
- Damien Thomas as Young Christian
Production
The scholars and historians of Islam -
The University of Al-Azhar in Cairo
The High Islamic Congress of the Shiat in Lebanon
have approved the accuracy and fidelity of this film.
The makers of this film honor the Islamic tradition
which holds that the impersonation of the prophet
offends against the spirituality of his message.
Therefore, the person of Mohammad
will not be shown.
Moustapha Akkad considered creating a film about Muhammad and the birth of Islam in 1967.[5] The film's script, written by H.A.L. Craig, was approved in its entirety by Tawfiq al-Hakim, a scholar at Al-Azhar University.[6] However, the film's approval was revoked and referred to as "an insult to Islam".[7] Ahmed Asmat Abdel-Meguid and Mowaffak Allaf, the permanent representatives to the United Nations for Egypt and Syria, praised the film for its depiction of Islam.[8] While creating The Message, director Akkad, who was Muslim, consulted Islamic clerics in a thorough attempt to be respectful towards Islam and its views on portraying Muhammad. It was rejected by the Muslim World League in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.[citation needed]
$10 million was raised for the film from Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the United States and it had a final budget of $17 million. Akkad started filming in 1974, with a crew of 300, 40 actors for both English and Arabic language versions, and over 5,000 people for crowd shots. A $700,000 replica of Mecca was built near Marrakesh and Anthony Quinn was paid $1.5 million according to Michael Ansara.[9][6][10] Muhammad Ali wanted to play Bilal, but the role was given to Sekka instead with Sekka stating that "Akkad wanted a Moslem with acting experience to play the role" and "how could anyone believe that Ali could be tortured and abused as Bilal was?".[11]
Filming in Morocco started in April 1974, but Moroccan police forced them to stop filming on 5 August, as Hassan II of Morocco had been pressured by Faisal of Saudi Arabia. Akkad was granted permission to film in Libya after showing unedited film to Muammar Gaddafi and filmed from October 1974 to May 1975. Gaddafi wanted Akkad to also make a film based on the life of Omar al-Mukhtar.[6][12][9] Akkad filmed the English and Arabic versions of the film simultaneously with different actors.[13]
A light bulb on the camera was used during the scenes of characters with Muhammad to represent his immanence.[6] Islamic scholar Khaled Abou El Fadl, who was a friend of Akkad, praised his depiction of Muhammad stating that "To figure out a way to have the prophet become a person without showing him — it was brilliant".[7]
Akkad saw the film as a way to bridge the gap between the
I did the film because it is a personal thing for me. Besides its production values as a film, it has its story, its intrigue, its drama. Besides all this I think there was something personal, being a Muslim myself who lived in the west I felt that it was my obligation my duty to tell the truth about Islam. It is a religion that has a 700 million following, yet it's so little known about which surprised me. I thought I should tell the story that will bring this bridge, this gap to the west.[citation needed]
Release
In July 1976, five days before the film opened in London's West End, threatening phone calls to a cinema prompted Akkad to change the title from Mohammed, Messenger of God to The Message, at a cost of £50,000.[14][15] The film was banned in Egypt, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.[7] Irwin Yablans distributed the film in the United States.[16]
As the film was scheduled to premiere in the United States, a splinter group of the
An Indian
A 4K resolution restoration of the film was shown at the Dubai International Film Festival in December 2017, and it was given a theatrical release in Saudi Arabia.[24]
Reception
The film needed to gross $35 million to break even, but only earned $5 million during its theatrical run, with $2 million coming from the United States.[25]
Richard Eder of The New York Times described the effect of not showing Muhammad as "awkward" and likened it to "one of those Music Minus One records," adding that the acting was "on the level of crudity of an early Cecil B. DeMille Bible epic, but the direction and pace is far more languid."[32] John Pym of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The unalleviated tedium of this ten-million dollar enterprise (billed as the first 'petrodollar' movie) is largely due to the tawdry staginess of all the sets and the apparent inability of Moustapha Akkad ... to muster larger groups of people on any but two-dimensional planes."[33] Derek Malcolm, writing for The Guardian, criticized the film for its length.[30]
Awards and nominations
The film was nominated for an
Music
The musical score of The Message was composed and conducted by Maurice Jarre and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
- Track listing for the first release on LP
Side One
- The Message (3:01)
- Hegira (4:24)
- Building the First Mosque (2:51)
- The Sura (3:34)
- Presence of Mohammad (2:13)
- Entry to Mecca (3:15)
Side Two
- The Declaration (2:38)
- The First Martyrs (2:27)
- Fight (4:12)
- Spread of Islam (3:16)
- Broken Idols (4:00)
- The Faith of Islam (2:37)
- Track listing for the first release on CD
- The Message (3:09)
- Hegira (4:39)
- Building the First Mosque (2:33)
- The Sura (3:32)
- Presence of Mohammad (2:11)
- Entry to Mecca (3:14)
- The Declaration (2:39)
- The First Martyrs (2:26)
- Fight (4:11)
- The Spread of Islam (3:35)
- Broken Idols (3:40)
- The Faith of Islam (2:33)
The film's release in India in 2007/8 was accompanied by a different soundtrack by multiple artists, featuring unique tracks dedicated to the prophet notably "Marhaba Mustapha" by Indian music composer A. R. Rahman.[36][37] Rahman went onto direct the soundtrack of another film on the prophet, Majid Majidi's Muhammad: The Messenger of God (2015).[38]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Marhaba Mustapha" | A. R. Rahman | A. R. Rahman | 5:36 | |
2. | "Ya Rasoole Khuda" | Abid Imtiyaz | Liyakat Ajmeri | Mohammed Salamat | 7:38 |
3. | "Kaun Hain Aap" | Syed Ahmed | Raj Verma | Mohammed Salamat | 3:15 |
4. | "Habib Ullah" | Syed Ahmed | Raj Verma | Mohammed Salamat | 3:34 |
5. | "Keh Rahi Hai Meri Saans" | Syed Ahmed | Raj Verma | Mohammed Salamat | 3:50 |
6. | "Nabiyun Ke Nabi" | Syed Ahmed | Raj Verma | Mohammed Salamat | 2:33 |
7. | "Story of Islam and Teachings of Prophet" (As It Appears in 'Al Risalah') | Raj Verma | 18:02 | ||
Total length: | 44 minutes |
In popular culture
The troubled production of The Message inspired American writer Richard Grenier's 1983 comic novel The Marrakesh One-Two.[39]
Potential remake
In October 2008, producer Oscar Zoghbi revealed plans to "revamp the 1976 movie and give it a modern twist", according to IMDb and the World Entertainment News Network.[40][41][42][43] He hoped to shoot the remake, tentatively titled The Messenger of Peace, in the cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.
In February 2009, Barrie M. Osborne, producer of The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings film trilogies, was attached to produce a new film about Muhammad. The film was to be financed by a Qatari media company and was to be supervised by Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi.[44]
See also
- List of Islamic films
- Battle of Badr
- Battle of Uhud
- List of films about Muhammad
References
- ^ "'Mohammad' Preems In London, July 29". Variety: 5. 7 July 1976.
- ISBN 9781610691789.
- ^ "THE MESSAGE [ARABIC VERSION] (A)". British Board of Film Classification. 20 August 1976. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- ^ Gzt (12 July 2021). ""Çağrı filmi nasıl çekildi?" Mustafa Akkad anlatıyor". Gzt (in Turkish). Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "40 Years On, A Controversial Film On Islam's Origins Is Now A Classic". NPR. 7 August 2016. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Moustapha Akkad, 75, Who Produced Religious and Horror Films, Is Dead". The New York Times. 12 November 2005. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Muhammad film title changed after threats." The Times (London, 27 July 1976), 4.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Brockopp, Jonathan E (19 April 2010). The Cambridge Companion to Muhammad. Cambridge University Press. p. 287.
- ^ New York Times. Archived from the originalon 21 May 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Anuj Saxena's Maverick Productions to distribute movie Al-Risalah". India Forums. 13 December 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
- ^ Jafri, Syed Amin (23 February 2008). "Hyderabad: Screening of Islamic fim stopped". rediff.com. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia's First Arabic Release Is Controversial Islamic Epic 'The Message'". Variety. 11 June 2018. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022.
- ^ Medved & Medved 1984, p. 151.
- ^ Dilys Powell, "In pursuit of the Prophet", Sunday Times (London, 1 August 1976), p. 29.
- ^ "The Message". Variety: 22. 18 August 1976.
- ^ Champlin, Charles (March 8, 1977). "Islam as It Lives and Bleeds". Los Angeles Times. Part IV, p. 1.
- ^ Siskel, Gene (March 29, 1977). "Protests aside, 'Mohammad' is a faithful, big-budget epic". Chicago Tribune. Section 2, p. 10.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Eder, Richard (10 March 1977). "Screen: 3-Hour 'Mohammad'". The New York Times: 28.
- ^ Pym, John (September 1976). "Al-Risalah (The Message [Mohammad Messenger of God])". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 43 (512): 187.
- ^ Samir Twair and Pat Twair, "Syrian stars receive first Al-Ataa awards", The Middle East (1 December 1999).
- ^ "1977 Oscars - 50th Annual Academy Awards Oscar Winners and Nominees". Popculturemadness.com. 3 April 1978. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- ^ Al Risalah (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by A.R. Rahman, Liyakat Ajmeri, Raj Verma & Traditional, 21 October 2009, retrieved 12 August 2023.
- IndiaFM. 16 December 2007. Archived from the originalon 16 December 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
- The Wire India. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
- Palgrave MacMillan, 2021.
- ^ "The Message Gets A Modern Remake". IMDb.
- ^ Irvine, Chris (28 October 2008). "Prophet Mohammed film The Message set for remake". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 1 November 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
- ^ Brooks, Xan (27 October 2008). "Controversial biopic of Muhammad set for remake". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
- ^ "Prophet Muhammad film announced". BBC News. 28 October 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
- ^ "'Matrix' And 'Lord of the Rings' Producer To Make Movie About The Founder Of Islam". Moviesblog.mtv.com. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
Works cited
- Medved, Harry; ISBN 0207149291.
External links
- The Message at IMDb
- The Message at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Message at AllMovie