#THE MESSAGE 1976 FILM MOVIE#

Surprisingly, I had never heard of this movie and probably would have never seen it had it not been listed in IMDb's 'Top 250' films of last year. The film has a lot of good qualities, but as they used to say in that old MacDonald's commercial: Where's the Beef.

But Islam has the restriction about hearing or seeing a depiction of the Prophet which robs the film of what it needs most, a charismatic player doing the role of Mohammed and reading some of the poetical/lyrical quality of his sayings. It was the best part of the film, it couldn't have been made without it. In fact recently I saw Peter and Paul and I was quite impressed with Anthony Hopkins acting out the sermons recorded in the New Testament of Paul. In King of Kings and The Greatest Story Ever Told both Jeffrey Hunter and Max Von Sydow read lines from the New Testament as part of the dialog because the messenger is of course an integral part of the story. But in those films Jesus was not the central character.

The figure of Jesus in both The Big Fisherman and Ben-Hur is seen from the rear and is not heard at all. Still even laboring under that handicap, when it opened in 1976 there were still protests. We never hear Mohammed, we see him on two occasions in long-shot and he's not recognizable.

Anthony Quinn, Irene Papas, Michael Ansara and the rest of the players talk to the camera as if Mohammed was like Philip Marlowe in Lady of the Lake, that famous noir film shot in the first person. What we have in The Message is a cast playing to a vacuum. It was by arms as well as faith that Islam triumphed in the Arabian peninsula and was spreading elsewhere when the Prophet died in 632. He was not only a great religious teacher, but apparently quite the military strategist. He would have to have been to have accomplished what he did. By all accounts the messenger was one charismatic fellow. The Message is about the early days of Islam, but as a film it labors under the insurmountable handicap of us not seeing the messenger. It is not known whether Gadafy will again be involved.Apparently when Mohammed founded Islam he never factored in the great use that motion pictures could be made for spreading the faith. A spokesman for the producers suggested to Reuters that the film's funding and production schedule had yet to finalised, promising that details would be announced 'in due course'. It remains to be seen whether The Messenger of Peace will be able to equal the impact of its forefather. Akkad and his daughter were killed in an al-Qaida attack on luxury hotels in the Jordanian capital, Amman, in 2005. The hostages were eventually released after a 39-hour stand-off.Īccording to Akkad, 'the film's American box-office prospects never quite recovered from the unfortunate controversy.'Īfter making The Message, Akkad went on to produce the successful Halloween horror franchise and direct Anthony Quinn, Rod Steiger and John Gielgud in the 1980 epic Lion of the Desert, which was again funded by Gadafy. The notorious Hanafi Muslim Siege resulted in the deaths of a police officer and a radio reporter, while council member – and future mayor – Marion Barry was wounded by a shotgun pellet. In March 1977, 12 members of the Black Muslims organisation stormed three buildings in Washington DC, taking 149 people hostage and demanding that the film be destroyed. However, The Message sparked controversy in the US when it was rumoured that Quinn was starring as Muhammad. The film's depiction of Islam won praise from the High Islamic Congress of the Shia in Lebanon. I thought I should tell the story that will bring this bridge, this gap to the west.' 'It is a religion that has a 700 million following, yet it's so little known, which surprised me. '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,' he said. Speaking at the time, the Syrian-born Akkad claimed that he made The Message because he wanted to explain the teachings of Islam to a western audience. Two versions of the picture were shot – one in Arabic and the other in English. Instead, Akkad opted to signify his presence with light organ music and occasionally framed the film from the prophet's point of view as he observed the actions of his followers. In accordance with Muslim conventions forbidding any visual depiction of the prophet, Muhammad is never seen or heard in the film. 'In the 21st century there is a real need for a film that emotionally engages audiences on the journey that led to the birth of Islam,' added Ramzi Thomas.ĭirected in 1976 by the late Moustapha Akkad, The Message starred Anthony Quinn as an Arab follower of Muhammad and was funded by the Libyan leader Muammar Gadafy.

The message 1976 film