"Where tens of thousands of muslims stand today [in Mecca], once there was only one."
The Message, also sometimes titled "Mohammad, Messenger of God" is a
movie epic from 1976.
MPAA rated
PG
Starring: Anthony Quinn, Irene Papas, and Michael Ansara (in the English version)
The Message is a magnificent movie. Its tagline is "The Story of Islam" and that's basically what it is. It chronicles the life and times of the Prophet Muhammad(pbuh), from when he began spreading revelations know as the Quran and continues through the Hegira to the time in Medina, and up to when he returned to Mecca. This all takes place in the 6th century CE and squeezes decades of critical history into a four hour long film.
"The Message" is, for Muslims, comparable to what "The Ten Commandments (starring Charlton Heston)" is for Jews. It's the only substantial film about Muhammad(pbuh) and Islam worth watching that isn't a documentary.
The film took six years to prepare and over a year to film. It was shot in a life-sized replica of Mecca and Medina, made to look like they did in the 6th century, complete with a replica of the Kaaba. The makers took a small old city in Morocco and added props and remodeled houses to recreate the authenticity, which took months. This took place on a rather large scale, as they needed to show 6th century Mecca as a rich city in the desert. At one point the entire country ran out of scaffolding to finish refitting all the buildings, so they had to import more. The people of the city were all hired to build, and also acted as extras in the movie.
Interestingly enough, while the film centers around Muhammad(pbuh) and his life's story, he isn't shown at all. This is to keep to the Islamic law that nobody can attempt to depict or idolize Muhammad. The director Moustapha Akkad, a muslim, reviewed the script with Islamic scholars in Al-Azhar University (one of the highest scholarly authorities) in Cairo and received permission and blessing to go ahead with the film. Instead of showing him, the camera takes his point of view. Actors talk to the screen and are talking to "him." The camera moves as he would, and the POV also includes being on a camel and walking around through crowds. Instead of hearing his voice, one of his followers addresses the crowd for him.
The film shows the difficulties Muhammad(pbuh) and his followers faced. Part of the story is told through the sahaba, who do the preaching and recite Quran for him. While you do not see most of the famous sahaba depicted, like Abu Bakr(ra) or Ali(ra), you do see other important figures like Muhammad's uncles Hamza(ra) and Abu Talib, as well as Hazrat Bilal, Ammar ibn Yasir, and Muhammad's adopted son Zaid. Since the main Character (Muhammad(pbuh)) isn't shown, the sahabas function as the central characters, with Anthony Quinn as Hamza getting the top billing. The other more famous sahabas like Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali(ra) are not shown. Muhammad's enemies such as Abu Jahl, Abu Sufiyan and his wife Hind are depicted as well. Other figures who switch sides later on, like Khalid bin Walid are also present.
In addition, the battles of Badr and Uhud are recreated to show what happened. The filmmakers reproduced massive battle scenes with thousands of people and hundreds of horses and camels. They hired soldiers from Libya to train and rehearse the battle scenes of ancient Arabia, and staged the massive battles in the desert, complete with a sandstorm.
Two versions of the film were shot; one in English and one in Arabic. The Arabic one is known as "Ar-Risalah." Each version uses the same set and camera unit, but has a different cast, meaning different actors read the lines for each respective version. The Arabic version is slightly different as the actual Quran gets recited, while the english version has an english interpretation given instead, but perhaps not with the same force or feeling. If you ever listen to the Quran recited in Arabic in a mosque, you will understand what I mean.
The Music is done pretty well, the man in charge of the score spent nearly a year researching middle eastern music. The Royal Philharmonic in London performed for the score, with the addition certain middle eastern instruments to give the orchestra a certain Arabian quality. The music is in 4-track stereo, which I imagine is a good thing (I'm not an audiophile who would know the difference) since it was created in the 1970's.
I'd call this movie Oscar-worthy for its time, but it was not made in Hollywood. It took a great deal of effort to produce, using people from 25 countries, millions of dollars, and years of planning to create such a large-scale recreation of history.
The Plot:
It's the end of the 6th century in
Mecca, a rich and bustling town that gets its money from the people who make pilgrimmages to the idols kept there. After seeing a vision of the angel
Gabriel,
Muhammad(pbuh) calls the people of Mecca to cast aside the over 360 idols and worship only the One God. Despite harsh persecution, his followers meet secretly to listen to the revelations of the
Quran, the word of God. The leaders of Mecca respond by torturing and killing followers, until many flee to
Abissynia where a
Christian king protects them after listening to the
Quran. The rest of the Muslims leave everything behind in
Mecca and take sanctuary in
Medina, where they ask
Muhammad(pbuh) to lead a truce between the warring tribes.
The Meccans, sensing a threat, continue to persecute the Muslims and attack caravans of supplies to Medina. The muslims repeatedly urge Muhammad to fight back, but he consistently refuses. After over 14 years of persecution since the beginning, another revelation from God is sent that gives permission to fight back. They fight the Battle of Badr and are victorious against overwhelming odds. Islam begins to spread, and more and more people convert, until the Muslims re-enter Mecca without violence and smash the idols around the Kaaba. Islam takes root and becomes the dominant religion over polytheism, and the people dedicate themselves to the worship of one God.
This movie is religious in tone, yes, because it talks about the history of a religion. It's based on actual events in history and real historic figures, complete with a montage at the end of how the religion is today. There's just something beautiful and compelling about this movie, and the people portrayed within display some form of courage that you so rarely see today. You can't help but feel empathy for the people, the first muslims who were a minority but struggled and suffered for their religion. The film is not just about Muhammad(pbuh), but about the sahaba who had to endure so much pain and torture for their beliefs, and you see them being beaten, whipped, branded, stoned, and driven from their homes. Bilal was squeezed under heavy scalding rocks, but refused to stop saying "One God" over and over. Ammar ibn Yasir witnessed both of his parents killed in front of him, but didn't lose his faith. Allahu Akbar
The DVD:
"The Message" is on a 2-sided
DVD, since the movie is close to 4 hours long. It's availible in widescreen form. The features aren't that great, it has a "Making of" reel, as well as a
trailer in English and Arabic, and a timeline about the life of
Muhammad(pbuh), and a slideshow. The Quality is not the best, being that the movie was made in the 1970's and the transfer to DVD has a low quality. It has
Dolby stereo. Overall, the quality of the DVD is nothing special, but I bought it because I love the film so much. It has no subtitles and only has one language on it. You can also find a 2-disc set, with both the English and Arabic versions of the film.
The Message is also availible on VHS in English or Arabic (2 videos each). The Director said dubbing wouldn't match up like how he wanted, which is why he made two versions, one English and one Arabic. I'm sure its subtitled into other languages.