The Message

The Message (1976)

Runtime: 178 minutes

Directed by: Moustapha Akkad

Starring: Anthony Quinn, Irene Papas, Michael Ansara, Johnny Sekka, Michael Forest

From: Filmco International Productions

I saw this film from Lebanon/Libya/Kuwait/Morocco/UK and what an interesting movie it is: 

Even among hardcore film fans like my fellow denizens of Letterboxd, I presume many will know Moustapha Akkad only for the Halloween franchise and haven't seen anything else involving him. Well, this is about as different from a Michael Myers story as you can get, as it is a story about Muhammad and how the Islam faith began and the struggles the first followers had to deal with, including various battles. Oh, and Akkad was also the director.

A unique hurdle the movie had to face was following what most (I understand not all, but most) of the faith believe, which is that an image or any kind of portrayal of Muhammad is utter blasphemy. The movie manages to work even though you never see nor hear the prophet or his wife/children. Anthony Quinn was a sort of surrogate as Muhammad's uncle. The movie (both this and an Arabic version that was shot at the same time) was a source of great contention around the world. I am not privy to most of the reasons why; I just know of what happened in Washington, D.C.; a splinter group had misconceptions of the film and were so angry they held people hostage and unfortunately a few innocents died. United States box office suffering because of that is of course secondary.

I cannot speak of the content that made some Muslims so irate. I can say that Akkad even had trouble finding funding and making this without any Hollywood support. It wasn't the idea at first but parts of the movie were filmed in Libya and he did have the support of Muammar Gaddafi; Google can tell you why he was so controversial if you don't know already but the only other movie Moustapha directed (1981's Lion of the Desert) was also filmed in Libya and received money from Gaddafi. Not a good look, as some people would say and think.

The thing is, all that said I thought this movie was very good. I understand those who think the film is “boring” because it is 3 hours long, features a lot of talking, and if you don't care about the subject matter... I never had that problem. The movie did not seem that long, which is a high compliment whenever I see something this lengthy. The movie was filmed well, had nice sets, an appropriate Maurice Jarre score and the performances were all at least fine.

Even with the constraints put on it in order to make it palatable for the intended audience, I can say the movie at least worked for me, someone who is decidedly not of Muslim faith nor am I fully versed in the religion. I got to see how Islam began and how those at the beginning were so devoted despite all the odds.