"The message" is a biographical and historical movie filmed by Moustapha Akkad in 1976 and that describes the life of prophet Muhammad from the time that he became the messenger of the God. The events that were described in this movie were held on two main sacred Islamic cities Mecca and Medina. According to this movie, Mecca was the birthplace and the place of becoming the prophet of Muhammad. He was the first person who came to the belief that there is only one god - Allah. This belief came from the message on his head that was delivered by Allah in order to enlighten the people. In this movie, it is also implicitly described the history of the book Quran containing all messages of the God that were sent to Muhammad and that were orally transmitted by him to other followers. Through these messages, Muhammad wanted to convince people that God is one and God is Allah. Unfortunately, the majority of citizens of Mecca (especially older people and upper-class people) were against his actions as they see their religion as a source of their wealth. The reason for this was that in the time Muhammed there was a strong class division that was beneficial for the upper-class people, however, according to Muhammad all people are God's creature and therefore all of them have equal rights. Even if Muhammad and his followers experienced a strong resistance in their way of convincing the people that people actually have only one God, at the end of the movie, they were able to put a foundation of the development and spread of the new religion - Islam. Moreover, they proclaimed the Mecca as a sacred place where people can get themselves closer to God.
Overall the movie "The message" has a lot of symbolic elements that perfectly portrays the religious beliefs and ideologies of people that lived at that time. First of all, clothes that characters wear shows the classes that they belong to and fully displays the division of classes. A perfect example for that is the absence of clean and proper costumes worn on the servants and presence of massive accessories and various colorful and expensive clothes on the higher class that serves as a good sun protector. Moreover, the same style clothes that they were at the shows that they finally accepted equal rights for everyone that was present in the ideology of Islamic religion. The same pattern is present in the accessories of their camels and horses. Secondly, the presence of the various statues of several Gods shows the elements of idol worshiping and polytheism. Also, the way that Mohammad crashed the main statue that is located inside the Kaaba symbolically shows the fall of the polytheist belief in Mecca. Thirdly, the respect of the people towards the sacred place is shown in the scene where people decided to build a house at the place where camel bowed down towards the ground. Finally, some of the viewers can notice the presence of "Shaitan", Islamic devil, in this movie. It is clearly seen at the moment when Hind acted like a crazy when she pierced with her knife the dead body of Muhammad's follower.
The interesting fact about this movie is that even if it was the bibliographical film about the Muhammed his character and his voice were not presented in it. It was happened due to the fact that in Islamic traditions showing the image of God's prophets is strictly prohibited. However, we can notice that sometimes the lens of the camera was shown as the eyes of Muhammad in order to deliver some important information about the crucial events.
To my point of view, the cinematography of the movie was really outstanding. The graphical quality was perfect for the time when it was filmed. The decorations that appeared on it makes the viewers feel the ancient Arabic atmosphere. The musical accompaniment that was performed shows the mood and emotions of all scenes. For example, the tense music during the battle makes the viewers worry about the fate of the main characters. I also enjoyed the acting of some of the actors, especially of those who had a difficult role with wide rage emotional spectrum. The most disappointing element of this movie is the scene of cruelty towards the slaves and early followers of Muhammad. Because of this fact it is not recommended to show it to children for educational purposes.
To sum up, I would recommend this film to others as it is a good and easily understandable source of knowledge about the emergence of Koran and Islamic religions. Moreover, as I have noticed representation of the majority of historical events are done with great accuracy. This fact makes the movie "the message" not only interesting but also very informative and educational.
Review of The Message
