[syriacus]

I wonder if they are allowed to portray Mohammed at all, even as a cartoon character.

I think someone made a movie about his life that showed the other characters, but not him.

[Sans-Culotte]

Yeah-something is not right here. When Mustaffa Akhad, the film-maker who had made the stirring epic Lion of the Desert with Anthony Quinn as desert chieftain Omar Mukhtar, started work on a proposed film on the Prophet, he had to re-write it so that Muhammed did not physically appear in the film at all. The film was to be titled Muhammed: Messenger of God, but was changed to The Message and concentrated on the impact of Muhammed without portraying any events of his life, as orthadox Islam apparently forbids the representation of Muhammed. Apparently, he would have gotten the Salman Rushdie treatment had he made the film he had intended to make.

[syriacus]

Mohammed: Messenger of God; aka The Message

This handsomely-mounted historical epic concerns the birth of the Islamic faith and the story of the prophet Mohammed -- who, in accordance with the tenants of Islam, is never seen or heard (any physical depiction of the prophet is considered a heinous sin within the faith)....

Unfounded rumors had it that Mohammed would not only be depicted in the film, but that he was to be played by Charlton Heston or Peter O'Toole. This resulted in angry protests by Muslim extremists, until director Moustapha Akkad hired a staff of respected Islamic clerics as technical advisors. The advisors butted heads with Akkad, and they quit the production, which led the Moroccan government to withdraw their permission to film in their country.

In time, Akkad ended up shooting on location in Libya under the sponsorship of Muammar Qaddafi, which presented a whole new set of political and practical problems for the filmmakers.

Finally, when the film was scheduled to premier in the U.S., another Muslim extremist group staged a siege against the Washington D.C. chapter of the B'nai B'rith under the mistaken belief that Anthony Quinn played Mohammed in the film, threatening to blow up the building and its inhabitants unless the film's opening was cancelled. The standoff was resolved without explosion or injuries, though the film's American box office prospects never recovered from the unfortunate controversy. The Message was shot in two versions, one in English and one in Arabic (entitled Al-Ris-Alah), with different actors taking over some of the roles due to language requirements.

[B-Chan]

As I understand it, Mohammed is portrayed in this film only as a blinding light.

There's a trailer on the website. They never show Mohammed -- only his followers and the bad guys (idolators, in this case; even a broken clock is right twice a day.)

[justshutupandtakeit]

Anthony Quinn played Mad Mo in the 70s but the terrorists prevented the picture's release. Of course, the spineless losers in Hollyweird just bowed down and kissed their asses.

[weegee]

I have not downloaded the trailer but I did read:

"The trailer for this movie can be found at

http://www.thelastprophet.com/

and it must be kept in mind that the likeness of the Prophet (pbuh) and his companions and family are not shown."