http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9E3A5428-3D75-4800-B433-41DF8473DD8C.htm
Muslim groups praise Crusades film
Monday 09 May 2005, 17:45 Makka Time, 14:45 GMT
A new epic film about the Crusades has struck a chord in the Arab world, where
cinemagoers say it has challenged the Hollywood stereotype of Arabs and Muslims
as terrorists.
Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven, which depicts a 12th century battle for
Jerusalem between Muslims and Crusaders, is also a welcome message of support
for those who back moderation over extremism in managing ties between Islam and
the West.
"The film goes against religious fanaticism very clearly. All that goes against
hatred, fanaticism and systematic opposition between those two worlds is
welcome," Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf, author of The Crusades Through Arab
Eyes, said.
"The aim of the film is to heal wounds, not reopen them," Egyptian film critic
Tariq al-Shinnawy said.
Muslim groups have praised the film by the director of Gladiator for its
portrayal of Saladin, the Kurdish leader of the Muslim army which in 1187
recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders.
Unfair coverage
Cinemagoers in the Arab world say the film may help repair some of the damage
done to Islam's reputation by Hollywood films that have set Muslim fighters
against American heroes, and what many see as unfair Western news coverage of
the region.
Arabs and Muslims say Hollywood
has damaged Islam's reputation
"Arabs and Muslims usually appear as bloodthirsty savages in Hollywood
productions. Kingdom of Heaven is fairer - the Arabs and Muslims come out much
better," Deana Elimam, an Egyptian-American living in Cairo, said.
Al-Shinnawy said Saladin, played by Syrian actor Ghassan Massud, would have
made a greater impact if Scott had given him a more visible role. "You see
glimpses of his heroism," he said.
"It doesn't realise all aspirations, but we cannot ask Ridley Scott to present
everything. It is enough that he presents an image in which there is some
balance," he said.
Western 'genius'
But Scott's efforts have not won universal praise among Middle Eastern viewers.
US-based Lebanese academic Asad Abu Khalil objected to a scene where the lead
character, a Crusader called Balian and played by Orlando Bloom, appeared to
show Arab peasants how to dig wells to irrigate farm land.
"I was ... most unhappy, when the hero of the movie ... took over his estate,
and with typical Western 'genius' taught those inferior Arabs how to dig for
water, as if they had not been doing that for centuries," Abu Khalil said on
his website.
"This is akin to the Western myth of Zionist immigration causing the "desert to
bloom" in Palestine."
Reuters
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