The Messiah | |
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The Messiah |
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Directed by | Nader Talebzadeh |
Produced by | Abdollah Sa'eedi |
Starring | Ahmad Soleimani Nia |
Cinematography | Sadegh Mianji |
Country | Iran |
Running time | 45 minutes |
Mesih, more commonly and officially referred to as The Messiah,[1][2][3][4][5] but also referred to as 'Jesus',[6] "Good Tidings of the Savior" in Persian,[7] 'Jesus, the Spirit of God',[8][9][10][11][12] 'Messia'[4] is a 2008 film from the Islamic Republic of Iran, directed by Nader Talebzadeh, depicting the life of Jesus from an Islamic perspective, based not only on the canonical gospels, but also the Qur'an, and, it would seem, the Gospel of Barnabas.[8] which conforms to the Islamic interpretation of the origins of Christianity. Iranian actor, Ahmad Soleimani Nia plays the role of Jesus.[13][14][15] Some Islamic organizations cite it in support of the Islamic view of Jesus.
The director sees his film "as an Islamic answer to Western productions like Mel Gibson's 2004 blockbuster The Passion of the Christ, which he praised as admirable but quite simply "wrong"."[1] The film has two endings, one from the Christian bible and one from the Qur'an.
It is a two-hour-plus feature film and a TV series shot for Iranian TV.[7]
Contents |
'The gospels seen through a very different lens' is the brief summary of what "The Messiah" is all about. Never has there been an attempt to portray Jesus from a mutually Muslim and Christian perspective.
The appearance of Jesus as prophet of God who is trapped within conspiracies to eradicate his message and to abolish his mission is the key plot in this twenty part series. The pronouncement of the coming of the final prophet of God after Jesus, the missing-link between Christianity and Islam is emphatically portrayed.
In the final episode, the ascension of Jesus to heaven is the ultimate unifying code between Christians and Muslims alike. The story depicts this final turn of events and inevitably hearken the believers worldwide for the final appearance of the Apocalypse.
The movie has been adapted into a television series and being shown on Iranian TV.[2] Variety stated that "With over 1,000 actors and extras, it is one of the largest film productions ever attempted in Iran. The longer version of the film is airing as 20 45-minute episodes after a theatrical version is released here."[7] The series is being dubbed in many languages including Arabic for showing on Arab television stations.
A showing of the series based on the film by two Lebanese television stations Al-Manar and National Broadcasting Network during the Holy month of Ramadan was suspended after the broadcast of one initial episode, as the Christian religious authorities in the country demanded broadcasts to be suspended because many portrayals in the film contradict with traditional Christian church beliefs about Jesus.[16] These were scheduled broadcasts in a series adapted to television and dubbed into Arabic and shown on many Arab television stations during Ramadan.[17] The film portrays Jesus as a prophet and not as Son of God and claims he was not crucified and that someone else was crucified in his place. Talebzadeh's biopic shows Judas Iscariot being crucified instead of Jesus. Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God and thus part of the Holy Trinity and that he died by crucifixion to accomplish humanity's salvation before resurrecting and ascending to heaven.[18]
The film was played at the Philadelphia film festival.[15]
The 2007 Religion Today Film Festival in Italy has given the movie an award for promoting interfaith understanding.[1][19]