Loading ...
Masterpiece of the Arab Shakespeare: Khalil Gibran film opens in UAE
More than 70 years after his death, the life and work of a Lebanese poet, writer and painter are set to inspire another generation of fans.
This week marks the UAE opening of Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, an animated version of one of the classics of 20th century literature, produced by Salma Hayek, who adds her voice to the film along with a host of Hollywood stars, including Liam Neeson, Frank Langella and John Rhys-Davies.
What is it about Gibran’s message that continues to resonate in 2015?
“There is something timeless about his work, especially The Prophet, where anyone and everyone at whatever time in their life can pick it up to read and will connect with his words on some level,” says Dr Tarek Chidiac, president of the Gibran National Committee.
“Gibran wrote about the soul and focused on humanity and what connects us, rather than divides us.”
The man sometimes known as the Arab Shakespeare left a collection of more than 15 works, including two published posthumously – The Wanderer in 1932 and The Garden of the Prophet in 1933 – and hundreds of paintings and sketches.
But it is Gibran’s masterpiece, The Prophet, that remains his greatest legacy.
Since its publication in 1923, The Prophet has never gone out of print or fashion.
Translated into 50 languages, and with worldwide sales in the tens of millions, it has made Gibran the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Lao Tzu.
Romantic, spiritual, sorrowful and inspirational, The Prophet features 26 themes such as love, marriage, children, joy and sorrow, crime and punishment, reason and passion, pain, time, good and evil, religion and death.
It is hailed by many as a kind of a self-help book that comprises a series of philosophical essays written in English prose.
This newest incarnation has taken more than five years to complete and is written and directed by Roger Allers, director of Disney’s The Lion King.
Co-financed by the Doha Film Institute, Participant Media, and other regional and international organisations, it premiered in Lebanon last week.
The film tells the story of Al Mustafa, believed to be based on Gibran himself, a prophet who awaits passage home on a ship after being away for 12 years.
Emirati animator Mohammed Harib was one of the contributing animators, with his segment combining watercolour elements for the book’s On Good and Evil chapter with a nature-centric montage.
Harib has admitted that he had not read The Prophet before the film project, but after reading it he became one of its millions of fans.
“It’s a really amazing book. It’s not written by human hands, there’s something godly about it.”
To celebrate the coming film, the Dubai International Writers’ Centre at the Shindagha Heritage Village celebrated Gibran’s legacy with a cultural event last month, with guest speakers including Dr Chidiac, and Lebanese TV personality Georges Kordahi, who read lines from Gibran’s work.
Also taking part was Nadim Sawalha whose play based on Gibran’s life, Rest Upon the Wind, was performed in Abu Dhabi and Dubai last month.
Dubai honoured Gibran as far back as 1972 with a postage stamp featuring his portrait.
The UAE will get an extra taste of Gibran this year when 30 of his drawings will be shown at the Sharjah Art Museum in October, at an exhibition organised by the Gibran National Committee and the Sharjah Museum Department.
“People who haven’t visited the Gibran museum will get to see a different side to Gibran, from how he saw himself in his self portraits, how he viewed his family, and how he commented on the world around him through his art,” says Dr Chidiac.
“Gibran’s work keeps coming back again and again, sometimes as quotes used by world leaders, sometimes as plays, sometimes as lyrics in songs, and this time as an animation.”
Pages:12One-page article
Source: www.thenational.ae