Ryan McNeil
There’s a beauty in poetry that we don’t get in many other art forms. Poetry can be unstructured, abstract, sprawling, and subtle in ways that media like film cannot. But when you marry the two – when you create a cinematic poem – then the rules are different.
KHALIL GIBRAN’S THE PROPHET is an offering within an offering. At arm’s length, the animated film is about a revolutionary poet and artist named Mustafa (voiced by Liam Neeson). After being under house arrest for seven years, he has finally been freed on the condition that he leave the unnamed country where he is captured and go home…never to return. This extradition is witnessed by a woman named Kamila (Salma Hayek) and her daughter – Amitra (Quvenzhané Wallis) – who never speaks. As he makes his way to point of extradition, Mustafa is constantly stopped by locals, followers and well-wishers…each asking him for words of wisdom.
This prompts the offering within the offering. Whenever Mustafa stops, he shares his thoughts and dreams in the form of poems by Khalil Gibran. Each one of these poems prompts a visual sequence within itself. These sequences are often abstract, illustrating the thoughts and wishes contained within the text, and opening them up to splendid interpretations. Some are even further interpreted into songs by artists like Damien Rice and Glen Hansard, taking us further up into the atmosphere fuelled by these beautiful thoughts.
There’s an obvious point of comparison coming away from KHALIL GIBRAN’S THE PROPHET, and that is Walt Disney’s FANTASIA. Much like that film, this movie revels in the beauty of another art form and seeks to do it justice by interpreting it in other forms. Like that film, this film finds texture and colour within the existing art and adds…well…texture and colour. It sounds simplistic, but it actually encourages us to let our brains go. It wants us to listen to one singular voice and let our hearts and souls go to places we only see in our dreams, and get in touch with feelings we only feel when we are being nakedly honest.
It’s a scary place to go, one that most people would rather laugh off with cynical smirk. The thing is though, every powerful moment in our lives has grown from the seeds of these feelings. It’s difficult to actually capture on film – and in poetry – but I dare say that KHALIL GIBRAN’S THE PROPHET comes darned close to capturing it.
This is a film that wants us to let go. It bathes us in inks, watercolours, oils, and acrylics and prompts us to think about the happiest, most loving, and most hopeful we can ever be.
Then it backs away, letting us revel in that thought…if only for a little while.
I was at the premiere and the entire audience was enraptured. They clapped six times DURING the film. I was moved three times to near tears. At the end I heard sniffles and then the standing ovation!
Welcome to The Matinee, Nick – and it looks like we were at the same screening! The audience in The Ryerson last weekend sure was pretty charged by the film, but sometimes you have to be wary of that at TIFF. I’m not sure if you noticed or not, but the centre of the the theatre was dominated by people who were involved with the film and their guests. When there are that many people in the house representing the home team, things can get a little slanted.
Definitely can’t wait to revisit this film down the road, but I doubt it will get widely received as well as it was last weekend.
I was barely 15 when I read The PROPHET and shared it with many, many people ever since. The book was a work of art and from the review, this was captured beautifully in a very special ‘work of art’ on the screen.
No doubt, it is quite timely for the wonderful messages to be delivered in this way !
I look forward to the opportunity of seeing The PROPHET.
JB, Florida
Welcome to The Matinee, Judy.
I must say, if nothing else, this film is a tremendous success since it has prompted me to go out and get myself a copy of this beautiful book. I feel somewhat ashamed that I haven’t already read Gibran’s work, but “better late than never” as they say.
Hopefully this film lives up to your love of the man’s beautiful words when it eventually makes its way to your neck of the woods.