Monsieur Ibrahim - Movie Review Example

Movie review: Monsieur Ibrahim The film monsieur Ibrahim also known as “monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du coran” or “mister Ibrahim and the flowers of the Quran is a French movie starring Omar Sharif. The movie’s director is Francois dupeyron; it premiered in 2003 and is based on a book by Emanuel Schmitt. The movie is a glowing and a graceful movie set in Paris during the 1960s and involves the story of a young Jewish boy and an elderly Muslim man a Sufi that is the elderly man brings love and light to the Jewish boy. The movie aims at bringing in the special qualities of Sufism and a mystical expression of the Islam. The Jewish boy is s thirteen year old boy by the name of momo, (role played by Pierre Boulanger) born in the streets of Paris, momo finds luck and his life becomes sunnier when he meets an elderly man by the name of monsieur Ibrahim (role played by Omar Sharif). Momo lives with his very critical and sickly father (gilbert melki), who compares him with his unfavorably brother who ran away from home. Growing up momo had no recollection of his mother, coming from a very poor background and being the only one who can take care of his father momo in interested in sleeping with a prostitute who constantly frequents his neighborhood. He breaks into his piggy bank in order to sleep with this girl, momo however is interested in a Jewish girl living next door but still does not have the courage to court her he finally get courage but the girl is not ready for momos intensity of desire. An elderly Turkish Muslim man Ibrahim, who runs a grocery store across the streets fascinates momo, Ibrahim appreciates momos desire and lust for life. Through this they develop a relationship to an extent that momo feel close to this elderly man than even to his father. People think that Ibrahim is an Arab as his shop is open until midnight everyday including the Sundays, he is however a Sufi from turkey. Ibrahim notices that momo steals food that he prepares from his father, this results to Ibrahim overcharging a girl who comes into the grocery to buy water. He later tells momo that the money he overcharged the girl will take care of the things he had stolen, through this momo realizes that he had found loyal and a true friend different from all his friends and everyone he knew. Ibrahim had noticed that all that momo wanted was guidance and a true fried in his life, he became both of them. He uses the quotes from his beloved Quran, the latter knows more things about momos family than momo knows, he is also observant and discrete about momos relationship with the hookers. Ibrahim’s main dream is returning to his native land, to the dervishes and bazaars he grew up with. On the other hand, what momo desires is a break from his miserable home life that crushes his spirit and is barren. Ibrahim tells momo that the first key to happiness is smiling often, momo tries this and it goes smooth for him but from his father, the comments are negative. His father tells him he should avoid smiling as his teeth are cooked and that they need to be braced. Momo latter learns that Ibrahim is a Sufi and he tries to research on it learning that it means an inner religion that is against legalism. Ibrahim’s constant advices get to momo and he tries to start changing his life to a happy life. The advice he gives moo comes from the heart but most of it comes from the Quran, at some point in the movie Ibrahim tells momo “what you give is yours forever, what you keep you lose,” he also continues to encourage him that paradise is open to all no matter your class of living. Momos father later loses his job, he declares that he is unable and can not take care of his son any more. His father then vanishes leaving him with some money. Not long after he left, the police notify the boy that his father had committed suicide by jumping in front of a train. After this incidence, his mother shows up by coming to their apartment but momo does not want anything to do with her. Ibrahim however relieves the boy from his stresses by adopting him. As they live together, Ibrahim continues to teach momo and their relationship grows stronger. Momo and Ibrahim later leave their town and travel to Ibrahim’s hometown, for momo the trip is like an excursion out of the place he has lived for the whole of his life. Through the trip there bond become stronger and solidified. Ibrahim takes momo to different places of worship; there are the Orthodox Church, Muslim mosque and a Christian church. All through this momo had a blind fold, the Sufis aim for this was to allow the boy to become open to different places of worship through his senses, this all experiences including the whirling dervishes of Istanbul affect momo greatly. Through this experience with the Sufi, momo learns to express his yearning in certain ways, slow down, and to savor the beauty of the world via his senses. He also learns to open his heart to all the beautiful wonders round him. The themes in the movie include the theme of spiritualism, evident all through the movie. Ibrahim was a man of faith, all his actions carried some wisdom in them, for example, he at some time teaches momo how to pray, he tells momo “When you dance, your heart sings. They spin around their hearts, and God is in their hearts.” In addition, the movie states that Ibrahim is a Sufi, which means that he was an adherent of some of the Muslim mystical orders and teachings. These teachings emphasize on the direct and personal experiences of God. The theme has however not been fully showed in the movie, yes Ibrahim may have shown spiritualism in him but he did not teach the boy fully.at the end of the movie the boy should also have become spiritual which is not fully evident in the movie. In addition, it seems like Ibrahim converted the boy from Jewish religion instead of exposing him to some of the Jewish teachings and why did Ibrahim take momo to different religions place of worship yet he knew that momo was a Jew? Another theme in the movie is that of friendship, evident in almost all parts of the movie. Moo finds a friend in Ibrahim while on the other hand Ibrahim also finds the same in momo. Religion teaches us that one key to a happy life is friendship with God and friendship with others. Ibrahim had developed friendship with God, which he was trying to teach momo. However, his teachings, momo was able to open his eyes and heart towards the beauty of the world as it was. There is evidence of the theme friendship after momos father dies and Ibrahim takes him in. There is also the theme of sentimentalism; sentimentalism is that excessive expression of tenderness, nostalgia and sadness. Religious teachings show us that we should express sentimentalism towards our neighbor’s. All through the movie, Ibrahim portrays sentimentalism toward the young boy momo. Even after he adopted momo, he still shows his tenderness towards the boy. The main question towards sentimentalism is, why did Ibrahim take in the boy in the first place? Yet the boy used to shoplift other peoples shop. The answer to this question is because Ibrahim was sentimental towards the boy. He felt tenderness and sadness towards the young boy’s life. A critique towards this theme evident in the movie is the behavior by momos father and mother, first his mother left him as a small boy only to come when his father commits suicide. His father on the other hand does not encourage his son and even compares him to his son that flees from home. In addition, when his father loses his job he declares that he cannot continue taking care of his thirteen-year-old son and then leaves him with no one to take care of him. Some of the questions I raised from the movie include; what characteristics a religious person should possess? Which ones should not? Are those behaviors by Ibrahim right in any way? How should we handle our neighbor’s? As religious persons, how should we approach the disadvantaged in the society? Work cited Monsieur Ibrahim. Sony Picture Classics, 2003. DVD. . Read More