A Critique of the Monsieur Ibrahim - Movie Review Example

Monsieur Ibrahim: Film Critique Table of Contents II. Discussion 1 III. Conclusion 8 Works Cited 9 I. Introduction This paper is a critique of the movie 'Monsieur Ibrahim' with a focus on the religious themes that were portrayed in the film, what the themes are and how those themes were explored and portrayed. The movie can be imagined as working on many different layers, but the religious angle is a deep and rich vein that promises to yield deep insights into the nature of religion and spirituality. The paper explores this multi-layered spiritual reality that seems to hide just beneath the thin outer shell of their ordinary lives. Interrelated themes include an expansive view of Islam that respects other religions and other faiths, and views all men with love and respect. They also include a cosmopolitan Islam that is embraces all, the prostitute, the Jew, the Orthodox, the Catholic, and the saint, with equal reverence and compassion. These themes meanwhile tie up with the theme of the differences between formal religion, doctrine, and churches on the one hand, and a personal and lived spirituality as typified by the Sufi spirituality of Ibrahim on the other. It is about how a personal spirituality that is grounded on an authentic view of God is also an authentic way of viewing the message of the Koran (Ernst; Siddiqui; “Monsieur Ibrahim”). II. Discussion The physical context is France, in a section of Paris where prostitutes ply their trade. The main characters play out roles as a Jewish teenager about to become a man. and as an old Sufi Muslim and store owner, who from the beginning seems to have a connection with the young man. He is able seemingly to read his thoughts. Their social and religious associations hint at a deeper reality that needs probing. Being Jew has social contexts, and so is being an “Arab” in France. Moises is Momo to Monsieur Ibrahim. The old man's name hints at his Muslim roots, and he does not hide it. We learn that he is Muslim, and he is a devout reader of the Koran, but that he is also a Sufi, a religious adept. As a Sufi he disregards the legalistic, dogmatic side of Islam. He thus so to favor of a personal spirituality. Outwardly he is friendly and calm, and certainly not at all intimidated by the young boy's Jewishness. The Jewish name stands in stark contrast to Ibrahim intense association to Islam. They are meeting in Paris, cosmopolitan, a melting pot of cultures and religions. They are also in that part of the city where the prostitutes work day in and day out, and Ibrahim is not at all fazed by any of this. Ibrahim is in a cosmopolitan city, while he himself seems to be a cosmopolitan in a religious and spiritual sense. Nothing seems to be outside of his circle of acceptance. One can even say that his very presence in a seedy part of town, his calm demeanor, and his offer of friendship and fatherly affection to a Jewish boy hints at a deep interior. They seem to mark Ibrahim as someone who is in touch with a greater spiritual reality than what one sees on the surface of things. He is someone too that the young man needs, a good father figure in place of his distant one. He seems out of place with his kindness and his Koran in Paris, with the women going in and out of his store. Even his own somewhat foolish and sentimental self seems out of place there. Take away the external trappings of the city and its 60's environs, and this could be anywhere in the world. Here a Sufi adept resides, and is at peace with everything around him. He is somewhat above the ordinary things of that life, and focused on the religious side of the ordinary things (Ernst; Siddiqui; “Monsieur Ibrahim”). On the other hand we have the Jewish boy himself, Moises, Momo, somewhat adventurous but also not too filled with dogma. He is somewhat unsure and not inclined to certainties, a spiritual novice who seem to have his heart in the right place. Hiring prostitutes, he nevertheless seems to exude a certain spiritual energy doing it, being kind to the whores, and trading in his life's savings for his first experience. To a young man this is like traveling to a new world, going to bed with women for the very first time, and making of it a kind of pilgrimage. In this view of things everything becomes sacred and religious. Here too his budding sexuality is something not at all out of place with his budding friendship with a Sufi, but are two sides of the same reality. He resonates with something spiritual in the Sufi it seems. He is too young to understand why, but he seemed to know Ibrahim was a good man. There is something gentle too in the way he treated the whores, with tenderness, and with something like awe. One third of the way through the film, and looking at Ibrahim and Moses, it is clear that this is more to the film than just the surface plot and charming details. This is more than just an entertaining story of friendship between an old man and a young man in a seedy part of Paris, though the movie works on that level too. Just beneath the surface is a very large spiritual reality, and scratching the surface we see that the movie is trying to explore profound religious themes (Ernst; Siddiqui; “Monsieur Ibrahim”). The Koran is a central element of the movie, and it is tied to the theme developed there with regard to how a Sufi interprets the Koran. Taking a step back too, this key element raises a question relating to the way a Sufi views the world, and how a Sufi interprets the Koran in the light of a personal vision of God. Removed from the dogma that characterizes formal religion, what kind of religious life is possible? Is this spirituality authentic? It is clear in the remainder of the movie that Ibrahim fed off a personal vision of what Islam and religion is, and the question is how does he interpret the Koran? An answer lies in the snippets of wisdom that he imparted to Moises. Moreover, beyond those snippets of wisdom, we are able to gather the vision from the Koran that he exemplified in his own life. He was kind. He was expansive in his acceptance of people from all walks of life. He viewed other religious temples with religious reverence. There is the part in the movie where, on their way to Turkey on the journey of their lives, Ibrahim led Moises first to an Orthodox church, then to a Catholic church, and later to a Sufi dancing hall with the famous whirling dervishes of Rumi. From here we get a vision of what Ibrahim's religion is. A devout Muslim, he is with a Jewish boy whom he considered to be his son, and loved with the expansive love of a father that his own father was not able to give him. This seems a contradiction, given that for others being Muslim and being Jewish are two incompatible ways of life. Yet for Ibrahim it was the most natural thing in the world to be a father figure and spiritual guru to Moses the Jew. Ibrahim also lived for the moment and saw beauty in everything. He was friends with whores, was comfortable everywhere, and even let young children steal from his store. He worked hard, but did not hurry. He viewed everything as a kind of prayer, and by his quiet example looked beyond the surface differences of religion to find a common core in all. Devoutly Muslim, yet his personal religion transcends Islam and reaches to all. In the end he chooses to transmit all of his wisdom and knowledge to Moises, Jew, neighbor, adopted son, and friend. Taking this all in, and if one asks how a Sufi makes use of the Koran, the answer is simple. He uses the Koran to attain a state where he is able to look beyond religion to love all. it is precisely to use it to gain a better understanding of the role of man in the large scheme of things. It is to be an expanse of acceptance of love wherever he roamed. Put another way, the Koran for Ibrahim is a staging ground for the kind of spirituality that goes beyond the religions and the dogmas of the different faiths. In their place he retains their core universal spiritual values - love, acceptance, the celebration of life, reverence for the holy presence within, knowledge of the eternity of life, peace, kindness, compassion for all, and humanity. Going deep into a personal interpretation of the Koran, and with the guidance of the Sufi saints and practices, Ibrahim goes beyond his religion to find a deep vein of connection with Moises the French Jew from Blue Street (Ernst; Siddiqui; “Monsieur Ibrahim”). Put another way still, we find in the life example of Ibrahim the bringing to life of the concepts and discussions on Sufism presented in Ernst. The Sufi's brand of Islam is not based on dogma. It is based instead on a lived and vibrant experience of a divine self. To paraphrase Ibrahim describing the Sufi dance to Moises, God dwells inside. This self is always at peace and does not rely on religious doctrine. On the other hand, as Ibrahim told Moises too, back in Blue Street, there is sometimes no need for the Koran at all. Where God chooses to instruct Moises through revelation, then Moises will not need the Koran or any book for that matter, because God will tell Moises directly. This is a direct statement about what the Sufi brand of Islam is, a direct kind of knowing from experience (Ernst; Siddiqui; “Monsieur Ibrahim”), The dance between formal religion and personal spirituality is a theme that is pursued in the film too. Throughout the movie personal visions of spirituality as presented by Ibrahim are presented alongside the details of formal religion. He acts as a father figure and religious guru to Moises and in this way he reveals the truth of his spirituality directly to Moises. On the other hand this occurs within the ordinary the world. In the ordinary world people adhere to formal religions. This is the play between the personal and the formal. On the formal side, Moises is a Jew, but he himself does not know what that really means. All he knew about being a Jew was that for his father to be a Jew seemed to be in a perpetual state of darkness and despair, to be depressed. For Moises too, being a Jew meant being like his father. The formal religion here is seen as something that has its social dimensions. Religion is something one is maybe born into, without being able to relate beyond how the other members of the family relate to it. Which is to say, in the case of Moises' father, not very well. His father's religion seemed out of step with his day to day life, and in the end the father took his own life. His formal Jewish religion could not save him. His father was drowned it seems by the sorrows of the world, having no access to a personal spirituality such as that which Ibrahim had. Not knowing what to do, or not knowing any other way of life or an alternative vision of what is possible with human life, he just killed himself to escape. This is to say, that the movie depicts formal religion in the case of Moises' family as something that only touches the social aspects of their lives, and very vaguely. Jewishness is something that defines them to their community and to each other, but does not relate to deeper existential issues that confront them. This is all in contrast to the personal and joyous, if quiet, spirituality of Ibrahim the Sufi. To be sure, however, Ibrahim does not paint formal religion in negative terms. He himself showed high reverence for other faiths. This is evidenced by his respectful trip to the different churches with Moises. On the other hand, what seemed clear from the way formal and personal religion are portrayed is that it is a personal connection to dogma, to scriptures, and to religious rituals that really matter. This personal connection is what gives true joy. This personal connection is a true religion. That personal spirituality is grounded on a universal reality that seems to underpin all of the major religions too, beyond the words. Beyond the doctrines and the rituals that the different religions adhere to and observe there is that deeper spirituality that Ibrahim seemed to have access to. One take here is that formal religion and the formal Scriptures, as typified by the Koran, are valuable, as long as they point the person to a deeper and more personal reality that cannot be expressed in words. That reality can only be experienced and lived. It is noteworthy that Ibrahim taught Moises this religious truth not by just giving Moises the Koran and letting the young man read it. He seemed to know reading is not the thing. On the other hand, by showing Moises what the true message of the Koran is, he was successful. That message is not embodied in the book but in in the way Ibrahim thought, felt, and acted towards others, from a deep spiritual place within (Ernst; Siddiqui; “Monsieur Ibrahim”). III. Conclusion To conclude, the key themes presented in this paper all poin5 towards the key theme of a personal and lived spirituality as being the most important part of religion and of Islam. This is the heart of religion, and the surface social and dogma aspects of the religion are just structures. True religion is lived life and a personal connection with the greater reality is the true meaning of the Koran. From this lived and cosmopolitan spirituality flows the spiritual gifts of joy, compassion for all, and love for fellow men that Ibrahim lived and demonstrated in his own life. By his embrace and respect of all faiths he also showed that these spiritual gifts that are the common inheritance of all (Ernst; Siddiqui; “Monsieur Ibrahim”). Works Cited Ernst, Carl. Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World. 2003. University of North Carolina Press. “Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran- Full Movie”. YouTube. 2013. Web. 11 December 2013. Siddiqui, Mona. How to Read the Qu'ran. 2008. WW Norton & Company. Read More