Iranian movie portrays Islamic view of Jesus
January 25, 2008
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January 25, 2008
Jesus appeared on movie screens four years ago in Mel Gibson's controversial "The Passion of the Christ." Jesus is back at the cinema, but this time Islam—not Christianity—provides the lens.
"Jesus, Spirit of God," from Iranian filmmaker Nader Talebzadeh, played in cinemas in Tehran, Iran, during Ramadan (which fell in October). Now it's being prepped as a 20-episode TV show for distribution across Iran's national television system, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) story. The project was funded by Iran's state broadcasting arm, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
"Spirit of God" tells the story of Jesus according the Quran, not the Christian Bible. The Quran's account of Jesus mostly follows that given in the Gospels, with one notable exception: The Quran says Judas, not Jesus, was crucified; God took Jesus straight to heaven.
Talebzadeh, mostly known for making documentaries about Iran's war with Iraq in the 1980s, presents that account of Jesus, who is viewed in Islam as one of five great prophets (the others being Abraham, Noah, Moses and Muhammad).
Iranian actor Ahmad Soleimani Nia plays the fair-skinned, blond Jesus in the film (click here for a still from the movie).
For the record, director Talebzadeh did see Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."
"Gibson's film is a very good film," said Talebzadeh, according to a Middle East Online story. "I mean that it is a well-crafted movie but the story is wrong—it was not like that." The director delivered a copy of the film to Gibson's home in Malibu, but had to leave it with security at the gate. Talebzadeh said he never got a response from Gibson, whose 2004 depiction of Jesus earned close to $400 million in the United States alone.
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