I read the Kahlil Gibran book long enough ago that I don't remember much of it, but I know I liked it. It presents some pretty unusual takes on philosophy, and even in the few places where I disagreed with title character Al Mustafa, I could enjoy the poetic presentation. Of course, there isn't much of a plot to the book, so any screen adaptation would have to add to it.
Indeed, Mustafa (Liam Neeson) isn't even the primary focal character in this movie. That honor goes to Almitra (Quvenzhané Wallis), a prepubescent girl who has said nothing in the two years since her father's death. Feeling unwelcome at school, she stubbornly follows her mother, Kamila (Salma Hayek, also a producer), whose job is to care for Mustafa during his house arrest. It's fortunate that Almitra didn't wait any longer to make his friendly acquaintance, because a surly sergeant (Alfred Molina, again with Hayek) shows up to usher him to a ship to his homeland, essentially changing the sentence to exile from his present environs. Many villagers slow their travel to the harbor, expressing gratitude to Mustafa and listening to any wisdom he has to offer. But Almitra overhears that the sergeant has a nastier plan for him....
As in the book, the location is a fictitious town called Orphalise. The movie places it in the Lebanese region of the Ottoman Empire. The date is never stated, but between the year of the book's publication, the year the empire ended, and the look of the police vehicles, I figure on 1922 or '23.
I don't find Almitra all that likable as kids go. She habitually goes where she's not supposed to, such as rooftops, and steals from the marketplace, against the wishes of Kamila, who ends up paying for thefts and damages (she may be about to lose her employment, but she's not broke). With Almitra's lack of speech, it's hard to reason with her or even know how much gets through to her. She does have a way with seagulls, tho, imitating their screeches well. I get the impression she doesn't want to be human.
It concerns me a bit that Mustafa never expresses disapproval of Almitra's habits. Sure, much of his charm comes from being about as positive and neighborly as Mr. Rogers, but in the end, we have no assurance that her thieving days are over. I don't want any more of those family movies.
That said, I'm not entirely sure what age range makes up the target audience. In addition to Almitra's age, the slapstick that happens chiefly to the sergeant and kindlier soldier Halim (John Krasinski), who has an obvious crush on Kamila, suggests an aim at children. But things get pretty ugly when the government changes its mind about Mustafa. I can see why IMDb doesn't include a "family" tag.
Why is the poet, painter, and alleged prophet in trouble? Because he's made at least one statement that appears to encourage rebellion. Mustafa denies seeing it as treason or sedition, but neither does he explain how it doesn't threaten the government, particularly given his popularity. Perhaps it's patriotic in the same sense as Thomas Jefferson's "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
Probably the best moments are illustrations to accompany passages from the book. Most of the film has a decently fluid 2D style, but the animation becomes markedly different at each of these four(?) segments. What they show is surreal and accompanied by powerful music, often allowing Mustafa's words to be sung in a new voice.
I'm not sure this was the best way to make the classic book more accessible to a wide audience. Still, it makes OK entertainment for 85 minutes.
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