The Prophet is an animated film adapted from author Kahlil Gibran’s 1923 collection of poems. Gibran is considered the mastermind behind one of the most influential works of the 20th century.
Salma Hayek is actually the producer of this film adaptation, with director Roger Allers— director of The Lion King—by her side. The film features a strong team of co-directors and animators, as well.
Hayek is a huge fan of Gibran’s works and has spent the last decade or so morphing Gibran’s words into a motion picture. In the film, she actually voices one of the characters.
In addition to Salma Hayek as a voice actor, the film also features Liam Neeson and Quvenzhané Wallis. The chilling and exuberant film score is done by Gabriel Yared and includes songs created, for the film, by Glen Hansard and Lisa Hannigan.
For the film, Hayek and Allers took the eight most popular poems and had a different animator work on each one to create a real life version of the story they read. The different artists’ visions come together well in the film. However, some critics disapprove of the contrasts between scenes.
The film is about the prophet Almustafa, who is about to return to his home after having been away for 12 years. He is stopped by a group of people and begins to speak to them about topics relating to the human condition; these topics are Gibran’s poems.
As previously stated, each poem is told by a different visual. While this is suited perfectly to keep the attention of the younger viewers this movie was partially intended for, adults seem to dislike the contrasting scenes in between poems.
While a beautiful work of art, it seems that parts of this movie cater too much to a younger audience and focus less on the meaning of the poems themselves.
Despite those minute controversies, The Prophet is an exciting and whimsical adaptation of Kahil Gibran’s poems. Not only is the film visually and musically appealing, it’s extremely entertaining.
Every aspect of this film meshes together in a harmonious way. For film-lovers, this is one for the books.
