One movie that we saw last week and enjoyed tremendously, is a film that sends a clear message of tolerance. In light of the wanton number of "intolerant" incidents we seem to hear about on a daily basis, this movie came as a breath of fresh air. Dubbed Monsieur Ibrahim, the film stars highly-acclaimed Egyptian actor Omar Sharif.
The French production tells the story of a teenage Jewish boy who befriends the Muslim owner of a grocery store in the seedy part of a predominately Jewish neighborhood in Paris. With Sharif as teacher, over time their relationship develops to become an inseparable bond. Parts of the movie are shot in Istanbul — the lovely city we chose for our honeymoon — something which made the movie even more enjoyable for us.
In a nutshell, Monsieur Ibrahim (also called Monsieur Ibrahim and the flowers of the Quran) is a tale about growing up, the importance of family, friendship and tolerance with some surprising deviations. The film, which is beautifully shot and deftly scripted, is definitely a must-see. For those living in the US, we got the movie through the wonderful Netflix. Regardless of how, go get a copy and make your day.
Well, if you love tolerance between Jews and Arabs to this high energetic, why don’t you then teach this message to your husband, Jeff, who was expressing hateful sentiments against Israelis and Jews during the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah on jordanplanet.net
Maybe you just like to write, with no true passion to the subject you’re addressing. If this is true, I rest my case.
I’ve been looking for this movie for a long time (still am). I have also read alot of good reviews about it.
Mush Sah,
As we all know not all Muslims are Arabs and not all Arabs are Muslims. I do not know how Monsieur Ibrahim becomes intolerant when he explains the difference between an “Arab” and a “Muslim”. Many confuse these two. An explanation was needed in this case.
The film sends a message of tolerance?
Omar Sharief goes out of his way (of course it’s the director/writer’s objective) in the films to say that he is NOT ARAB, just because he is Muslim. And this line gets repeated in many different. It’s obvious the filmmaker is straining to make this point: Muslims are tolerant but it’s the Arabs who are, well… hence Omar’s tolerant predesposition. there is a subtle message of intolerance towards Arabs. Please go watch the film again.
Thanks for the IMDb note. You never know when something like will come up in some late night –after too many — discussion, and someone thinks it’s really important.
Thanks for sharing information about this film. We need a little more tolerance and compassion in the world 🙂
I liked this film too. The sufi philosophy was so beautifully portrayed, as was the relationship between the two main characters.
I saw this movie when it came out and loved it.
Take a look here at IMDB Mike and you’ll see he’s definitely Egyptian. Here’s some more on him from Wikipedia that will confirm things for whatever it’s worth.
This really worries me. I was told by a Lebanese friend that Omar Sharif is actually Lebanese. So, if he is Egyptian, could this spark a nasty argument?
He’s a great actor, but maybe being an Aussie would be less controversial? Oh wait a minute, Mel Gibson grew up in Australia. Phone thrower, Gladiator Russell Crowe is also an Aussie. OK, maybe being an Aussie actor is a bad idea at the moment.
Where does Sharif live nowadays, anyway? Maybe that’s a safer claim?