Syrian Actor Ghassan Massoud (Saladin)I don’t know about you guys, but I am really anxious to see this movie....
I have been getting a lot of e-mails from friends in the states who are also waiting for the opening on May 6, and they are very excited to see
Syria’s own Ghassan Massoud playing Saladin.
I have gathered some information about the film from the internet. I also found an interesting interview with Ghassan Massoud (I couldn’t find a single photo of him except for one on the film’s official site but I didn’t know how to steal it)
-
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is an epic adventure about a common man who finds himself thrust into a decades-long war. A stranger in a strange land, he serves a doomed king, falls in love with an exotic and forbidden queen, and rises to knighthood. Ultimately, he must protect the people of Jerusalem from overwhelming forces, while striving to keep a fragile peace.
- Shot in Spain and Morocco
- The film’s Budget is estimated to be $130 million
- Filming started January, 2004 and finished May 2004
- Directed by Ridley Scott
- Cast: Orlando Bloom (Balian of Ibelin), Eva Green (Sybilla), Liam Neeson (Godfrey of Ibelin), Jeremy Irons (Tiberias), Ghassan Massoud (Saladin)…
-
Interview with Ghassan Massoud:
While British academics and fundamentalist historians in the west attack Ridley Scott's film "Kingdom of Heaven", one that they described as a free prize for Osama bin Laden as it shows Arabs as civilized through the depiction of Saladin as a noble knight, Arab voices and newspapers fear the movie would be just another in the line of stereotypical movies that negatively portray Arabs and Muslims.
The Syrian actor and director Ghassan Massoud - who plays the role of Saladin which occupies 35% of the movie - speaks up, and he expected the Arab voices that attacked the film to ask for the screenplay, or ask him [about these issues].
Regarding the concern of some Arab voices about the negative portrayal of Arabs and Muslims he was asked:
Did you have these concerns about the film?
“Of course I did. As soon as I got a call to meet the director via Ms. Nashwa Al-Rweiny, I had concerns about any negativity towards Arabs and Muslims in the film, and I can't participate in something like that, then I read the script putting in mind that we can't provide the audience with a sterile historical character, because in Arab drama we tend to paint a historical figure that does no wrong. The character has a high degree of balance, and has a great deal of respect from the screenwriter and the director, and I had a prolonged discussion with the director only to discover that British culture has a great deal of respect for Saladin as a noble foe to Richard the Lionheart as [Saladin] sent him his doctor as well as apples and honey from Damascus. I'm responsible for every word I say in this conversation, but cinema is essentially the art of editing, so if the director wants to, he could produce a bad image in the editing room.”
You told me you helped reshoot some scenes?
“I suggested that we reshoot two of the scenes, the scene of Saladin entering Jerusalem while soldiers are running around looting the palace, which happens in all battles, during which there were some papers falling into the fire. I stopped and told the director that in Arab Islamic memory, Hulago burnt Baghdad and its library - burnt the science, culture and civilization - and I can't accept that Saladin is portrayed to do the same. He told me he was sorry if that had happened and I told him it did, so he rewound [the shot] and we saw some papers clearly being burnt in the fire. He reshot the scene and said, ‘I respect Saladin and I can't depict him as such.’
“In another scene, Saladin walks to find a cross on the ground, so I asked about it and he said it's part of the set. I then suggested that Saladin lifts the cross from the ground and puts it on a nearby table with respect as the scene could be used against Muslims later. Then we did the scene, but then [Ridley] Scott told me it's better to do it entirely without the cross because someone on the set said by that we'd make Saladin even better than Jesus, and that’s how it was finally done.”
How did you prepare for the role?
“I have and still read many books and references about Saladin, and I have seen the work of Nagdat Anzor - "The search for Saladin" - as well as Youssef Shahin's "Al Naser Salah el Din," which I have seen more than once. But what I think is that we usually deal with a historical figure as a mask, which means that we always portray a character that does no wrong. My opinion is that behind the mask we love and respect there's a lot to be known. As for Saladin, his charisma and appearance before his soldiers and people is the mask where most of his character is apparent, but what would we find if we follow him to his tent and find him all by himself?”
So you mean there's not much divergence between your thoughts and the director's thoughts about the character?
“You might think I'm exaggerating when I say they were nearly identical because this man [Ridley Scott] proved that he respects Saladin and strongly admires the idea of chivalry and nobility of the man.”
