| FrontPageMag.com | By Robert Spencer | By Hugh Fitzgerald | Books | Dhimmi Watch | Robert Spencer | Islam 101 | Qur'an Blog |  |
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Fitna is, or should be, merely a first installment.
It is important to keep going, not to let this be a one-time business, but to fill in, to expand, the knowledge of Infidel viewers as to the contents of Qur'an, Hadith, and Sira. The political and media elites of the Western world will not do so. Some do not know, and do not want to know. Some know, but haven't any idea how to deal, in practical policies, with that knowledge, and so they don't want you to know.
It need not be limited to the verses depicted in the film. Many others in the Qur'an which support the same points could be assembled, as was done by those who produced the Qur'an Calcutta Petition. And still other passages, from the Hadith and Sira, might be given, in a ready-reference form.
There is plenty more in the Qur'an. Geert Wilders did not touch Sura 9. There are the Hadith. There is the Sira, and the details of Muhammad's life.
Fitna, whatever else it provokes, should provoke thought. And perhaps for those who might wish to have in their hands for reading and re-reading the passages that appear on-screen, there should be made available a downloadable text.
This fifteen-minute film must immediately be provided with versions dubbed in French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, German, and another two dozen languages, not forgetting Hindi, Urdu, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and various versions of Bahasa. No time to waste.
It has been one of the most difficult movies ever to make, and to show. But now it has appeared. And the sky has not fallen. And it won't fall, because Muslims are keenly aware, at this very moment, that they had better not do anything quite as dramatic as they did with the Danish cartoons. For now, no murder and mayhem is, as one Dutch Muslim says, "our strategy."
For the initial reaction to it has been milder than one might have expected just a month ago. The word must surely have gone out to cool it, the Infidels are watching.
From a news report:
"'This film is a direct attempt to incite violence from Muslims and help fan the flames of Islamophobia,' Arsalan Iftikhar, a contributor to Washington-based Islamica Magazine, told CNN on Thursday. 'Any reasonable person can see this is meant to spit in the face of Muslims and insult our religion.'
“However, he called on Muslim leaders to react peacefully: 'Calmer heads should prevail.'
“Iftikhar said he doubted the film would spark the same type of violence that followed the caricature of Mohammed, adding, 'We in the global community learned a lot from the Danish cartoon controversy ... I don't think it will be anything remotely like that.'”
Yes, "we in the global community [he means the Umma, the commmunity of Islam] learned a lot from the Danish cartoon controversy." And it is not, I think, that some Muslims would not like to riot, would not delightedly see one of their number eliminate Geert Wilders, and no doubt while they were at it Magdi Allam as well, but that Muslim leaders in the West realize that this would do damage to Islam's "image." And right now -- and only for now -- they can't afford that.
This was predicted.
Less predictable, however, will be the primitive masses of Muslims, less worried about the "image" of Islam, and more about seeing Islamic justice done. We have already seen rumblings from them in Pakistan and Indonesia. But whether they are kept under control, or not, the real fury underneath remains. And the real fury also remains on the part of Infidels who are becoming better informed despite the best efforts of their craven elites (see Jan Balkenende) to keep them uninformed. And hence they are now much more wary, and much angrier.
And in the Netherlands: "'Our call to Muslims abroad is follow our strategy and don't frustrate it with any violent incidents,' Mohammed Rabbae, a senior Dutch Muslim leader, told a news conference in a mosque in an Amsterdam suburb that is home to many Muslims."
"Our strategy."
"Our call to Muslims abroad is follow our strategy."
Not what we would do if we could do without harm to Muslim interests. Not if death threats and economic boycotts and riots everywhere and threats of permanent mayhem and murder worked. But right now, just now, these things would not be in our interests. Nothing moral about our choice. It's "our strategy."
But the goal remains the same as that of the Danish Muslims who urged Muslims elsewhere to engage in economic boycotts, recall of ambassadors, and riots in Muslim lands and threats of permanent mayhem and murder.
It is just that right now, here again out of calculation and not any moral qualms or any sense of decency, the Dutch Muslims have decided to urge calm.
Because it's "our strategy."
Not unlike other Muslims, such as the Slow Jihadists of Fatah, who tell the Americans -- who are not appalled, because they are not comprehending -- that "we choose peace as a strategic option."
"A strategic option."
"Our strategy."
We who both know and want others to know must stand for policies that can adequately deal with the situation. We must call upon our governing officials to shed whatever sentimentalism that may inhibit them, and to work to defend, if not themselves (for so many are so disaffected, deplore so much that surrounds them), then the civilizational legacy that was created by others, over a long time, and that they and we, those present inheritors, have a duty to protect from Islamic Jihad and its bearers. For our legal and political institutions and ideas on what constitutes political legitimacy, our social freedoms, our modes of artistic expression, our encouragement of free and skeptical inquiry, either are flatly contradicted by the Shari'a, or are otherwise regarded as inimical to the spirit of Islam as it has been traditionally understood.
Posted by Hugh at April 2, 2008 8:02 AM
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If Fitna was just the first installment, then there will be approximately a thousand more to follow if one shall expose all of the Qu'ran, Hadith and Sira.
Let's get this party started!
Posted by: S Perry![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 2, 2008 8:16 AM
"This fifteen-minute film must immediately be provided with versions dubbed in French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, German, and another two dozen languages, not forgetting Hindi, Urdu, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and various versions of Bahasa. No time to waste."
Gates of Vienna blog has already transcribed and translated voluntary, with help of online contributors, FITNA into at least 15 languages.
This is but one post related to their project:
http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2008/04/improved-list-of-fitna-download-sites.html#readfurther
See their posts over last few days for complete list.
Posted by: USorThem at April 2, 2008 8:22 AM
Hopefully he does and smart enough to just release them so not to give time for the dhimmi government to stop him.
Posted by: Elric66 at April 2, 2008 8:28 AM
"'This film is a direct attempt to incite violence from Muslims and help fan the flames of Islamophobia,' Arsalan Iftikhar, a contributor to Washington-based Islamica Magazine, told CNN on Thursday. 'Any reasonable person can see this is meant to spit in the face of Muslims and insult our religion.' --from article
Arsalan doesn't get freedom of speech.
Any belief system, which is what religion is, can be insulted, mocked, ridiculed. That includes Islam.
Posted by: darcy at April 2, 2008 8:30 AM
Hugh, what about What The West Needs To Know? It is 1hour 40min long and is already online.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/583816/what-the-west-needs-to-know.thtml
at April 2, 2008 9:23 AM
There is a great deal of material online providing inspiration for many more short films. . . .albeit, scattered online. Here are just a few. . .
**************HISTORY OF JIHAD************************
http://www.historyofjihad.org/"> The Jihad against Arabs (622 to 634)
The Jihad against Zoroastrian Persians of Iran, Baluchistan and Afghanistan (634 to 651)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/byzantine.html"> The Jihad against the Byzantine Christians (634 to 1453)
http://freedomhouse.org/religion/publications/Saudi+Report/FINAL+FINAL.pdf">"Saudi Publications on Hate Ideology Fill American Mosques" PDF report
http://www.historyofjihad.org/egypt.html"> The Jihad against Christian Coptic Egyptians (640 to 655)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/sudan.html"> The Jihad against Christian Coptic Nubians - modern Sudanese (650)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/africa.html"> The Jihad against pagan Berbers - North Africans (650 to 700)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/spain.html">The Jihad against Spaniards (711 to 730)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/reconquista.html">The Reconquista against Jihad in Spain (730 to 1492)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/france.html">The Jihad against Franks - modern French (720 to 732)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/italy.html">The Jihad against Sicilians in Italy (812 to 940)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/china.html">The Jihad against Chinese (751)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/turkey.html">The Jihad against Turks (651 to 751)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/armenia.html">The Jihad against Armenians and Georgians (1071 to 1920)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/crusades.html">The Crusade against Jihad (1096 – 1291 ongoing)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/mongolia.html">The Jihad against Mongols (1260 to 1300)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/india.html">The Jihad against Hindus of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh (638 to 1857)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/malaysia.html">The Jihad against Indonesians and Malays (1450 to 1500)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/poland.html">The Jihad against Poland (1444 to 1699)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/rumania.html">The Jihad against Romania (1350 to 1699)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/russia.html">The Jihad against Russia (1500 to 1853)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/bulgaria.html">The Jihad against Bulgaria (1350 to 1843)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/serbia.html"> The Jihad against Serbs, Croats and Albanians (1334 to 1920)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/greece.html">The Jihad against Greeks (1450 to 1853)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/albania.html">The Jihad against Albania (1332 - 1853)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/croatia.html">The Jihad against Croatia (1389 to 1843)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/hungary.html">The Jihad against Hungarians (1500 to 1683)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/austria.html">The Jihad against Austrians (1683)
Jihad in the Modern Age (20th and 21st Centuries)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/israel.html">The Jihad against Israelis (1948 – 2004 ongoing)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/america.html">The Jihad against Americans (9/11/2001)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/britain.html">The Jihad against the British (1947 onwards)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/germany.html">The Jihad against the Germans (1945 onwards)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/philippines.html">The Jihad against the Filipinos in Mindanao(1970 onwards)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/indonesia.html">The Jihad against Indonesian Christians in Malaku and East Timor (1970 onwards)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/russia1.html">The Jihad against Russians (1995 onwards)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/dutch.html">The Jihad against Dutch and Belgians (2003 onwards)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/scandinavia.html">The Jihad against Norwegians and Swedes (2003 onwards)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/thailand.html">The Jihad against Thais (2003 onwards)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/nigeria.html">The Jihad against Nigerians (1965 onwards)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/canada.html">The Jihad against Canadians (2001 onwards)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/latinamerica.html">The Jihad against Latin America (2003 onwards)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/australia.html">The Jihad against Australia (2002 onwards)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/globaljihad.html">The Global Jihad today (2001 – ongoing)
http://www.historyofjihad.org/waronterror.html">The War on Terror against Jihad today (2001– ongoing)
********************** JIHADWATCH LINKS **************
BLOGGING THE QUR'AN BY ROBERT SPENCER
JIHADWATCH.ORG articles by HUGH FITZGERALD
***********VIDEO LINKS**************
UK video: Dispatches: Undercover Mosque
Dispatches: Undercover Mosque, Part 1
Dispatches: Undercover Mosque, Part 2
Dispatches: Undercover Mosque, Part 3
Dispatches: Undercover Mosque, Part 4
Dispatches: Undercover Mosque, Part 5
Dispatches: Undercover Mosque, Part 6
Dispatches: follow up to Undercover Mosque
Video infiltrating Chech mosques: I, a Muslim
Video, SUBMISSION, Theo Van Gogh/Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Video, Islam: What The West Needs To Know
OBSESSION, THE MOVIE
Official website: OBSESSION, THE MOVIE
Muslims in America
Egypt ; Treatment of Christians 1 of 3.
Egypt; Treatment of Christians 2 of 3
Egypt; Treatment of Christians 3 of 3
The War On Britains Jews 1 of 6
The War On Britains Jews 2 of 6
The War On Britains Jews 3 of 6
The War On Britains Jews 4 of 6
The War On Britains Jews 5 of 6
The War On Britains Jews 6 of 6
Jihad USA- Homegrown Terror -1
Jihad USA- Homegrown Terror - 2
Jihad USA- Homegrown Terror - 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccl9FWTf60s">Jihad USA- Homegrown Terror -4
********MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT***************
*************ESSAYS*****************
PDF "TO OUR GREAT DETRIMENT": IGNORING WHAT EXTREMISTS SAY ABOUT JIHAD (with appendices)
“No Substitute for Victory” The Defeat of Islamic Totalitarianism
***************
A New Wave of Anti-Semitism [flash presentation]
History in a Nutshell [flash presentation]
Nutshell Too [flash presentation]
Imagine [flash presentation]
Despite its own difficulties, in almost 60 years of existence Israel has come to the aid of more than 140 nations
************
ISLAMISATION STATUS OF INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES - 2007
***********MUSIC*****************
"Open Season" is the first video from the new Stuck Mojo album "Southern Born Killers."
STUCK MOJO
I'm American
by PATRICK HENRY
BY SHEIKYERMAMI:
Why Can’t We All Just Get Along
Overture: Mussie Boogie
Abu Hamza
Tolerance
The Imam
Philistine Child
Harry the Taliban
Zarqawi
The Shoe Bomber
Never Do a Thing Like That
********
The Islam Comic Book, Mohammed's Believe it or Else!
***********
There is a remarkable effort coming from Poland:
The Victoria Project which will include a novel, audio (including radio drama, documentary film - with trailer, movie, theme park.
"Victoria", a story of Jan Ill Sobieski's victory in the battle of Vienna, the day of true glory of European armies, achieved with a heroic help from His Majesty's secret agent.
A great clash between Western world and Islam in the struggle for much more than the lands of the Habsburgs.
A great story, great love, a great victory still important for today's world.
author: Cezary Harasimowicz
"Victoria's" obvious audience are nations of Central Europe. However, through balanced, fictionalized treatment ofhistory and emotional engagement of German-speaking nations as well as very topical deption of political problems of present-day Europe, the film will find a wide audience on the whole Continent. The attractiveness of the plot to the USA audience is a separate issue. Here the storyline boldly and provocatively proposes a thesis that will not go unnoticed in this region of the world.Posted by: heroyalwhyness
at April 2, 2008 9:59 AM
I think Fitna was poorly done and actually did more of a disservice than anything. It was almost stupid, like a middle schooler got a hold of windows movie maker and some news reels. I hope there is not another one by Wilders.
Last night I saw an excellent film called Obsession and would recommend it to anyone reading this site. It is only $5 to watch and well worth it.
at April 2, 2008 10:05 AM
Ehsan Jami, former Dutch politician is going to one up Geerts ...check this one coming soon ...the Islamic Kryptonite is here at last. There's no way Muslims will keep a lid on this one looool wow !
"His cartoon film, expected to be released on the 20th of April, is apparently even more controversial than the dreaded Muhammad cartoons:
Former Dutch Labour Party politician Ehsan Jami, the founder of the Committee of ex-Muslims, has announced that he is producing an anti-Islamic cartoon called The Life of Muhammad which will be released on the 20th of April. The film will show a sexually aroused Prophet Muhammad with his nine-year-old wife Aisha."
http://sugiero.blogspot.com/2008/03/netherlands-another-islam-critic-movie.html
Posted by: Sneakyzionistcrusader at April 2, 2008 10:27 AM
and the Islamic response to this new "Life of Mohammad" cartoon
"Members of the Muslims and government contact organisation, CMO, who have viewed a section of the film, say they will go to court in an attempt to have The Life of Muhammad banned. The organisation has described the The Life of Muhammad as totally unacceptable and extremely offensive."
Not offensive to Non Muslims !
"If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed." Benjamin FRANKLIN
Muslims will snap over this one, can't wait until April 20th !
Posted by: Sneakyzionistcrusader at April 2, 2008 10:31 AM
The promised movie by Jami, if as described, is jejune and will only be put to effective use by Muslim groups to tar by assocation "Fitna" and other, more intelligent efforts. Imagine those Muslim spokesmen breezily describing "these crazy Islamophobic movies -- the're all the same really -- such as that Dutch one where Muhammad, our revered prophet, is shown with an erection, and taking a little girl by the hand into a room -- well, how would you Christians feel if in place of Muhammad it were Jesus being depicted" etc. etc.
Not hard to see how effective, if meretricious, such a line of attack would be.
Jami is 22 years old. He needs to be held in check by others, such as Ellian, who have much more sense about these things. There are effective measures; there are measures that can easily boomerang.
Posted by: Hugh at April 2, 2008 10:36 AM
The length of Geerts film was perfect...it gives people a chance to sit through it....alot of people just won't sit through a documentary like Islam: What the West needs to know....I personally think that is an extraordinary film, love seeing Robert, Bat and Serge but I've tried to get people to watch it and they just can't sit there long enough....too many people are like that.
The demographic statistics in Fitna were very effective, showing the Islamic demographic conquest Hugh talks about on the Netherlands...Geerts did a great job on it....but there will be more...April 20th.
Posted by: Sneakyzionistcrusader at April 2, 2008 10:38 AM
"...and actually did more of a disservice than anything." --Seth Levy, above.
That's ridiculous. Oh, and it's not "stupid," either. Unless you call actual footage of Mohammedans doing their nasty thing (s) "stupid" - which would be ridiculous.
I suppose you considered the beheading footage and the victim's screams as "stupid?"
You know what? I think you're stupid, not Brave Geert Wilders and his film.
Posted by: darcy at April 2, 2008 10:38 AM
"...such as that Dutch one where Muhammad, our revered prophet, is shown with an erection, and taking a little girl by the hand into a room -- well, how would you Christians feel if in place of Muhammad it were Jesus being depicted" etc. etc. "
Oh, please! That's too easy! Jesus never married and never had intimate relations. He was celibate. Fact.
Mohamet married about 12 times, his last wife being 7-year-old Aeisha with whom he had intimate relations when she was 9. Fact.
So, to depict Jesus in the scenario described above is an out-and-out lie.
To depict Mo in the scenario described above is the truth.
Conclusion: Jami, your comparison between Mo and Jesus is 100% false.
at April 2, 2008 10:48 AM
well that excitement was short lived....Fatwa placed on teh guy and he's not goign to show the movie because the dutch government won't protect him.
http://sugiero.blogspot.com/2008/04/ehsan-jami-not-to-release-his-movie.html
Ah well
Posted by: Sneakyzionistcrusader at April 2, 2008 10:51 AM
Hugh you're probably right anyways...but the movie isn't going to happen because of the death threats that Jami has faced.
Posted by: Sneakyzionistcrusader at April 2, 2008 10:56 AM
There may be some confusion, in a posting above, about who says the following:
"...such as that Dutch one where Muhammad, our revered prophet, is shown with an erection, and taking a little girl by the hand into a room -- well, how would you Christians feel if in place of Muhammad it were Jesus being depicted" etc. etc. "
It is not Jami. It is I, but a ventriloquent I, speaking for a future Muslim spokesman who might well use the most sensational bits of Jami's claimed movie as a clever way to appeal to Christian sympathies, Christian support, and to lump "Fitna" and other productions in with that by Jami. business of imagining a Muslim spokesman denouncing Jami's movie, but carefully lumping it with other, much better productions.
To the reply: but didn't Muhammad have sexual intercourse with nine-year-old Aisha? Yes, he did. But there are more intelligent ways to get across that information, and the significance of that together with the understanding that Muhammad is the Perfect Man, al-insan al-kamil, and to be emulated by Muslims in all things.
There is a time. There is a place. Most people do not know about Aisha, and those who will denounce his movie know that, or can feign great indignation that, if it is about some cartoon in which Muhammad is shown with an erection, and taking trusting Aisha by the hand into a room, that will be easy to condemn, easy to be indignant about, and to find non-Muslim support for such indignation.
That is the point. Not whether or not Aisha existed and had her "marriage" to Muhammad consummated when she was nine. There are other ways to convey that information and, more importantly, what it means. For one example, see the MEMRI clip where an Iraqi "Islamic scholar" denounces the West for, as he dreamily thinks, permitting all kinds of fornication for girls the age of Aisha, but doesn't allow men to make things right by marrying them. An extraordinary performance, well worth seeing and disseminating to others.
Posted by: Hugh at April 2, 2008 11:00 AM
There may be some confusion, in a posting above, about who says the following:
"...such as that Dutch one where Muhammad, our revered prophet, is shown with an erection, and taking a little girl by the hand into a room -- well, how would you Christians feel if in place of Muhammad it were Jesus being depicted" etc. etc. " -Hugh
LOL, that would be me.
*
"It is not Jami. It is I, but a ventriloquent I, speaking for a future Muslim spokesman who.." --Got it. The ventriloquent Hugh!
*
"Most people do not know about Aisha..."
Good Grief. That's Mohammed 101.
at April 2, 2008 11:17 AM
A puerile belief system merits a jejune criticism.
I think what muslims need most is to have impressed upon them repeatedly that we will mock their ridiculous beliefs at will and with impunity.
I might have to make my own jejune cartoon if the kid in Holland has been scared silent.
Posted by: non-croyant at April 2, 2008 3:43 PM
I'm very interested to hear about the Victoria Project. Its success will depend on its quality, though.
If the book or film have an amateurish feel to them, the opposite point to the one intended will be made: that only simpletons would harken back
to the history recounted. We live in a different world!
But Vienna was only 300 years ago. Lepanto only 500. Poitiers only 1300. Those are mere moments in Islam's view of history, and we are surely being exhorted by our current situation to see that, in some important ways, in highly consequential ways, the world hasn't changed all that much.
I agree so much that Fitna should be only chapter one. We need well produced and widely released films, and perhaps films whose makers have been clever enough to temper the shocking imagery, which repeat the point. Film is the best, today, possibly the only medium, with which to reach a wide audience.
Something like a documentary version of "Islam Unveiled" or "The Politically Incorrect Guide"?
Can someone get to work on that?
Posted by: Novalis
at April 2, 2008 3:46 PM
And yes, such mockery will incite Muslims to violence, but the West will not get fed up otherwise.
The Muslims incited to violence are responsible for their own actions, and my hope is that they will continue to confine that violence to their fellows.
Posted by: non-croyant at April 2, 2008 3:49 PM
There is a big window of difference between criticism and ridicule The Cartoon seems to fall in the latter.
The more professional and honest the presentation is, the wider it will be received, The better it will be accepted, The greater the understanding, the greater the likelihood something will actually get done.
Posted by: flowerknife_us at April 2, 2008 5:09 PM
I disagree. If you want popular action then I think ridicule would be more effective.
People are just going to yawn if they are asked to watch something that is "professional and honest."
Sad as it might be - if you want action then appeal to emotion instead of reason.
That's what Fitna attempted to do.
Despite how much more professional and honest it is, how much more successful at being widely accepted (or even recongnized as existing) has Islam: What the West Needs To Know been?
Posted by: non-croyant at April 2, 2008 6:45 PM
I think Fitna was poorly done and actually did more of a disservice than anything. It was almost stupid, like a middle schooler got a hold of windows movie maker and some news reels. I hope there is not another one by Wilders.
Last night I saw an excellent film called Obsession and would recommend it to anyone reading this site. It is only $5 to watch and well worth it.
Posted by: Seth Levy
I have just been screaming over this! What about Obsession??!!! Fitna was NOTHING campared to it. The only difference was the adding of the Quaran verses. Albeit, that did give a little more legitimacy to the fact that this is not just a hand full of radicals. . . .Anyway, the site for people to watch this $5 movie is www.obsessionthemovie.com.
Also, in reference to are their going to be other installments. . .I just watched an interview pt. 1 and 2 of G. He said this is the first installment, and he is negotiating with Dutch TV stations to air it. They won't until having seen it. It was a great interview. . .saw on youtube.
Posted by: lightinshadows at April 3, 2008 2:54 AM
Re. the Polish film, Viktoria. I visited their website. It looks pretty professional, and the sample of their soundtrack is gorgeous.
If they do it right, it will be move over Jackson and 'Lord of the Rings' - Jan Sobieski and his hussars were the real-life 'Riders of Rohan' coming to the rescue of a great city besieged by forces of darkness.
If I were the film-makers, I would end by cutting from the gory scenes of victory at the end, to a quiet little town somewhere in Germany, with one of those helpful movie headlines, done in 17th-century style calligraphy: 'Two years later. Eisenach, spring 1685'. Zoom in on the interior of a church. A well-to-do upper middle class family are having their new baby baptised (film everything in muted, Rembrandt-style colours, light and shadow).
THEN you hear the name of the baby as the pastor says: "I baptise thee, Johann Sebastien Bach, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"...segue into the Passacaglia and Fugue in C, as the credits start to roll.
That, I think, would be perhaps the perfect way to exemplify a little, just a little, what was at stake at Vienna in 1683. Not only what already was, in Western Christendom, but what was yet to be.
Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at April 3, 2008 6:42 AM
Excellent idea. With or without it I'd love to see the film. More importantly, I'd love lots of other people to see the film.
I can't seem to locate the novel. Amazon doesn't seem to know anything about it.
Posted by: Novalis at April 3, 2008 3:44 PM
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