CORRECTIONS APPENDED

Maybe the Muslim world is, after all, a mystery to the West. Maybe the two cultures have simply diverged one step too far from each other—somehow neither can break the encryption just beneath the surface of the mutual chatter that seems to elicit so much wrath and illuminate as little common ground. Maybe the only hope that the people of the West can understand the subtlety and beauty of the Islamic culture comes in the form of a docu-drama made up to look like an historical epic—one whose patronizing tone is only outpaced by its incompetent execution. Bruce Neibaur, director of “Journey to Mecca” (though only one of its culprits), seems to advocate this theory. This is the only reasonable explanation.

Contrary to what many may believe, “Journey to Mecca” is not a documentary. Despite the note that much of its publicity has taken—emphasizing the inclusion of unprecedented footage of the modern Hajj, and invoking National Geographic as its chief patron—there is little about the film that aspires to an insightful portrayal of actual events. Instead, viewers are subjected to skeletal dramatic summary of the first voyage of Ibn Battuta, a Berber from 12th-century Tangiers, whose journal chronicles a lifetime of travel the scale of which outstrips the expeditions of Marco Polo three times over. Neibaur’s film covers Ibn’s departure from Tangiers, his travels across Africa and the Middle East, and his arrival at the Kaaba. The rumor of promise in telling a story like this is quickly squashed by the fact that much of this trip consisted of traveling through hundreds of miles of featureless desert. Thankfully, the sheer inertia of this truth keeps “Journey to Mecca” from exceeding 45 minutes, but it doesn’t stop those particular 45 minutes from being utterly sterile. It’s also worth mentioning that every minute is on an IMAX screen.

There’s a certain responsibility that’s assumed when assessing a work that so obviously engages issues with a cultural pertinence. A film that concerns itself with an act of devotion whose intensity distinguishes Islam from all other faiths should naturally aspire to enrich and elucidate an understanding of Islam that transcends that of the mythological. There is a long list of questions, any one of which could be investigated, that would indicate that its makers were aware of their task—or even connected to reality. What does the Hajj as an act of worship in total communion mean for the various disparate sects and nationalities of the Muslim world? What does a tradition that remains obstinate in the face of modernity say about the rapidly modernizing groups of people who still take part in it? How does the pilgrimage, understood by the faith as a totally pure experience, act dialectically with the context of Islamic extremism?

If Neibaur and the others were aware of any of these potentially rewarding questions, “Journey to Mecca” does its best to say otherwise. Ibn’s story is recalled with a flaccidity which could be called reductive if it seemed to serve any purpose to begin with—the young traveler is subjected to the expected travails of any desert-sojourn: sand storms, bandits and the search for water. With the help of his trusty, rough-around-the-edges Bedouin sidekick, however, he braves the obstacles and reaches Mecca, much to the expectation of all.

Facile storytelling can be forgiven, though—or at least forgotten. The film’s cardinal sin is in squandering the opportunity to implement footage of the Hajj in an interesting way. It’s clear that any potentially substantive use for this exclusive footage was buried while convincing the Saudis to allow the filming of the pilgrimage at all (especially of the Kaaba, where non-Muslims are forbidden). The segments of this footage are left, mostly, until the end, when Ibn’s experience is compared with that of modern pilgrims, to show the striking similarities. Neibaur seems to be telling us that Islam has aged considerably, but remains unchanged—an observation either criminally naïve, irresponsibly casual, or both.

Watching “Journey to Mecca,” however, one question does present itself, to which the film never provides an answer: what is this film doing on an IMAX screen? Executive producer Taran Davies ’93, promoting the film, claimed that the camel caravan used to transport crew and equipment through the desert was the largest to pass through that region. [SEE CORRECTIONS BELOW] But you’d never know it. Most of the shots in “Journey to Mecca” are dialogue shots—closed in on Ibn and his companion—or utterly blank desert topography, which could basically be filmed anywhere. Viewers expecting to be overtaken by breathtaking Arabian vistas on a “Planet Earth” scale will be more than disappointed. They’ll be bored.

—Staff writer Ryan J. Meehan can be reached at rmeehan@fas.harvard.edu.

CORRECTIONS

The Feb. 20 arts review "Journey to Mecca" incorrectly identified Taran Davies '93 as the executive producer of the film reviewed. In fact, Davies was one of the film's producers.

The review also incorrectly stated that a camel caravan appearing in the film was used to carry crew and equipment for the film. In fact, the caravan was not used for this purpose.