Saint Mary (film)

Saint Mary
DVD release cover
Directed byShahriar Bahrani
Written byMohammad Saeed Bahmanpoor, Hossein Nuri (rewriting and development)
Story byQur'an
Based onMary mother of Jesus
Produced byMohsen Aliakbari
StarringShabnam Gholikhani
Parviz Poorhosseini
Mohammad Kasebi
Jafar Dehghan
Hossein Yari
Mohsen Zehtab
Zahra Saeedi
Afsaneh Naseri
CinematographyHasan Pouya
Edited byShahriar Bahrani
Music byMajid Entezami
Distributed bySima Film
WN Media
Release date
  • 2000 (2000)
Running time
114 minutes
CountryIran
LanguagePersian

Saint Mary (Persian: مریم مقدس, also Maryam al-Muqaddasah, Maryam Moghaddas, Maryam Adhraa Maryam Al-Muqadasa; "The Honourable/Blessed Saint Mary") is a 2000 Iranian film by director Shahriar Bahrani, depicting the life of Mary the mother of Jesus, based on the Quran and Islamic tradition.

Plot

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In the year 16 BC, the people of Jerusalem are awaiting the birth of the son of Imran. Instead of the much-anticipated "Messiah", a girl is born to Imran and Anna. The latter names her Mary, which means "Servant of God". At the age of six, Mary is presented at the Temple, and remains there under the protection of the priest Zechariah until she turns sixteen.

While in seclusion, Mary spends all of her time in labour and prayers, and is harassed by the Jewish priests. She achieves such holiness that the angel Gabriel appears to her, foretelling that she will bear a holy man. She later gives birth to Jesus.

Production

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The film bases the story of the life of Saint Mary and the birth of Jesus – a prophet in Islamic tradition – on classical sources such as Chapter 19 of the Qur'an. Along with the character of Saint Mary, this film also featured the righteous character of the Prophet Zakariya, who in Islam was the guardian of Saint Mary.

The two-hour-long film was originally in Persian but has been dubbed into English by the Wilayah Network which was recorded in Hong Kong by Red Angel Media,[1] and there is also another version with English subtitles. Footage from the film was used heavily in the 19 August 2007 British ITV documentary The Muslim Jesus.[2][3]

Cast

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "DEMOS| Red Angel Media". www.redangelmedia.com. Archived from the original on 2015-05-08.
  2. ^ ITV Documentary 'The Muslim Jesus' Draws Fiery Debate
  3. ^ The Muslim Jesus part 1 of 5 on YouTube
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