Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet (2015)

Based on my understanding from reading about Kahlil Gibran, the author of the 1923 book The Prophet, the film’s depiction of Mustafa is consistent with Gibran’s drawing from his Catholic upbringing as well as Islamic and Jewish traditions in an effort to reflect the human condition in a sort of ecumenical mysticism. Gibran’s book is a series of twenty-six philosophical essays with the slimmest of narratives connecting the pieces of prose. Salma Hayek’s film captures both the slightness of the narrative and Gibran’s philosophizing by frequently interrupting the film’s simple narrative of a young girl who wishes to help Mustafa with abstract animated sequences accompanying Neeson’s recitations of Girban’s prose.