RATING: PG
DISTRIBUTOR: Disney
RELEASE DATE: May 11, 2010
The format is so familiar that Dastan, Disney's new Prince of Persia, could be Captain Jack Sparrow with a scimitar. But then Captain Jack never told his leading lady the Gospel in less than three sentences.
The Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is being touted as Disney's successor to the Pirates of the Caribbean, even though the fourth film in that series is due in mid 2011. Based on the video game series by the same name, this Arabian epic follows the adventures of the royal Dastan as he seeks to clear his name of the king's murder and stop a wide selection of characters from getting their hands on the Dagger of Time. Dastan, once a pauper, now raised to the level of a prince, discovers that fooling with the legendary knife can change the past, but fooling with its princess guardian will change the way he sees the world forever.
The Prince of Persia's story-line will hold no surprises for any viewer over twelve, and any leaps in logic are well-covered by its spectacularly physical stunt work and its engaging special effects. What is not so easy to get over is the almost total absence of Arabic actors in anything approaching a leading role. Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Aterton, Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina are all excellent actors but no stretch of the imagination nor carefully applied turban will make them Middle Eastern.
But this is just one facet of the Disney distortion field that warps reality to make it more palatable to western minds: the violence is always more theatrical than realistic; characters can spend hat-less hours in the desert without fear of sunstroke; the hero and heroine argue like a 21st century couple; and the villains always stop just short of saying something that a parent wouldn't want to explain. My favourite is when Alfred Molina's worldly merchant describes something travelling ". as fast as a venerable disease in a Turkish harem." Thank Mickey that will go over most children's heads.
One of the more interesting transformations is the Disnification of Islam. Though the Persian Empire in which Dastan lives existed millennia before the Muslim faith the distinction will probably be lost on the average teen or tween. There are minarets and domes wherever you look and menacing soldiers wearing Arabic inscriptions shake spears crowned with crescent moons. Visually and audibly Disney reinforces the accepted wisdom that Middle Eastern cultures are fundamentally violent.
As Princess Tamina taunts Dastan: "I was not born in a desert like you - all shriveled and angry."
Relativism continues to be Disney's favourite religion. Any faith that defines God too narrowly - be it Muslim or Christian - will suffer reflected criticism. When the hordes prepare to storm the gates of the hallowed city of Alamut, one of its peaceful priests sighs: "Their faith has little love for any truth but its own."
You can read more on Disney's transformation of Islam and other religions in the May edition of Southern Cross. Interestingly though, despite its shunning of all things absolute, The Prince of Persia still manages to provide a surprising parable for the grace God offers a rebellious world. Prince Dastan explains to Tamina why he feels immense gratitude to a king who is clearly not his natural father: "I was born in a slum . One day the king marched into the market. He found me, he took me in. He gave me a family and a home."
Instinctively the audience understands that anyone who would willingly redeem someone's life from hopeless poverty deserves undying gratitude.
Disney may keep shrugging God's entitlements off with even shriller claims to self-determination but stories like The Prince of Persia continue to trade on archetypes even jaded western minds can understand. The gift of new life where there was none requires a life of service in return. If our friends can imagine themselves as the brave Dastan leaping from danger to danger, then it may not be too much of a stretch for us to suggest that there is also a King who would like to lift them into his family.
