Arabs have not generally fared well in Hollywood blockbusters, where they are usually cast as blood-thirsty terrorists and savages intent on spilling the blood of innocent Westerners.
So in the current climate of conflict between the West and the Arab world, it was natural for Muslims to feel more than a little concern about a Hollywood blockbuster featuring their legendary warrior and leader Saladin in deadly battle with Christian knights.
Initial reactions to the $140-million (about R850-million) movie Kingdom of Heaven have included expressions of outrage - but not from Muslim groups.
Instead, it is Christians who are up in arms, accusing the film of falsely portraying Saladin as an exemplary humanist while the Christian crusaders are seen as ruthless, blood-thirsty extremists.
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| 'I knew we had to do it absolutely properly' |
The movie, which had its premier in Hollywood on Thursday and opens in wide distribution on May 6, is the work of Gladiator director Ridley Scott.
Shot in Morocco and Spain, the movie stars Orlando Bloom as the knight Balian, who eventually surrenders Jerusalem to Saladin, played by veteran Syrian actor Ghassan Massoud, to save the lives of the city's inhabitants.
The movie aspires to be historically accurate, focusing on a tumultuous time in the late 12th century when Baldwin IV, the king of Jerusalem, brought peace to the region by opening the city to all faiths.
But after Baldwin's death in 1185, militant Knights Templar began attacking Muslim desert convoys, and Saladin laid siege to Jerusalem with an army of 200 000. Eventually, Balian surrenders, and Saladin grants the crusaders safe passage back to Europe.
Some scholars have voiced concern that the story could deepen animosity during the current conflict in which devout Muslim fighters are again battling Western invaders.
| 'I honestly can't wait to see the movie' |
Khaled Abou el-Fadl, a renowned Islamic jurist at the University of California in Los Angeles, said he believes the film promotes the idea of "a civilisational showdown between Islamic and Christian culture".
"In my view, it is inevitable that there will be hate crimes committed directly because of it," he told Scotland's Herald newspaper.
But Scott said he made every effort to give the film the opposite message. He even invented a mythical order in which Jews, Christians and Muslims co-operated.
"The characters portrayed in the film are so important in Muslim culture that I knew we had to do it absolutely properly and correctly," he said. "Saladin fights battles, but he also enters into dialogue. We want to show that dialogue can be much better than war."
"It's not like a stupid Hollywood movie," said the movie's leading actress, Eva Green. "It's very clever and brave, and I hope it will wake up people in America to be more tolerant, more open towards the Arab people."
That message seems to have gotten through to Muslims, who have taken the rare step of approving a Hollywood movie. The Council on American-Islamic Relations declared the film to be "a balanced and positive depiction of Islamic culture during the Crusades" while postings to alt.muslim, an interactive online news and discussion community, have been largely positive.
"The American public will see that Muslims have been around for centuries and they're not about to go, like a bad dream," wrote one contributor. "I look forward to seeing the film and pray that it will serve Muslims well."
Another wrote: "I honestly can't wait to see the movie and the perspectives it is going to take. But the director does seem sincere in trying to get the truth and not offend anyone."
But some Western historians and Christian scholars slammed the film as just another example of Hollywood liberals running amok.
"It's basically Osama bin Laden's version of history," said Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith, a British academic and expert on the Crusades. "It depicts the Muslims as sophisticated and civilised, and the Crusaders are all brutes and barbarians. It has nothing to do with reality."
"Kingdom of Heaven is being touted as a fascinating history lesson," said Robert Spencer, the director of Jihad Watch. "Fascinating, maybe - but only as evidence of the lengths to which modern Westerners are willing to go to delude themselves." - Sapa-dpa
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