The Sultan and the Saint

A delicate theme. The voice of Jeremy Irons. A story for present, proposing a not easy message to contemporary society. So, the controversies are not surprising. From the stat of manifesto, for a part of public, to the historical accuracy and eulogy of Islam or Catholic Church. In fact, it is just a start point. For see, in new way, the near reality. Sure, it can be perceived as a fairy tale or as propaganda, or as polite work. But it represents a real start point. And it is enough.

The Sultan and the Saint (2016) was written and directed by Alexander Kronemer.

It's a historical documentary about a real event--the meeting between Egyptian Sultan Al-Kamil (Zack Beyer) and St. Francis of Assisi (Alexander McPherson.) Jeremy Irons narrates the film.

The basic historical fact--that the two men met in 1219--is not contested. Of course, the movie fills in most of the other information about the Sultan and St. Francis. Also, there's background information about the crusades, with historical re-enactments of battles and the pillage that followed.

This is an amazing story, but it's told in a somewhat plodding way. Given the amazing fact that this meeting actually took place, I think a better director could have given more life to the events.

The Sultan and the Saint has an anemic IMDb rating of 6.7. I thought that it wasn't great, but it was better than that, and rated it 8.

Pure propaganda. Questionable history. A great deal of speculation. The beach is real, and beautiful,; it was filmed on Assateague Island, in Maryland.

At last a truthful version of the terrible wrongs committed by all sides during the Crusades. In between this chaos some people came to the fore and history became slightly changed for the better.

The feud was and is not between Christians and Muslims, but between good and wrong from any perspective. It is not religion that is a problem, but fanaticism. This viewpoint is still the real evil in this world.

Used to the good, religion can be a powerful draw card to make this Earth a haven of peace through cooperation with each other, with all living in prosperity.

It would be kind to call this religious propaganda a documentary but given the extremely inaccurate content that would be wrong. Do not mistake it for a film, it is just a dialogue, a long flow of drivel flowing from someone's mouth with some people in costume providing a backdrop.