Ancient Persia's virtual absence in Hollywood

[Rasputin]

Unlike many ancient civilizations, such as Greece, Rome or Egypt, Persia has hardly been given significant attention in Hollywood. This is mainly due to lack of significant feedback and study on Persian civilization which has never quite penetrated Western popular culture. Only an elite group of Western scholars ponder on the "mysterious" Persian Empire.

To many, Persia, before changing it's name to Iran in 1926 (for Iranians, Iran and Persia have always been synonymous, only that Persia refers to the province of Pars or Fars in southern Iran) was no more than an imaginary country often confused with the legend of Atlantis. Apart from a few films such as Robert Rossen's "Alexander the Great" or a Raoul Walsh's "Esther and the King", it is rare to see Persian characters and culture in Hollywood films.

However a few films do emerge beneath the veil that seems to cover ancient Persian history. Persia's Hollywood presence goes back to 1916 in D.W Griffith's film "Intolerance." Through different ages in history, starting with the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus the Great, through the Barthelemy Massacre in Middle Age France, up to modern America, Griffith attempts to portray intolerance as a consistent historical fact. He shows a woman milking her baby in a rocking chair as a transition between the different ages.

"Intolerance" was shot in sixteen weeks with a budget of $400,000. Some 5,000 extras were employed in the three-hour epic. The reconstruction of Babylon is truly magnificent and the famous "push in" of the camera through the Gates of Babylon (45 meters high) and it's famous falling Gardens is to remain in film history as an icon of what Hollywood was capable during the silent era.

[Rasputin]

One film however can be distinguished for describing the adventures of a specific Persian poet and mathematician Omar Khayyam, immensly known in the West for his quatrains of the Rubai'iats translated by Fitzgerald in the 1900's and which began to gain faim in the intellectual and litterary circles, thus launching a new trend of orientalism among Europeans and even Americans, who greatrly appreciated the epicurian approach to life of the poet. This was the case of William Dieterle's film "The Life, Love and Adventures of Omar Khayyam" released in 1957 with famous stars of the time such as Cornel wilde in the title role, Michael Rennie as Hassan Sabbah and Debra Paget as Khayyams love. It is of course and exagerated and highly romantisized version of the great poets life but is entertaining and colourful and even if Hollywood tends not to fully expose the depth of Khayyams writings it is nevertheless a tribute to his legend.

The 1950's and 1960's led many Biblical adaptations of films on the middle East such as Cecile B. DeMille's "Ten Commandments" with Charltion Heston or "Solomon and the Queen of Sheba" with Yul Brynner and Gina Lollobrigida. Hollywood seems once again interested in exploring the past and with such success' as Ridley Scott's "The Gladiator" we may indeed see such "sword and sandals" films reappear. A Film on Alexander the Great is supposed to enter production this year with Leonardo Di Caprio in the title role. "When will Hollywood or Disney delight us with an Epic on Cyrus the Great and how he established the "first declaration of Human Rights" ?" is still a question in suspension.

[shareholder]

Ok I will rephrase:

Hollywood are a bunch of deceitful biased, historical fact manipulators.

When will Hollywood or Disney delight us with an Epic on Cyrus the Great and how he established the "first declaration of Human Rights" ?" is still a question in suspension.

Hollywood or Disney won't, but independent film makers will. There is already a documentary film in production about Cyrus the Great. Also, a british independent film maker is about to begin producing a movie about Cyrus, with rumours that angelina jolie, hugh jackman, and sean connery will star in the film. The film would probably get hollywood exposure if it was actually able to hire those actors. They also claim that the movie will be a 50 million pound project, the largest indy film budget ever.

[Rasputin]

Ok I will rephrase:

Hollywood are a bunch of deceitful biased, historical fact manipulators.



Hollywood or Disney won't, but independent film makers will. There is already a documentary film in production about Cyrus the Great. Also, a british independent film maker is about to begin producing a movie about Cyrus, with rumours that angelina jolie, hugh jackman, and sean connery will star in the film. The film would probably get hollywood exposure if it was actually able to hire those actors. They also claim that the movie will be a 50 million pound project, the largest indy film budget ever.

Agree with you Sir :=) .