Greetings gentle readers and welcome to another installment of the Sunday Morning Movie. Today it’s a film about a doctrinal dispute between two small Sufi Muslim cults and about the raw power of belief, Howling for God:
Les amoureux de Dieu (1998)
and next week’s movie, Chariots of Fire:
Reviews of Howling for God:
I couldn’t find any reviews for this film, but I found it too good to pass up. There is very little information about it on the internet so here are some related links to add context:
Sufi Dervishes
For hours several dozen men in the congregation have been chanting, swaying, and singing songs in Albanian, Turkish and Arabic. As the pace of the music quickens, Sheikh Adrihusein Shehu removes a small iron skewer known as a zarf from the mihrab behind him, blesses it with his lips, and inserts it slowly into the cheek of his 12-year-old son, Sejjid Emir. Several more children follow.
The annual ritual is a celebration of the birth of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first male to accept Islam. Held annually on the spring equinox, it is also a celebration of Nowruz, the Persian new year.
Nowruz
Nowruz (Nevruz in Turkish), meaning “new day” in Persian, is one of the world’s oldest continuously observed festivals. Rooted in the ancient lands of Greater Persia and celebrated by over 300 million people around the globe, it is much more than a New Year’s festivity. Nowruz is a poetic embrace of life itself—a cultural, spiritual, and seasonal renewal that transcends borders and ideologies.
My take:
A well told tale of religious dissension in very small, marginalized communities. The participants lives are bleak. Poverty and unemployment are the norm. Nestled within these realities are small groups of dedicated believers who mortify their flesh to prove their devotion to God. What may seem like a petty dispute to an outsider takes on an immense importance in this world.
The movie can be divided into two parts. The first details the everyday existence of the subjects, specifically the leaders of the cults. Then we get to see an actual piercing ritual.
For me, it became a different film at this point. The imagery is powerful. The room full of chanting bodies, dervishes plunging spikes into their bodies, or having them hammered into place, smiling boys being lanced repeatedly and carried about like idols. They claim to feel no pain.
It will probably elicit disgust from some, but it was compelling to me. The power to shut down? ignore? your sense of pain is incredible. From where does it flow? I’m awarding it ⭐⭐, the ritual scene is worth another look.
Director: Dan AlexeWriter: Dan Alexe.
Plot (Spoilers!):
The leaders of two Sufi dervish or holy man sects are at odds with one another. Both claim the right to conduct a special ceremony. Only one can be right.
Against a backdrop of poverty, the drama unfolds. The two meet and decide to speak. An agreement is reached.
The film concludes with a performance of the ceremony. Ritual spikes pierce willing flesh. The power of belief is palpable.
***Bonus: This is a short film about an Islamic holy site in Iran called Imam Reza and the pilgrims that visit it, Ya zamene ahu:
Ya zamene ahu (1970)
