Beowulf Film Analysis

The hero of the film was quite ambiguous at the beginning. At first it was suggested that maybe Raoul (charming, poetic, kind), the French writer would be the hero, when she suggested that Diana return to Europe with him and even tried to plead his case with Ahmed, which worked. However, in the end it is revealed that Ahmed is in fact the hero after he says that he is willing to let Raoul take Diana for her own safety despite the fact that he loved her and would live the rest of his life in loneliness. He then hears of Diana’s capture and saves her from Omair, just in time; however, he was shot and they were not sure if he would survive, which still gave Raoul the possibility of being the hero. Only after it is revealed that Ahmed is French

As the villain, Omair is a true savage, capable of kidnap and rape. He is a thief, who makes his comfortable living, by stealing from others and unlike Ahmed he is a “real”Arab (and likely, Muslim, due to their conflation), which is evident in his more stereotypically brown skin, long beard and long white dress compared to Ahmed’s lighter European skin and more modern drapey

The film conflates Arabs and Muslims implicitly, never outwardly stating that they are one and the same, but using a combination of title cards and visuals to so do. It is assumed throughout that Arab also means Muslim in various instances. For example, after showing men praying in the same direction in sync, which is meant to signify the practicing of Islam, there is a title card which calls them the “Children of Araby.” Later in maiden market scene, a title card explains that the market provides wives for “wealthy sons of Allah,” assuming that all the men are Muslim. Lastly, Ahmed’s citizens thank Allah and bow and pray in sync in the same direction, once again, when they discover that Ahmed is okay after being shot. In short, though the title cards never use the term Muslim, they imply that the men are Muslim based on their use of the word “Allah” and the suggested influence that Allah has over the same men which they refer to as Arab, thus conflating Muslim and Arab, without ever employing the term “Muslim.” Subsequently, their lack of diversity within the Arab representation, alongside the film’s focus largely on European character, the religion of the Arab characters is never brought into question, but rather is simply implied to be the same based on the aforementioned title cards. In addition to essentializing Arabs as Muslim, the film also essentializes all Arab men as wealthy, violent,