The Lady of Heaven: A rare biopic in which the subject is never properly seen

Every now and then an American “faith-based” movie makes it through to Irish cinemas. Profitable in their home country, they slip by here without troubling ancillary media. They are always about Christians. They are invariably drably competent.

The Lady of Heaven is something else altogether. A British independent release, directed by Eli King, it is much concerned with the story of Fatima, daughter of Muhammad, but also takes in wider first millennium history and some contemporary traumas.

It is made with respect. It has educational value. But the film-makers, working with a modest budget, have made sure to include much head-splitting action. The depiction of the battle of Uhud offers us the sort of antagonistic Goliath we have rarely seen since the sword-and-sandal pomp of 1950s Hollywood. Those film were, however, a little shorter on blood.

For most of its duration The Lady of Heaven is respectful to a fault. We begin in the present day as a young Iraqi boy is orphaned by apparent Isis militants. A soldier scoops the lad up and brings him home to his kindly grandmother. Recalling the framing device in The Princess Bride, the film has the older lady entertain the child with tales of ancient Fatima. We slip back to seventh century Medina and watch as the new faith unfolds.

Respecting the prohibition on depicting holy figures in Islam, the producers employ a mixture of ingenious lighting and computer-generated imagery to give an impression of those characters. “This was a very challenging thing, actually, something we were very aware of from the beginning, how to solve this issue, because these holy characters are very holy for close to two billion people, Muslims across the world,” Abdul-Malik Shlibak, one of the producers, told Deadline at Cannes last year. This is a rare biopic in which the subject is never properly seen.

In truth, it would require much specialist knowledge to offer worthwhile assessment of historical or theological accuracy. The film is unlikely to attract much interest from those not already engaged with the subject. It is rough around the edges throughout. But this is a sincere effort made with admirable gusto.

Released on April 29th