The Blasphemers' Banquet
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''The Blasphemers' Banquet'' is a
film-poem The film-poem (also called the poetic avant-garde film, verse-film or verse-documentary or film poem without the hyphen) is a label first applied to American avant-garde films released after World War II. During this time, the relationship between ...
created in 1989 by English poet and playwright
Tony Harrison Tony Harrison (born 30 April 1937) is an English poet, translator and playwright. He was born in Beeston, Leeds and he received his education in Classics from Leeds Grammar School and Leeds University. He is one of Britain's foremost verse w ...
which examines
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
arising from religious issues. It was created in part as a response to the
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...
controversy surrounding his publication of ''
The Satanic Verses ''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...
''. It was aired by the
BBC 1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
programme ''Byline'' on 31 July 1989. The verse-film is set at the Omar Khayyám restaurant in Bradford where Harrison is holding a banquet with invited guests such as Omar Khayyám,
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...
,
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...
,
Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and worl ...
and
Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
. The film at the time of its airing created a controversy in Britain when then Archbishop of Canterbury
Robert Runcie Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie, Baron Runcie, (2 October 1921 – 11 July 2000) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991, having previously been Bishop of St Albans. He travelled the world widely ...
advised the BBC to postpone the showing of the film and the BBC writing a reply to him defending the airing of the broadcast.


Plot

The opening scene of the play shows a table inside the Omar Khayyám tandoori restaurant in Bradford, a converted Presbyterian church, where Harrison is holding a banquet with invited guests such as Omar Khayyám,
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...
,
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...
,
Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and worl ...
and
Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
. Harrison appears sitting at the table drinking wine, expecting his guests and making a toast, in the name of Omar Khayyám, to Rushdie and all those who had experienced persecution on religious grounds. From the initial scene the audience is led to anticipate a feast. Harrison introduces the places where his guests are expected to sit on "mirrored cushions" and also narrates the historical events surrounding each of the "blasphemers" using background imagery of political and religious events and demonstrations. Harrison also comments that blasphemy has historically been a function of time, mentioning that, in the past, Voltaire had been condemned by the French government but his works are now considered classics. In the film, the historical figures are represented by actors or busts while Rushdie's chair is kept empty and he is the only guest who is expected to either arrive at the banquet in person or appear through a filmed interview from an undisclosed
safe house A safe house (also spelled safehouse) is, in a generic sense, a secret place for sanctuary or suitable to hide people from the law, hostile actors or actions, or from retribution, threats or perceived danger. It may also be a metaphor. Histori ...
location. In the end, Rushdie never appears, the expected feast never happens and the film ends with a silent blank screen. The music of the film was composed by
Dominic Muldowney Dominic Muldowney (born 19 July 1952 in Southampton) is a British composer. Biography Dominic Muldowney studied at the University of Southampton with Jonathan Harvey, at the University of York (with Bernard Rands and David Blake), and privat ...
and the songs were performed by
Teresa Stratas Teresa Stratas (born May 26, 1938) is a retired operatic soprano from Canada of Greek descent. She is especially well known for her award-winning recording of Alban Berg's '' Lulu''. Early life and career Stratas was born Anastasia Stratakis t ...
.


Reception and analysis

Anthony Rowland writes that Harrison uses the five literary figures to represent literary culture and the Institution of Literature and its traditional opposition to the merging of religion with the state. Rowland mentions Harrison's choice of the Bradford restaurant which used to be a church, as symbolising the opposition of Literature to state religion by "occupying" a space used for religious purposes in the past. John Gabriel comments that the film-poem's intent is to make clear that the Rushdie affair is connected to wider historical issues of censorship and the freedom to publish. According to Gabriel, Harrison makes this connection by "defiantly drinking an alcoholic toast to Rushdie in the company of four other blasphemers" at the Bradford restaurant and by the publication of his poem titled ''The Satanic Verses'' which was published in ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'' in which he writes:


Reaction

The then- Archbishop of Canterbury
Robert Runcie Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie, Baron Runcie, (2 October 1921 – 11 July 2000) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991, having previously been Bishop of St Albans. He travelled the world widely ...
had been applying pressure to the BBC to postpone the broadcast of the film-poem. John Lyttle, the secretary for public affairs of the Archbishop, had written to BBC director-general
Michael Checkland Sir Michael Checkland (born 13 March 1936) was Director-General of the BBC from 1987 to 1992, being appointed after the forced resignation of Alasdair Milne. Early life Michael Checkland was educated at the state grammar school King Edward ...
, on Runcie's behalf, expressing concerns about the impact the film might have on the Muslims of Britain. Lyttle had said at the time that neither he nor the Archbishop had seen the film and that they wanted to "resolve the Rushdie problem, not inflame it". Immediately after the programme's broadcast Runcie denounced it, saying that it could upset the Muslim minority of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. The BBC replied to the Archbishop saying that "sensibilities surrounding the program had been considered carefully within the BBC and a great deal of advice had been sought on its content from both within and outside the BBC." Runcie was criticised by the ''
Catholic Herald The ''Catholic Herald'' is a London-based Roman Catholic monthly newspaper and starting December 2014 a magazine, published in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and, formerly, the United States. It reports a total circulation of abo ...
'', which came to the defence of Harrison praising the BBC 1's ''Byline'' series as "excellent" and describing it as a series "in which distinguished experts put over a personal viewpoint on a current issue". The ''Catholic Herald'' also characterised Harrison's film-poem as fair and balanced and wrote that the Archbishop "should have held his peace".


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blasphemers' Banquet, The British poems British books BBC television documentaries 1989 films British political films Political mass media in the United Kingdom Works about censorship Cultural depictions of Salman Rushdie Cultural depictions of Lord Byron Cultural depictions of Voltaire Cultural depictions of Molière 1980s English-language films 1980s British films