intellectual properties

the book of eli (spoiler alert)

last night we watched The Book of Eli, a post-apocalyptic film.  the setting: nuclear (?) war causes hole in atmosphere, sun scorches earth, most people die, the scattered burnt-out civilization that remains looks a lot like hanging out with the DPW at burning man, only more desperate and violent.  all books were burned, and water is so scarce it becomes the controlling force for everything people do.  it’s sort of a cross between an old cowboy movie and mad max.  what makes it exceptional is 1. it’s beautifully shot in black/white/monochrome, and the mood is minimalist and desolate and 2. the cast: denzel washington, gary oldman, tom waits, jennifer beals, and mila kunis.

the premise, however, is tricky, and where i got a little put off (spoiler alert):

denzel washington is on a mission.  his mission, it becomes clear, is to travel across this dangerous post-apocalyptic america to deliver the last (known) copy of The Holy Bible to a safe destination, as all books have been destroyed, especially that one.  this destination is unknown to him, because the voice (of God) he heard just told him to go West until he found the safe place.  the nemesis also wants “the book”, but for power reasons –  gary oldman, who is always so horribly creepy it’s kind of hard to watch.  anyway, denzel is some sort of amazing quiet stoic ninja, fights people along the road in crazy martial arts scenes, refuses to give up the book in the face of death, etc.

i was actually a little enchanted by this premise – that a man could hold his faith SO STRONG after the world had been destroyed that he would literally put his life in danger to protect the Bible. it’s affirming. and there are several fight scenes where it seems improbable that he would survive – him against 13 men with knives, etc – but it’s standard dramatic heroicism so whatever. but then comes the scene where they are shooting bullets at his back, and they BOUNCE OFF.  this is where it seemed apparent that not only does he believe that God talked to him (as many people do), but that he wasn’t imagining it and God is literally protecting this man while he finishes his mission to deliver the Bible to a safe place.

here’s where i get put off:  this brings into what was a sort of beautiful humanistic “man of faith” story all the problematic aspects of Christian theology around the question of “why does God let people suffer?”.  for example, while this man is being protected from bandits and thieves, women in the film are getting raped.  children are starving.  the entire globe is suffering.   but here is our Man of God, protected so that God’s Word can be propagated once again and not lost, and this cycle of man fucking up, civilization being destroyed, people suffering though innocent, etc. continues while God omnisciently and omnipotently watches.  UGH.

i think the film would have been really an artful piece without the mystical aspect, and an interesting study of faith on purely human terms.   i think post-apocalyptic scenarios are always interesting, as the questions are huge and complex – what lead to the event? who survives and why?  what does the world look like? what is lost?  how does life go on?  how will humanity change? and the scenario and the details of the post-apocalyptic world set here are good.  but once you bring the God layer into it……it loses its humanity to me.  i’m sure the religious audience would love this film – if you believe in The Bible as the key to saving humanity and that God Is Watching Over Us and God Is Good, well then this movie is FOR YOU.

or maybe i’m wrong.  the wikipedia plot summary makes no mention of any sort of supernatural or religious interference, and maybe i’m projecting my criticisms against Christianity onto the storyline because the book he’s carrying happens to be the Bible and not Moby Dick. or maybe other people have a different take on the mystical aspect – maybe it wasn’t the Christian God protecting him until it was safely delivered – maybe it was the God of Books!

in any case,  the end is sort of neat and it is quite beautiful and i think it’s worth watching if you’re into dystopia and post-apocalyptic scenarios.

Filed in philosophical ramblings, tv, books and movies | Tagged with dystopia, NaBloPoMo | Comment (0)