If you haven’t seen the movie “The Book of Eli” and you were planning on it, then don’t read this review, pull the car over and get out until I’m finished. I hate hearing about movies before I see them, I never read reviews, try not to see trailers and never ask anyone what a movie is about. A few weeks ago my friends decided to take me to see a movie for my birthday. This of course was very nice of them and the fact that they had already picked the movie without asking me was to say the least, unexpected.
I could have vetoed the choice I suppose but having seen a preview of “The Book of Eli” my attention had been caught. Oddly enough no matter how many times I tell people that I will maim them for telling me about a movie, telling me is all they seem to do. Something that I was told right at the beginning of not wanting to be told anything intrigued me so much that I actually found myself asking for further information. Rumor had it that this movie was being called by Christians the type of movie that Hollywood should be making for Christians; it seemed that here was a movie that was actually pro-Christian.
Could it be true? Could the Kingdom of Man have slipped and allowed something that might actually reflect positively on the Kingdom of God. Now I was very interested. I had thought that this movie was a post apocalyptic modern day Mad Max, (I love Virginia Hey in that). But now I was being told that this was a vehicle for the furthering of the Gospel and then…I saw the movie.
The movie itself was very well done. The fight scenes were choreographed nicely, crisp cinematography, good script and for the most part quality acting. Although Jackie (Mlia Kunis) from ‘That 70’s show’ was not the right choice for Solara, I blamed the casting agent more than the actress.
What left me scratching my head was the pre-movie jubilation by some in the Christian world that this was a pro-Christian movie. The New York Posts Kyle Smith called it a “Christian Blockbuster”. I will admit that I may be over analyzing this film so I am prepared for that accusation. I even waited two weeks to write this review in order to give myself a chance to really consider what I believed the message of the movie was. My original opinion has remained unchanged.
Throughout the movie the messenger of God (Eli) is fighting his way through mobs of ruffians, dodging cannibals and walking by faith to a place that he hasn’t seen. He isn’t sure where it is but he knows that he will know it when he ‘sees’ it.
The thing is that Eli has the last Bible on the face of the earth and for the last thirty years he has been trying to take it to a place where it can be used for good. What we start to understand is that the reason why this is the last Bible on earth is because its teachings were the catalyst for what caused the devastating war in the first place and also the reason why Carnegie (Gary Oldman {movie bad guy}) wants it. After the devastating war people recognized that it was teachings from this book that caused the war so they burned every copy they could get their hands on. After thirty years of reading the Bible Eli has learned two things, one; that the people were wrong about the Bible and two; the true message of the book (uttered by Eli three quarters of the way through the movie), is; “What it tells me is that we should treat others like we want to be treated”.
I don’t believe the Hughes brothers were trying to misrepresent the Bible, I believe that they believe that that is the true message of the Bible. I think their main purpose for this movie was to promote tolerance of all religion. At the end of the movie the Bible is tidally placed on the shelf next to the Torah and the Koran.
Throughout the movie Eli is wandering through a dirty, dusty, dry and barren land. The film itself is muted color with grey scale; even the clean water from the pump is filmy. But, as Eli moves closer to the place that he is being led the grey scale is slowly lifted and the color bleeds back into frame, suddenly green trees appear. Eli and Solara row a boat across blue water, under blue sky to the place where the book will finally be understood for what it is. Inside this solid structure everything is bathed in deep red and chocolate brown. And as we step into the courtyard we are greeted with lush green grass.
The parallel that I took away from this movie was one of religious tolerance. Outside in the wasteland is narrow-minded intolerance that wants to take religion and use it to control others and gain power. But in the fortress set high above the grey is open-mindedness, a place where all thought is collected and set on the same foundation, where every ideology is cherished so that future generations can overcome those who believe that all philosophies have a place and must be understood as an achievement of thought. Anyone who thinks differently is just a cannibal.
