Discovering that the book of Eli was the Bible was a bit of a low point for me. The part when he’s asked to recite from the bible and all he can come with is that tired old quote made popular by Pulp Fiction was when it hit rock bottom. If the book is going to save mankind, shouldn’t it have something a little more positive to say?

But oddly enough when he seemed to take on some kind of spiritual superpowers (seemingly immune to gunfire at one point) I began to cheer up. Now *that* is something different and in a sense refreshing. A man who lives on faith alone. A bit like John Locke out of Lost.

So here I was, all set for a theological story and the film missed all its great chances. After Carnegie’s right hand man shot Eli twice in the back and “missed” and then declined to shoot him again, I thought the man was going to have some kind of revelation. After all, the guy had shown some reluctance to stoop as low as the rest of Carnegies raiders so there was a hint of some goodness in him. I hoped that he might go on the road with Eli as another man following a faith he didn’t understand -except in his gut. Heck, he could have even have joined them because of his desire for Kunis. But they side stepped around that opportunity.

The twist in the end made the movie more like Blind Fury meets Mad Max, and was something of an improvement. But only if you accept that God was guiding him the whole time – for the fact is that blind men don’t get to block unseen machete strikes.

Danny – I though the trap laid by those road bandits using the woman was interesting too. Her sympathy and seeming reluctance to go along with the guys was a little off, though. Also, are you suggesting that a sequel would be a good thing? I shudder to think…

Neelie – I imagine that there are more 30 year olds who have read Catcher in the Rye than there are who have read The Bible. I only mention it because JD Salinger died recently, and it might be suggested that the pages of his novel contain more helpful advice for young people than The Bible does. But then there are some conspiracy theorists who think that it activates sleeper agents or something, so who knows?

Neil – Cheers

Gwen – Comparing TBOE to The Matrix trilogy is sensible. Though The Matrix didn’t beat the audience over the head with its philosophy quite as much as TBOE.

grin..

another subtle thing I think worth mentioning in the movie that just ‘came’ to me tonight.

More symbolism of the use of Alcatraz is that is called “The Rock”, from whence the ‘rebuilding was to begin again…..

If I may quote here from The Bible..

In Matthew, chapter 16, verse 13-18
13. When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, ‘
Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?
14. And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15. He saith unto the, ‘But whom say ye that I am?
16. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17. And Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter (petros,a small stone) and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

……….”Upon this rock”……..

Then, there is the point of him ‘wandering’ in the desert all those years, as Moses wandered in the desert leading the Israelites for 40 years, trying to find the promised land. It maybe that some people today have not read the Old Testament and know or remember that they also were told to kill everyone in their path pretty much….(which makes me shiver) and also makes me wonder more about that particular ‘god’…….another seemingly ‘justification’ for ’some’ that ‘they’ are the chosen ones and all the rest are sinners and thus disposable.

In the film, they go to great pains to make all those he has killed to be ‘the bad guys’….pretty darned decadent and hostile, so one doesn’t feel too bad that they are out of the picture….

Another movie I have watched many times, I should say ‘movies’ because it is a trilogy are of course “The Matrix”. Once more, they think they have found “the One”…..and he has to resort to such violence before he can bring peace to all.
But, as we found out in the last movie, this has been done before, and has been repeated over and over, and most likely will be again…..

so there again……what is the point? Is violence really required to find peace…..is that the programming???…..It sure seems to be these days.

Personally, a good movie to me, is one that is not so obvious, not so ‘in my face’….but one that does leave me thinking about it, musing and then having bits and pieces of the puzzle will start to come together. The movie “2001′ really did this for me. It still does my mind tingling…and I am still having ‘aha’ eperiences from it.

The Book of Eli, ‘perhaps’….has many more subtleties and more depth then we at first see. It will be interesting to read more reviews.

Meanwhile, I am still musing away….:-)

gwen

You all missed the point.

Joe – I think that finding the religious message hard to swallow was a fairly big issue for me, but even if it had been about a fictional faith, the other elements of the film were just not strong enough. The dialogue, characterisation and action were all mediocre. The costumes were quite good, but then they weren’t particularly original. The Road had superior cinematography and presented a more complete picture of a dying planet. Glad you thought the ‘twist’ was a bit erroneous too.

Icplus – I don’t believe in the whole ratings system which many reviewers use, and so I was using the grading/stars in a satirical way. However, the message and the movie that conveys it are inextricably intertwined, and so judging the two separately is impossible, despite the fact that I broke down the review into two parts.

Gwen – What a brilliantly complex and comprehensive comment. It puts my review to shame in many ways. I’ll try and address as much of it as I can.

I agree that the cinematography was fairly impressive in some parts, though as I said earlier there are plenty of superior examples in contemporary Hollywood. It did lift the film, if only marginally.

Your critique of organised religion, and the pointless resurrection of the pre-apocalyptic society that the Alcatraz inhabitants are attempting using the old, demonstrably flawed building blocks, is spot on. I thought at first that Malcolm McDowell’s character was simply preserving The Bible as a historical and cultural artefact, which like any work of literature is worth retaining but not worshiping. However, the printing of many copies which was shown in montage at the end of the film suggests that it will actually be used to spread Christianity through the world once more, which as you rightly say would be self-defeating, and create a self-perpetuating cycle of suffering and destruction.

You also bring up a very worrying point about the celebratory message which many Christians have found within this film. Like you, I was troubled by many aspects of the message, which attempted to justify violence, suffering and intolerance in pursuit of the ‘greater good’ (which in this case was the protection and subsequent resurrection of Christianity, and perhaps other organised religions). However, others believe The Book of Eli to have caused scintillating revival of faith within themselves. The inability to see the inconsistencies and the hypocrisy that comes with this is perhaps symptomatic of holding faith in the first place. It relies on the subject completely submitting to a set of ideas based on nothing more than the fact that ideological stubbornness is somehow admirable.

In relation to Gary Oldman’s character, I was really being deliberately contrary in my support of him, but at least he is honest about his intentions and driven by the perfectly understandable human emotion of greed. And not by a little voice in his head. He knows that the ultimate power of faith in any society is the power which it gives to those humans who interpret or create the articles of faith. The mind-forged manacles if you will. The opiate of the masses. Etc etc etc. A means of moral blackmail, as you said in your comment, justifying many positive acts, but also permitting irreparable ones.

I lost your thread a little when you mentioned those who believe that a kind of transcendental spiritualism connected all humans. I presume that this is your preferred stand point (though I apologise if I have misinterpreted your words). Whatever this current spate of post-apocalyptic films intend to tell us explicitly with their themes, the popularity of the genre in general reveals the general desire for death, destruction and extinction which humans posses. Or rather the desire to be the last people on the planet. Where’s Freud when you need him?

Anyway, a good stimulating discussion is developing. Thanks to you all. :p

Then, there are others who acknowledge that we are spirits in human form and that spirit is connected to the god-head which is pure love, and so we all have that divine capacity within us to tap into and become that which is.

Interesting that Alcatraz, which had been a prison, now (in the film) is a repository of past achievements, music, art, writings, etc so that they can recreate civilization. In the basement of the Vatican, in the Libraries of Alexandria, and other places that gather up seemingly the Best’ of mankind for recording and eduction for the future.
I am at a point in my life of wondering what is the point….of anything? If they want to re-create civilization the way it was, then aren’t they in essence also creating their own destruction again in the future? Drastic shifts seem in order.

Eli, then is ’supposed’ to be a ‘man of god’..being guided by ‘God’ to this point….but at what price? Jesus, as far as I know, never killed anyone, just loved them, forgave them and taught them principles of life to live by. Does this “Eli” then, make a mockery of that?

One of the reasons I stopped going to ‘churches’ …or belonging to any organized religion was because I saw the hypocrisy. At a very young age, I questioned why people would go there, read The Bible, study it, preach it and …….not practice it. ……..what was the point? I am not saying some very good people are in any or all ‘practices’ ………for ‘belief’ is really a very personal thing, faith comes from within and ‘denotes’ an inner connection to that ‘other-worldly’ realm from which life and energy flows.

In my own opinion….if he was really guided by “God’ and protected…..he wouldn’t have had to kill at all, but would have been fed/led/protected in ways that were from beyond ….. in ways that Jesus demonstrated. It is not the ‘word’ that is important……..it is the actions. Yes, he did allude to that at the end, but why then?

So I was left with much musing, many questions, and was hoping that this film was an instrument to also make ‘followers’ stop to question ‘who’ and ‘what they are following and to ‘what’ ends.

I was left wondering if “Christians” would cheer this film, cheer this man for his actions as they (not all) use the actions of Jesus chasing out the money changers from the temple to justify their own judgments and condemnations, and killings of many, not even understanding the reason that he did this. On the other hand, will this film ‘wake’ up not only Christians, but those of other belief systems to examine themselves and to what truth they have been faithful, to what “god” they have been following.

I did a google search to find some discussion on this …so am glad to find this site.

thanks

I can see how the original reviewer feels about the religious overtones, you’re reminded about every 5 minutes that Washington’s character is a “believer” but most of the slaughtering is justified. Bible carrier or not, in the wasteland it’s either kill or be killed. The ending and the big twist was a bit out there.