If you were to judge The Book of Eli by its first five minutes, you come up with a very mistaken impression of this film by the Hughes Brothers. A bald cat wanders its way through a forest devoid of color. Its life is cut short by an arrow launched by the titular character (Denzel Washington). However, this movie not about a bleak world without hope or a film full of violence to animals. Actually, apart from a cat being shoved off a bar later, no other aggressive acts are committed to animals.
This film is about a man and his mission from God. He is no simpering saint. After his body count reaches over a dozen, one tends to lose track which makes this one of the most violent, pro-Christian films ever made. It's a very stark contrast to the films featuring Veggietales or Tyler Perry and a welcome change at that. Eli is like a modern day Moses in that he heard a voice tell him where to find a book and that he should go west with it, possibly releasing his people from their current various states of imprisonment.
About three dozen years before the films opens, their world was at war which led to a nuclear attack or incident. We're not told specifics. It seems probable that no one really knows at this point. Knowledge is manipulated and little more than rumors. The old holy books, especially the Bible, were blamed for the wars and thus, they were destroyed. Those who can read are few and people remembering the time before "the flash" are even fewer. Along his travels, he meets Solara (Mila Kunis) and teaches her how to pray as well as the more important aspect of faith. Kunis and Washington have brilliant chemistry in their scenes. Kunis proves with every role that she's come a long way from her time on That 70s Show and it's curious to wonder whether the role would have worked as well with the original Solara, Kristen Stewart.
Every Moses needs its pharoah and Eli's nemesis is Carnegie played by the always superb Gary Oldman. He, like Eli, remembers what the world was like before everything went wrong. His goal is to procure a Bible for himself as a weapon; a book whose words could be manipulated to make large groups of people do his bidding. Every week, he sends out minions in this task, but since they are illiterate, it shouldn't be a surprise that they return with copies of Oprah magazine and The DaVinci Code instead. Eli has to protect his book from Carnegie in any way possible. The cast also includes fellow Harry Potter cast members Michael Gambon and Frances de la Tour who steal their scene towards the end of the film.
What works best in this film is the cinematography. Inside scenes are the normal color we're accustomed to, but the scenes outside these protective buildings are washed out in color. The New Mexico desert, where it was filmed, is made to look scorched and foreboding. Grey is the dominant color in this post-apocalyptic world and it helps set the tone.
As it goes along, the film appears to have plot-holes except on retrospection, all were filled along the way. The problem is that it takes longer than the viewer is accustomed to with a cannibalism subplot almost forgotten until the last twenty minutes. Still, The Book of Eli is a fun violent romp mixed with messages to think about long after leaving the theatre.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
