The Book of Eli works a lot better as a biblical tale versus a grounded post-apocalytpic thriller.
Listen at the podcast providers of your choice.
Every now and then I like to revisit a movie that had a polarizing response. Sometimes to deconstruct why people react the way they do to certain movies and other times to re-evaluate my own initial reactions to see if they've changed. Almost every time I'm guaranteed to notice a new detail that didn't stand out before. And sometimes the vibe or idea the movie is going for just clicks. As you might've guessed, I went back to a movie I generally like and even own, The Book of Eli, and sure enough, it clicked. Why? Because I stopped viewing it specifically as a post-apocalyptic movie and instead viewed it as it very clearly intended: a modern biblical epic. But first, let's rehash what's happening.
The Setup
30 years after a nuclear war, our titular Eli is trekking from the East Coast to the West on a, for the time being, unspecified pilgrimage. But when Eli makes camp in a town run by a ruthless warlord who wants Eli's most prized possession, he'll have to rely on all of his lethal skills and young new ally to achieve his goal.
Rewatching this movie was a very interesting experience. Not just because the movie landscape this was made in is so different than the one we're in now, which is certainly is, but also because a lot of the things that bugged me about the movie the first time around, barely scratched the surface this time. There's a few big reasons why.
The Hughes Brothers Captured An Impeccable Vibe for This Movie
One of the biggest complaints about mainstream movie-making nowadays is how many of them run together visually. Like how almost every big-budget Netflix movie looks exactly like every other Russo movie (with the weird grainy CGI in these giant set pieces) or has the exact same lighting. Versus 10-15 years ago, when everyone was having a time with their color palette to match the feel of their movie.
Put another way, there's a lot of desaturated color in a lot of modern blockbusters, seemingly by accident. Whereas Eli's emphasis on earth tones and black is very deliberate. The Hughes Brothers wanted to craft a world that looked and felt like Fallout 3 and they succeeded mightily.
This also applies to the world-building, which is almost entirely done with establishing shots or witnessing Denzel's Eli go through his regular routine. Said routine includes hunting, scrounging for resources, and fighting off anyone who's trying to stop him on his journey. Either that or you have characters who don't know anything but this world asking Eli questions about what was. There's also pay off for things that feel like commonplace here, like checking for hands to make sure someone doesn't have shakes from eating to much human meat (brain parasites aren't fun kids).
Memorable Set Pieces
Something I really appreciate about this movie is that while it's action could edited a bit better (the quick cuts some of the hand to hand combat scenes irk me), each set piece has a distinctive look and focus. We start off with a hand-to-hand beat where Eli demonstrates his capabilities in shadows, then we have the one-man army bout in the bar, and shootout in the streets, and then the very underrated house shootout which features a simulated single take back and forth through both sides of a gun battle (great idea).
It's the kind of visual and action variety you want out of any movie like this.
This Isn't A Straight Action Movie, It's A New Biblical Tale
I think The Book of Eli is best appreciated as a kind of new myth or in the most literal case, a new book of the Bible that's been written based off of the exploits of our titular hero. Hence the title, hence his incredible fighting abilities (seemingly able to fend off waves of men by himself) and why the movie ends with essentially a disciple of his following in his footsteps (Mila Kunis' Solara).
I also think this framework makes the film's two twists work a lot better.
Let's Talk The Two Twists
The Book of Eli got a lot of flak upon its release for the two big twists. The first one occurs about a quarter of the way through the movie when the audience learns what book Eli is carrying. It's a complete Bible.
Admittedly, that alone is enough to have people slide off of this movie. Not only because it means the movie is at least somewhat about faith, but there's also a lot of world-building logic that seemingly goes out the door. So maybe it's been 30 years since the nuclear war and winter, but would that really eliminate every practicing Christian and the most published and popular book in America (at least by volume)? Logically no. But considering our hero took up a call to trek across all of America for 30 years, that's about as on the nose as a comparison for wandering in the desert as Moses or Jesus did.
It also makes the actions and motivations of Gary Oldman's Carnergie make sense. If you view Oldman's Carnegie from a purely logical standpoint, he doesn't make a ton of sense. He clearly has an obsession with finding a Bible and wielding it like a weapon. Which...what about a single Bible would give him any kind of extra authority.
But as a metaphorical stand-in for a false prophet who would use the word of God as a weapon to consolidate and enhance their own power? Dead-on and a useful tale in a world that's been torn apart by self-interest. It also means the final twist holds added thematic/metaphorical weight.
The final twist is the movie's most divisive, which is.....Eli is blind. Not only that, but the bible he's been carrying with him is in braille, which means that Carnegie has no means to read it.
Re-watching the movie with this in mind, a couple of things stand out.
First, hints at this are way more consistent through the movie than you might think. There's an early scene where Eli appears to look out a window, but doesn't react until he feels the sun on his face. Likewise his first fight starts off by Eli smelling the hijackers and then luring all of his opponents under an overpass, where there would be limited visibility. You'll also notice that he doesn't recognize Jennifer Beals Claudia is blind right away (neither one can see the other) and in his giant gun battle in Carnegie's town he fires after he hears a gunshot come his way.
Is it weird that this wasn't more obvious before? Sure. It's also the only major development for the movie's final 20-30 minutes that's also the film's longest stretch without an action beat, which I do think is a mistake. You're making the audience sit with this idea for a long time after a lot of build-up so instead of accepting it, you give them time to pick it apart.
But again, in terms of a a new biblical tale with a new warrior prophet? What better demonstration of faith as a real righteous weapon than a blind man successfully transporting the word of god for 30 years across a continent so it can be printed and reproduced to the masses. Not only that but he has carried it with him, in his head this whole time as well, so he's a literal embodiment of the word? More and more weight on the biblical myth.
It also means that Carnegie gets a more than fitting end. His obsession with using this book for his own ends has brought him ruin. He's lost all of his resources trying to obtain this weapon and he's sick from fever thanks to a wound Eli gave him. And he can't read the word. Because even though he has vision, he cannot see as Eli and a woman he treats like property, Claudia, do. Sidenote really love the acting by Jennifer Beals as she smiles reading the bible, recognizing braille, and then tells Carnegie she forgets how to read it. Great stuff.
Carnergie is going to die and be forsaken and forgotten while Eli will die peacefully knowing his mission is complete.
Carnergie is going to die and be forsaken and forgotten while Eli will die peacefully knowing his mission is complete.
I'm not saying the ending is for everyone and the fact that the previews at the time did their very best to hide the religious angle, but viewing the movie through this lens both enhanced it and helped the everything make sense.
No comments:
Post a Comment