The Book Of Eli
© 02.10.09 By Elijah Williams
The Book of Eli is bloody, basic, compelling, and something of a pseudo fantasy. This tends to be a pet peeve of mine with contemporary story tellers. By this I mean it is a story that tries to mix truths told in a make-believe fashion with what is supposed to be the real world. (There are also some things in the movie of a "religious" nature that I consider to be artistic license in telling a story.) This causes some problems in the fabric of the tale in my opinion. But such is the movie, and if one discerns this it can be taken in stride.
Eli is an "old" man, but he doesn't remember exactly how old. For the last thirty years he has been walking in a westerly direction across what was the United States. He carries what is thought to be the last Bible in existence to deliver it somewhere he doesn't exactly know and hasn't reached yet. The world is a dry, dead and barren place. Some thirty years before there was a war of such proportion that part of the atmosphere was destroyed, allowing massive amounts of solar radiation through that effectively destroyed plant life and forced survivors underground for a year. Society, if it can be called that, has been reduced to a few towns that are relatively safe, and vast desolation in between where anyone wandering is fair game for thieves, murderers and cannibals lying in wait, or the elements. Nearly everyone under the age of forty is illiterate.
One must lower their expectations of a moral standard, it seems, to come away feeling like the good brought about by Eli makes up for the evil in general. The story presents a world where killing is a necessity for preserving one's own life, and that being the case finishing off a scum bag who just tried to kill you, but is now incapacitated, is about the same level of crime as shoplifting might be today. This is one mark against the main character.
Somehow (which is later explained in the movie) Eli possesses combat skills that render him basically untouchable as he uses either his machete sized knife, handgun, or shotgun (sawed off at both ends). This being the case, however it is, I find another mark against him when he does not come to the aid of two travelers who are robbed, raped and killed by a small gang on motorcycles, because he must "stay the path" even though we just saw him slice through half a dozen guys who were in the path.
We see Eli reading the Bible every day, and he seems to have a good moral standard in nearly every other area presented. I feared that the producers of this movie might go off the deep end with the usual "I bring the judgement of God" routine, but they didn't. What they apparently attempt to do is portray Denzel Washington's character as a Christian who like every other struggles with the path set before him, and though a believer still a sinner. If you can squeeze your mind into the twisted world he's in, it almost works. The difference is, his struggle is portrayed vividly in the physical reality in his struggle to stay alive while traveling on foot in a hostile world. Since everything is out to kill you, (if some person doesn't, dehydration likely will) it is not an easy task. One can see the parallel between the life of Eli and the Christian walk quite clearly. He's a man who is an unlikely candidate for the task he undertakes, but has been chosen by God for it nonetheless, as God speaks directly to him and guides him every step of the way (watch the movie and you'll understand better, I don't want to give away the plot). This theme is certainly heartwarming as it culminates at the end of the movie. But it is here that we run into the problem of a pseudo fantasy again, and are forced to view the story in a sort of on again, off again fashion for it to make good sense in terms of illustrating reality.
Eli finds himself in a town controlled by one man who knows where water is to be found and has a band of hoodlums. This man is searching for a copy of the Bible because he believes he can control people with it. After Eli ends up killing in self defense, some more scum bags who work for the man, he learns that Eli has a Bible, and stops Eli as he leaves town to take it from him. So Eli has to kill some more dudes.
Eventually the man gets the Bible. And eventually Eli delivers it to where he is supposed to, which ends up being a compound on Alcatraz where a group is archiving as much history and information from "the world before" as they can, in the form of books, recorded music, and various pieces of art so that people could begin rebuilding what was lost. Though center screen at the end, the copy of the King James version Bible sits on a shelf next to (smaller) volumes of the Talmud and Koran.
Despite various shortcomings, the makers of the movie manage to pull together enough different elements to form a story, and I appreciated the end result. One example of this is a recurring musical score that I really liked. It was unique, and I think it served well to help define the environment the character is placed in. The camera work wasn't anything spectacular, but it did stay away from the "hand held" look which I appreciated, especially for this movie as steady, wide shots help provide at various times the over all feel of the story.
The fight scenes were entertaining. When Eli is defending himself or others (which he does - finally) I don't have a problem with the mayhem, and most guys will enjoy those scenes as I did.
So, while most of the above focuses on the problems with the movie, pay attention to the following because it is short: Everything considered, "The Book of Eli" was altogether such that I left thinking to myself "Wow - that was really awesome."
I won't give it away, but you have to watch the whole thing. With some imagination you may find yourself identifying with the character, counting your blessings, and maybe even being motivated. Motivated for what? Ah, you must watch the movie, assuming you're ready for the unsavory aspects of the film. What I said stands, but it could have been better.
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