I haven’t been in the habit of posting to this blog over the last 1-2 years as I’ve been focused on my other two blogs (Struggling Muso and Munhwa Experience) but I do keep an eye on it. I haven’t been thinking about things religious lately, but I watched ‘The Book of Eli’ last night which has a religious theme to it. The setting is post apocalyptic America with the usual elements: roaming bikie gangs, desolate landscapes and a struggle for basic resources. However, the protagonist isn’t so much a ‘mad Max’ but rather a lone warrior monk on a mission.
A strong theme on ‘religion and power’ popped up via the villain, who views the best way to strengthen his power as a warlord of a desolate town is to use religion over the non-educated townsfolk (only he and the hero, as older people, remember how to read from pre-apocalyptic days). It was an interesting reflection on Christianity and right-wing politics and if it wasn’t for the holy protagonist who had sympathy and reverence for the Word of God, I would’ve almost got the impression the whole film was taking a pot-shot at religion. In the end it expressed the value of religion as long as it isn’t in the hands of political abusers and bullies. The action, acting (with Denzel Washington) and cinematography were good too.
Trailer
http://youtu.be/kAMUv22y1og
Info
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1037705/
