The Literary and Cinematic Origins of Dracula

Vampire books and movie surround us today in our society, Books, and films as recent as "The Vampires Assistant," "Twilight," and many others all who owe Irish author and playwright Bram Stoker, for writing the horror masterpiece "Dracula." Although I have seen the Bela Lugosi as the dark Count, Frank Langella as the romantic Dracula, and Christopher Lee's version of the character, but it wasn't until High School that I got around to read Bram Stoker's "Dracula." My personal copy of the Bram Stoker classic is the "Leonard Wolf Annotated Dracula," version where Mr. Wolf provides the introduction, notes, and bibliography. The artist Sätty provides the artwork that adorns the pages of this book. Gothic lithographs and beautiful maps of England and Romania help create the illusion of reality that Stoker brought to the pages in 1897. Released on May 26, Stoker wrote a novel, that I found absolutely creepy and nightmarish when I first read it. Unlike most novels written in second or third person narrative form, Stoker creates a world of utter believability by writing "Dracula" in the form of letters, diary entries, or newspaper clippings. As if he, Stoker, was the editor, piecing together an event in history and providing us with evidence of the account, creating in a fashion, a found footage narrative. The story of an English solicitor traveling to the dark woods of Transylvania to conduct a real estate contract between a Eastern European noble, Count Dracula, and his firm. The solicitor, Jonathon Harker becomes drawn into a world that, in Stoker's time, confined to tales told at night beside the fireplace.  

Tod Browning telling of "Dracula" in 1931, for a long time was the version that many remember to this day. Taking liberties with the story, and turning Renfield into the solicitor that travels to Castle Dracula, and then captured by the Count, changed the story in a way that simplified its telling for the audience. The star, Bela Lugosi, embodied the character of Dracula throughout his career and into the grave. For audiences of the time, at a time as the United States was entering the Great Depression, Dracula was an escape into the dark eerie world of the supernatural. By 1958, the story had changed a bit more turning Harker, not as a solicitor, but into a librarian. Peter Cushing ("Star Wars") starred as Doctor Van Helsing, and Christopher Lee ("The Fellowship of the Ring," "Star Wars: Episode II - The Attack of the Clones") as Dracula, together they made unforgettable adversaries. By the time I was in High School, Frank Langella ("Lolita, "The Ninth Gate") starred in director John Badham's romantic version of the count. "Dracula" is now less a monster and more of a romantic figure seducing the women and inciting them into a venereal lust.  

Not until Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 version, captures not only the spirit of the novel, but to some degree more or less the literalism of the book as well. For me, the appeal to Coppola's version is that he creates a backstory for Dracula that seems quasi-plausible in light of history of Vlad the Impaler. In this version, screenwriter James V. Hart tells us at the beginning of the film, that when the Eastern Roman Empire capital of Constantinople fell in 1453, the Ottoman Empire, led by Sultan Mehmed II swept throughout Eastern Europe. On June 17, 1462, Vlad III, of the sacred order of the Dracul (Dragon), a Prince of Wallachia in Transylvania, made the daring "Atacul de noapte de la Târgoviste" or Night Attack, engaged Mehmed on the battlefield. While Vlad III is victorious on the battlefield, Coppola turns to folklore to take the story a step further. A defeated Turkish soldier shoots an arrow into Vlad III's chamber with a note attached to it saying that Vlad Dracul is dead. His wife Elisabeta flings herself into the river below, committing suicide. Vlad Dracul is shown as a Christian Knight who upon realizing that the Orthodox Priests refuse his wife burial on holy ground, blasphemies against the Church and God, causing a cross to bleed. Upon drinking the blood that flows from the religious symbol, he takes on immortal life and the curse of the need to feast on the blood of the living. With an all-star cast with Gary Oldman as the infamous Count, he leads Winona Ryder as Mina Harker, away from her true love Jonathon, played by Keanu Reeves. 

"Dracula 2000" tells another origin story. The main characters are thinly veiled versions of the well-known characters of Mina, Johnathon, and Lucy, the characters of Dracula and Van Helsing are solid. In this version, Dracula is none other than Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Christ. For two thousand years, he suffers the curse of immortality. Gerard Butler ("300," "Phantom of the Opera") is Dracula, while Christopher Plummer ("The Sound of Music” "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country") is Abraham Van Helsing. All of these versions of the Dracula character have something for fans of the vampire genre. However, they are merely plot points in the larger story arc of good against evil.

In "Dracula Untold" director Gary Shore gives a fleshed out account of Dracula's attempt to hold back the Ottoman Turks. In doing so, he needs to call on a higher power, a darker power, for help in his fight against the invading Muslims. Luke Evans ("Immortals") plays the Romanian Voivode (warlord) and Sarah Gadon ("The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ") plays his wife Mirena. Dominic Cooper ("Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter") is the Sultan Mehmed. Drawing from Slavic folklore, screenwriters Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless introduce us to a Baba Yaga, an ugly witch disguised as a beautiful woman. In this version of Dracula, he has a son played by Art Parkinson and his name is Ingeras. Vlad had three children by two women. His first wife's name isn't documented anywhere other than folklore. His child with his unnamed wife was Mihnea cel Rău. He lived to be about 50 and spent much of his time trying to regain his father's throne. He was assassinated while attending Mass in Sibiu in the historical region of Transylvania in Romania.


Dracula is a folk hero to the Romanian people, but to the West, he is known as Vlad Țepeș the Impaler. As a young man, Vlad and his younger brother Radu (the handsome) were Turkish political prisoners. The Turks trained the young noblemen in horsemanship and in war. While Radu embraced his Turkish overlords, Vlad despised them. As Prince of Wallachia, he terrorized the Turks and impaled thousands of them at one time, that the locals considered him bloodthirsty. In "Dracula Untold," Vlad makes a deal with the Master Vampire, Caligula played by "Game of Thrones" Charles Dance. In this version, Dracula is a hero, rather than the monster that Bram Stoker made him to be. 

Related

Dracula Untold: A Story That Should Have Remained Untold

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Apes and Humans ~ A Lesson In Tribal Leadership

I never thought "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was profound in any way.  I did, however, thought it was an interesting film as an attempt at reimagining a favorite franchise from my youth, I watched it with some anticipation.  However, I thought it was more of a CGI driven film and not much in the way of social commentary.  Its sequel "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," is something much more.  There is no monkey business involved in this film but a serious Science Fiction drama that plays archetypical characters together in a classical story of family, betrayal, and revolution.  In some ways, "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" plays like a Greek tragedy.  

A decade has passed since the Apes ran into the Muir Woods and the Simian Flu has spread across the world.  As you recall, Will's (James Franco) jerk of a neighbor (David Hewlett), an airline pilot, spread the ALZ-113 virus across the world.  Caesar (Andy Serkis) is an older, wiser leader of the simian population.  He and Cornelia (Judy Greer) have a son who for being about 10 years seems to be more like an older teen.  His name is Blue Eyes (Nick Thurston) and he has all the insecurities of a human teen growing up in his father’s shadow.  Blue Eyes is a young prince, impetuous, a careless know-it-all who doesn't listen to his dad.

Many of the themes from the "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" play out in this film as well.  As in the first film, this film also starts with a hunt.  This time the hunters are the Apes and they are hunting a deer.  The Apes, led by Caesar herd the deer toward a cliff.  Blue Eyes doesn't wait as his father ordered and attacks too soon.  A giant brown bear attacks him and Koba (Toby Kebbell), the Ape his father freed from abusive testing, saves him.  This scene is important as we see the relationship between leader, his son, and a trusted lieutenant.  

“Dawn Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is different in that, although there is plenty of PG-13 type of violence, the film is centered on family.  One can see a sense of family on several different levels.  Caesar's nuclear family has a new addition, his wife Cornelia has a newborn chimpanzee, but she is weak.  Andy Serkis' facial features that emote through the digital effects are one of a caring husband fearing for his wife's health, and concern that his eldest son makes the correct decisions in his life.

Caesar and the various Apes he freed from the zoo and the Gen-Sys research lab have built a simple communal civilization.  Notice I didn't say primitive, because it isn't.  The Apes just don't need much, like electricity, and all the technology that comes with it.  They ride horses, and live with only one commandment, "Ape not kill Ape.”  Maurice the circus orangutan, who already knew sign language when he first met Caesar, teaches the other somewhat evolved apes and their young.  Most of the Apes have rudimentary speech skills, however, they all know sign language, and that is how Caesar communicates.  He uses his voice only when he wants to make a point.  

Good stories have conflicts that matter, and family does matters.  Not too far away in the woods, Blue Eyes and his friend Ash (son of Rocket, another of Caesar's lieutenants played by Larramie Doc Shaw) walk through the woods when they come across Carver (Kirk Acevedo).  Carver and Koba are similar in type as they are both loyal to their leaders, but they both have distrust and hate for each other's species.  Carver shoots on instinct and wounds Ash.  Behind him is a small group of humans led by Malcolm (Jason Clarke), his new wife, Ellie (Keri Russell), Malcolm's son Alex (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and Foster and Kemp.  From the trees, the apes descend, prepared to defend themselves and their land. Malcolm, the leader of the humans, deescalates the situation, however, Koba and Carver both wants revenge.  Caesar, shocks the humans when he roars, "don't come back!"

Malcolm and his group are from the city of San Francisco, and they need power.  There is a hydroelectric plant in the mountains now on the Ape's land.  The humans want to get to the plant and restart the power.  Historically, the scenario is similar to the takeover of American Indian land by white settlers.  In San Francisco, Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) decides that if the apes won't let them have access to the hydroelectric plant, he and the citizens of the town will take it by force.  Malcolm promises that if Dreyfus gave him a chance, he would try again to negotiate with the Apes for access to the power plant.  In the meantime, Dreyfus orders the armory to prepare the weapons just in case war is inevitable.

Malcolm is able to convince Caesar that the humans mean no harm, and both of them negotiate in good faith.  Unknown to either Malcolm or Caesar, betrayal lurks in their own groups.  One condition that Caesar gives the humans is that they must submit to simian gun control laws.  Give up their weapons and Caesar with break them into pieces.  

Writer, producer, and director of “Felicity,” Matt Reeves balances the points of view of both races delicately and fairly.  Like Caesar, Malcolm too worries about his son, and his wife Ellie.  He also sees the advantage of a peace whether separate or not.  Ellie also shares this belief as demonstrated when she helps Cornelia by giving her some antibiotics to help her recover from her sickness.  Carver fears the Apes because as far as he is concerned they started the pandemic that killed most of the population -- except for small groups who are genetically immune, including the folks still alive in San Francisco,  Ellie reminds him that it was a manmade virus that caused all the deaths.  Koba, still angry for the pain he endured at the hands of man wants retribution.

Writers Mark Bomback ("The Wolverine," "Unstoppable"), and the husband and wife team of Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, take what was a respectful reimagining of a classic Science Fiction film and update it for a new technological society.  Also updated are our thoughts, not just on treating other human beings equally, but also in light of changing mindsets on human exceptionalism, our thoughts turn now on how we can better take care of the planet and the creatures that live on it with us.  Of course, the underlying message has always been that we should all get along.  Where “Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was more about rebellion and gaining freedom for the oppressed, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is more about mercy versus vengeance and which race is the more savage.  The first film contained the underlying message of greed and how messing with science without the necessary precautions can backfire, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is more about how both societies are blinded by their own prejudices.

Jason Clarke of "The Great Gatsby" and "Lawless" does a wonderful job as Malcolm.  He holds your attention and portrays that sense of honesty needed for this role.  Keri Russell ("Dark Skies,"  "We Were Soldiers") carries her part well as the medic, wife, and step-mom.  Kodi Smit-McPhee is no stranger to post-apocalyptic worlds.  He starred alongside Viggo Mortenson in 2009's "The Road.”  I felt for these human characters as much as I did for Caesar’s family.  Gary Oldman's Dreyfus character seem like a reasonable man, however, he too succumbs to his prejudices and ultimately fails his mission.  I have seen Kirk Acevedo playing this kind of shoot first, survival of the fitness kill or be killed attitude.  He does it very well, but now I think he may be typecast in theses hate filled, morally bankrupt roles.  

Honestly, the best actors were the ones who played nonhuman characters.  Andy Serkis deserves an Oscar for his part in this film.  Although an accomplished actor and now a director, his work as Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings" films has made him the de facto consultant on all things motion capture.  For reasons that I am unaware of, or maybe technology took another leap in the last three years, but I feel the digital creatures in “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” are superior to “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”.  Toby Kebbell ("The East,” "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”) is excellent as Koba the vengeful ape who is ungrateful of what he has and is filled with hate.

Michael Giacchino's ("John Carter," "Lost") thoughtful score is both tender and at times grand.  As the first big battle scene of the film is approaching, strains of Jerry Goldsmith's original tribal theme could be heard.  Also of note was the celebration after getting the water plant working.  With power restored, the humans gather to listen to "The Weight" by the 60's group, The Band.  As I mentioned before, Applause to the visual effects folks, as I think WETA Digital did an impressively beautiful job of creating the Apes' hairy texture and facial features.  

Overall, I am very happy with this new sequel. As I said in the beginning of this review, I felt that both the story and the characters are comprised of many archetypal elements, however, the writers and director draw on those elements and craft them into a compelling narrative and visually spectacular images. In this film there is no moral ambiguity, there were no real shading of right and wrong, good verses bad, or mercy verses death, I knew which characters to root for whether they be Ape or Human.  "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" not only entertained me with its even pacing, but the story and the messages behind it left me sitting in my chair at the theater, with the lights coming on, and the credits rolling, thinking.  Thinking about how we as people treat each other, and how we as a race treat the planet, the environment, and all creatures on this planet. 

Movie Data

Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Year: 2014

Staring: Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirk Acevedo 

Director: Matt Reeves

Producer(s): Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver

Writer: Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Pierre Boulle (novel "La Planète des Singes")

Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 130 minutes

Release Date: 7/11/2014

Planet 51

They're gonna eat us for dinner!

Finding a decent kid's movie today is getting harder as our society changes. A movie, once rated R when I was a kid, is now a PG rated movie now. Here is a film that appeals to kids and adults who take the time to watch with their kids. If you have kids, and you want to watch this movie with your kids, go-ahead do it, you won't be sorry. Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson voices Captain Chuck Baker, yes a white astronaut. Most people would be comfortable if they changed his color but in this movie, color doesn't matter. Jason Long and Seann William Scott voice the other protagonist male leads. Jessica Biel voices the female protagonist lead, and Gary Oldman and John Cleese voice General Grawl and Professor Kipple respectively. The story is a reversal of a 50's sci-fi alien from space movie, with Astronaut Chuck Baker landing on "Planet 51". Science Fiction movie references abound from, "Also sprach Zarathustra" or better known as the theme from "2001: A Space Odyssey," to references to "Star Wars."

This story is a straightforward parody of the 50's, "The Day the Earth Stood Still," with many inside jokes. Astronaut, Chuck Baker lands in an alien planet with 50's-esque culture. Jason Long voices Lem (a play on Lunar Excursion Module) a high-school alien who works at the local planetarium, Neera (Jessica Biel) voices Lem's love interest, and sidekick pals Skiff (Seann William Scott) and Eckle (Freddie Benedict) have their own silly sub-plots. Gary Oldman voices the supposedly evil General Grawl, only to find he is just misguided and a bumbler. Professor Kipple voiced by John Cleese parodies Sam Jaffe's Professor Jacob Barnhardt from The Day the Earth Stood Still. Fearing that this alien spaceman will make them into zombie-monsters, the plot revolves around Planet 51 natives helping the ego centered Captain Chuck Baker and his rock collecting robot sidekick ROVER back to their space ship.

The animation is extremely good, although "Planet 51" is not a Pixar movie but nobody will notice the difference. The voice characterization is acceptable; there is nothing exciting in this department, but they get the job done. The story is cute and entertaining enough to keep you entertained for an hour and a half, but I am glad the directors didn't push it. Overall, "Planet 51" is an above average film, for kids and adults who watch with their kids. Go rent "Planet 51,” watch it with your kids and point out the movie references, the pop culture references, and the music references, its all good clean fun.

Movie Data

Genre: Sci-Fi, Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy

Year:   2009

Staring:  Dwayne Johnson, Justin Long, Gary Oldman, Jessica Biel, Seann William Scott, John Cleese

Director:  Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad, Marcos Martínez

Producer(s):  Guy Collins, Ignacio Pérez Dolset

Writer:  Joe Stillman

Rating:  PG

Final Prayer

Dear Lord, Thank you for giving me the strength and the conviction to complete the task you entrusted to me. 

Thank you for guiding me straight and true through the many obstacles in my path. And for keeping me resolute when all around seemed lost. 

Thank you for your protection and your many signs along the way. 

Thank you for any good that I may have done, I'm so sorry about the bad. 

Thank you for the friend I made. Please watch over her as you watched over me. 

Thank you for finally allowing me to rest. I'm so very tired, but I go now to my rest at peace. 

I fought the good fight, I finished the race, I kept the faith

- Eli's Final Prayer
From "The Book of Eli"

Review: Red Riding Hood

Twisted Tales and Fractured Fables

I  go into films hoping for the best but, I can usually tell within the first fifteen minutes if the film is going to keep me interested and has potential. I can tell you honestly, that within the first ten minutes I knew I was in trouble with "Red Riding Hood." I was with my wife and she seemed interested, so I kept my seat. Starring Amanda Seyfried ("Letters to Juliet," "Dear John," "Mamma Mia"), who plays our heroine Valerie. Gary Oldman plays the quasi-bad guy as usual in this 42 million dollar mess of a film. Battlestar Galactica's Michael Hogan appears as the medieval village's Reeve (elected land supervisor), in a pretty small and pathetic part. Walking through his part as Valerie's father is Billy Burke ("Twilight" series, "Drive Angry") who is capable of better, isn't. "Red Riding Hood" is just over an hour and a half, and is rated PG 13 for stupidity.

Twisting and fracturing the classic "Le Petit Chaperon rouge" as told by Charles Perrault, who is turning in his grave as I write. "Twilight" director Catherine Hardwicke seems to be doing what she thinks what fans want, instead of turning something classic into a film with class. Drawing from the familiar tale, Hardwicke takes a liberal literary license with the material and tries to add the teen romance elements to "Red Riding Hood" and fails. Living in a medieval village on the edge of the forest during the winter, we see the superstitious villagers preparing for the full moon. Valerie (Seyfried) wanders around introducing us to the various town characters in somewhat of a haphazard way. In a flashback we see Valerie as an eight year-old girl, and her slightly older boy pal, Peter (Shiloh Fernandez). In this scene they are trapping a rabbit in the woods, and showing Valerie's primal nature, she holds the trapped rabbit as she urges Peter to cut the white furry bunny's throat. Nice huh. But they don't show it, instead the camera blurs and we are whipped forward ten years and Valerie's hormones are pumping for Peter who is now a woodsman like her father. I suppose David Johnson ("Orphan"), is alluding to "Peter and the Wolf" in naming the love interest Peter? However, we find that Valerie's parents arranged for her to marry Henry (Max Irons), the Blacksmith's son. Virginia Madsen as Valerie's mother, Suzette was the force behind the marriage arrangement between her former lover's son and her daughter. Henry's father is killed during the classic scene were the villagers with their torches track the wolf into the forest and over the hill and through the dale and into a dark and dank cave.

Needless to say, Hardwicke and Johnson weave a twisted tale of love, lies, deception, and in the process they drag just about everyone in the village into view as suspects as the werewolf. Even Grandma as played by Julie Christie is a suspect, and I must say she plays a pretty damn good one. If there is any shining light in this dark, cold film, it is Christie's performance as the Grandma who lives in the woods. Now, I am sure the Johnson and Hardwicke probably sat around a lunch table in some posh Hollywood restaurant, and were tossing around ideas and said to each other we need a villain that we can show during act two and part of act three, so we don't have to show who the werewolf is before the very end. Enter Gary Oldman, as Father Solomon, along with his black knights (pun intended), to lead the investigation into whom the werewolf is. Oldman's performance is weak at best, and passionless. While explaining how he killed his wife who he claims was a werewolf, I just don't find his performance believable. Seyfried's performance during her conviction as a witch too is unconvincing and soulless, Max Iron's (Henry) is just there to look good, and that is about it. Shiloh Fernandez's (Peter) is a bit better, but not by much, dressed in black, Fernandez gives a bit more life into his part, as he professes his love for Valerie.

Being that the film is PG-13; the film is tame and lame all the way through. Soulless and passionless also describes both the visual effects and the musical score (see, I can kill two birds with one description) - nothing special or memorable here. The images of the village in the distance, truly look like matte paintings, and are uninspired. Ask me what the music sounds like. Epic? Bold? Heroic? Nah, nothing. I took notes, but for the life of me the score is so unmemorable I can't remember if there was even music. Even the beloved Col. Tigh from Battlestar Galactica, Michael Hogan (the Reeve,) couldn't save this film. "Red Riding Hood" is doomed to end up on the SyFy channel with the tag line A SyFy original motion picture.

Movie Data

Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller 

Year:  2011

Staring: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Billy Burke, Shiloh Fernandez, Max Irons, Virginia Madsen

Director: Catherine Hardwicke

Producer(s): Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson Killoran, Julie Yorn

Writer:David Johnson

Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 100 minutes

Release Date: 3/11/2011

First published on 3/14/2011 Yahoo Voices

The Book of Eli, A Western, told as a Biblical Parable from the Twilight Zone

The Apocalypse comes and goes and the Apostle Eli spreads the word.

B efore you sit down and watch "The Book of Eli," starring Denzel Washington, put your thinking cap on and prepare for a spiritual journey across the sepia-tone ravaged land of a post-apocalyptic landscape.  "The Book of Eli" is a film for those who, when given the concept of a film as a framework, and then let the film speak to your heart, mind and perhaps your soul.  Denzel Washington is both producer and star, a thinly veiled attempt at telling a story of hope, amongst the hate and violence of the world.  Gary Oldman plays your typical big man in a small western town.  Washington delivers action, adventure, and the drama.  Gary Oldman provides the tension, and the two of them provide the thrill.

It is 30 years after a warhead explodes and rips a hole in the ozone layer, which allows gamma radiation onto the earth, destroying the ecology, and wiping out whole populations of humankind.  As a lone walker, Eli, travels from the East to the West on a journey that is both physical yet is also spiritual in nature. 

Encountering the wicked along the way,  Eli, armed with a machete, a pistol and a shotgun, stands as an avenging angel on the road to the west where he can deliver his precious object, a book that only Eli reads and only he can touch.  The immediate survivors of the war and the radiation blast they held a pogrom against the book that they believe that started the war.  The book in question, the book that started the war, the book that has started many wars is The Holy Bible.  Walking on a long, lonely road, he comes upon a woman whose cries for help attracts his attention.  Before coming too close Eli proclaims that without soap, one can smell their enemies over 30 feet away.  It's an ambush, and a biker gang surrounds Eli.  Taking on the leader, Eli warns the man that if he touches him again, Eli will not give him back his hand.

The leader takes the challenge and instantly finds his hand on the ground.  Ordering his gang to, "Kiss Him!”  Eli explains and corrects the leader, "He's in shock, and he meant kill him."

Washington is quiet throughout this movie only speaking a few words at a time, and wearing sunglasses through most of the film.  Surviving the ambush by taking out about eight thugs including one with a chainsaw, Eli continues with his trek.

Dialog is minimal through the first quarter of the film, Eli only speaking when spoken to, like when the woman who was acting as bait, asks him where he is going, Eli's reply is "West."

"Can I come?"

"No." says Eli.

Continuing his travels, Eli comes across a couple with all their earthly possessions in grocery carts.  Watching the couple from afar, as another gang of thieves attacks them, chanting to himself to, "Stay the course, their problems are not his,"   Eli continues until he finds a town.

Looking for a charge for his battery charger so he can keep his iPod alive.  He strolls into a town right out of the old west.  Saloon owner and mayor of the town, Carnegie (Oldman) has the ability to read, and knowledge of where the water is, he provides for the town who are essentially his slaves.  As Carnegie builds towns, he is obsessed with obtaining the one book that he feels that with it, he can use it to rule the people.  It is a symbol of power, and like the Catholics of the Middle Ages before the printing press, most people under 30 can't read.  In that sense, Carnegie plans to use the Bible to twist the words to suit his needs.  While at the saloon filling up his canteen with bartered materials, in typical barroom cinematic style, someone takes offence with him.  Offering several apologies for bothering the man's cat, the biker thief gets into Eli's face and pushes the issue; Eli slams the guy's head onto the counter, telling the man that his evil deeds of robbing travelers will be accounted for.  Then he takes on the rest of the bar, only stopping when Carnegie and his personal guard come have him surrounded.  In typical western fashion, the Boss wants Eli to join him in his search for the lone copy of the Bible.  Eli plays dumb, not acknowledge Carnegie's search for the Book; instead, Carnegie offers Eli to stay the night and sleep on the decision.  Eli, like the saints of old resists the pleasures of the flesh in the form of Solara, played by that "70's Show's" Mila Kunis.  Carnegie sends Solarain as a temptress to find out if he has the book or not.

Blending the classic western with a biblical parable is not in itself not a new concept, however, how Denzel Washington plays this role, is more like the apostle Paul, who was blind and now can see, and charged with spreading the word of God.  Eli is in the same boat.  Carnegie and his men confront the departing Eli, demanding the book.  Moreover, telling Eli that with the book Carnegie can rule his towns efficiently with less bloodshed.  Not dissuaded by Carnegie and his men, Eli walks through the town like Eastwood or Wayne, turning his back and walking out of the town heading west, Redridge (Ray Stevenson), Carnegie's second in command, and shoots at Eli, seemingly grazing him.  Carnegie screams for the rest of his thugs to shoot, they do, and a gun battle breaks out.  Eli pulling his pistol, unloading rounds into his assailants, pulling his shotgun, Eli takes out the rest including firing a shotgun blast into Carnegie's leg, causing him to limp.  During this battle with Carnegie, Eli wins, however, the viewer is sure that he was hit in the shoulder.  A goof? Perhaps it is.

Carnegie isn't the only human that Eli and Solara have found with a compromised sense of morality. George and Martha are the other two. Living in a house in the middle of the desert, the two are seemingly just an old peasant couple who live simply, are cautious, and have a horrible secret to hide.

The Apostle Paul had Luke as his disciple, and Eli has Solara. As the viewer, we get glimpses of the book, and it sure looks like a Bible.  On the cover, we see the cross on the front of the leather cover.  The book is locked by a clasp on the side.  Like the Bible itself, the lesson learned about the book is not so much what is in the book, but how much you take to heart.  When Solara questions why go west, Eli explains that, after the war, a voice told him to take the book to the west and so he is doing just that.  "There are things you don't question; you just take them on faith."  

The sepia-tone background serves its role well creating a depressing aura around the whole film.  The symbolism is there for all to see, but few rarely do.  "The Book of Eli" is a message of faith, a parable of using your talents and not hiding them away.  Finally, Eli is the last Apostle of God delivering his word of God to the world.  Oldman, like Ahab, consumed himself with the book only to find that he is not worthy.  And like Ahab the creature he obsesses over and finally attacks, attacks back wounding both his leg and his mortal should.  The pacing is slow at points; however, the intrigue of the book and tension of completing the journey drives Eli, Solara, and the viewer.  The Hughes Brothers take on deep material in "The Book of Eli," and they do a decent job of showing us a world where all there the only hope left in the world is faith.  The ending is a classic "Twilight Zone."

Movie Data

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller 

Year:  2010

Staring:  Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson, Jennifer Beals, Frances de la Tour, Michael Gambon 

Director: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes

Producer(s): Broderick Johnson, Andrew A. Kosove, Joel Silver, David Valdes, Denzel Washington

Writer: Gary Whitta

Rating:R

Running Time: 118 minutes

Release Date: 1/15/2010
Published originally on Associated Content by Robert Barbere on 1/17/2010