PoMoCo’s Robert Cheeks just saw “the finest film ever made.” No, not Highlander, which reportedly won the Oscar for “best movie of all time.”
On about six different levels The Book of Eli is the finest film ever made, though I’ll require a couple of additional viewings to come up with a comparative analysis between it and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. While it would not be appropriate to discuss the film in depth, simply because there’s a “surprise” factor (or two, or three) involved with this film, I can say the plot, the acting, the cinematography, and particularly the music are unmatched in cinema history.
Wowsers. That’s pretty enticing. Were I his target audience, however, he should have stopped there. I wasn’t and he didn’t.
If I were to reduce the film to a simple sentence I would quote St. Francis when he said, “Preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary use words.” This film is a brilliantly executed symbol that expresses the tension of the experience of Infinite Being in metalepsis with being at the eschaton. Brilliantly written and beautifully executed the film reflects the effects of Original Sin on the nature of man, where man is moving to that point where he no longer remembers the Logos or seeks the redemption and salvation of Jesus Christ.
I’ll probably see it, anyway, although methinks I’ll wait for the DVD. (Of course, I pretty much wait for the DVD for anything other than big special effects movies. I prefer dramas and comedies in the comfort of my own living room.)
