7/27/2010 03:00:00 AM
Jeffrey K Radt ("JRed")
Last week, I sat here with "Mrs JRed" trying to get comfortable despite this heatwave and we thought about putting on one of the 2 movies that we rented recently.
One was the Denzel Washington flick The Book of Eli and the other is a lesser known, but equally stunning and similar film (due to the apocalyptic theme) called The Road.
In The Book Of Eli, the story revolves around Eli, a nomad in a post-apocalyptic world, who is charged with delivering his copy of a book, the last remaining Bible (a King James Version translation), to a safe location on the West Coast of the United States. The history of the post-war world is explained along the way as is the importance of Eli's task. Thirty years after an apocalyptic event, Eli travels on foot toward the West Coast of the United States. Along the way, he demonstrates uncanny survival and fighting skills. Searching for a source of water, he arrives in a ramshackle town which was built by and is overseen by Carnegie. Carnegie dreams of building more towns and controlling the people with the power of a certain book. His henchmen scour the desolate landscape daily in search of it, but to no avail. As it turns out, the book he wants is the book Eli is tasked with protecting on his journey -- a King James Version of the Holy Bible. Like the story of Samson, Carnegie believes the Book itself is inherently powerful as an object, failing to realize that it's God -- not the Book -- that is powerful.
In The Road (based on the best-selling novel of the same name), the story follows an unnamed father and son journeying together across a grim post-apocalyptic landscape, some years after a great, unexplained cataclysm has destroyed civilization and almost all life on Earth. Realizing that they will not survive another winter in their unspecified original location, the father leads the boy south, through a desolate American landscape along a vacant highway, towards the sea, sustained only by the vague hope of finding warmth and more "good people" like them, and carrying with them only what is on their backs and what will fit into a damaged supermarket cart. Because of falling ash, the setting is very cold and dark and the land is devoid of living vegetation. There is frequent rain or snow, and electrical storms are common. Nearly all of the few human survivors are cannibalistic tribalists or nomads, scavenging the detritus of city and country alike for human flesh, though that too is almost entirely depleted.
Here are the trailers for both movies to help you get a better idea of what they're about...
The Book Of Eli - Trailer
The Road - Trailer
I should mention at the outset that both movies were not as graphic or violent as I had feared going in. Of course, the movie studios hype those angles and downplay the religious element to the narratives.
Yes, make no mistake, BOTH films have a very overt, very strong religious message to them that even the most hardened non-believer will pick up on. Not sure if that was done intentionally, but either way it's good to know that millions of lost souls have been exposed to the truth and perhaps have had their spiritual eyes opened slightly thanks to the Father using Hollywood to call the elect.
It's interesting how both movies deal with the aftermath of some kind of worldwide devastation that is unprecedented. In The Road, we are transported to a time only 3 or so years removed from the disaster. Oddly enough, the scenes shown in the trailers that depict natural disasters as being the result of the worldwide tragedy are not in the feature length presentation. In The Book Of Eli, we learn that the events taking place are roughly 30 years after the global catastrophe, or what's known as the enigmatic "The Flash" following nuclear world war.
Mrs JRed went off to bed and I stayed up to watch The Road by myself. The description on the back of the DVD case calls it "a story about the love a father has for his son..." or "a future in which men are pushed to the worst and the best that they are capable of -- a future in which a father and son are sustained by love..." Of course, right?
Within the first 5 minutes I was struck by this line by the Viggo Mortensen character...
Yeah, I know.
A mere 5 minutes in I knew what I was in for. A mere 18 minutes in and I wanted to run upstairs, wake up my little boy Luke, and hold him in my arms telling him (again) how much his daddy loves him. By the end of the movie, I wanted to strengthen the bond between me and my children even more than I do each and every day.
The Road was definitely the more intimate and personal of the two films for me. I'm sure the Father-Son story had a lot to do with that being a dad myself. Still, that's not to say that The Book Of Eli didn't have an impact on me. Quite the contrary!
What I was most struck by after watching both flicks is this...
To help clarify what I mean by all of that, please listen to this brief interview with one of the actors who starred in The Road as the father...
The Road - Interview With Viggo Mortensen
I really hope you took some time to watch that interview especially if you're a parent.
I'll echo his sentiments here. Both films are the kind that break your heart, but also give you hope at the same time, and I walked away from them feeling different and wanting to bury myself in the Word right away. I also allowed them to leap frog into my own personal "Top 5 Favorite Films" of all time. As a former Film Student, I take that list seriously (HA!). So, what does that tell you?
So it goes sometimes with Hollywood. Most of the time they give us nothing but garbage, but every now and then they give us a masterpiece that speaks to the human condition.
No, I'm not saying that The Road or The Book Of Eli is on par with the historic classics. In fact, I'm sure they'll barely get a thought come Oscar time. However, in light of EVERYTHING that we've studied together, and given where I believe we are on God's prophetic timeline, I must say that these two movies strongly resonated with me on several levels.
On a visceral level, I imagined that the "fictional" world depicted on my TV screen was a preview of what the Bible warns us is coming during the Tribulation.
On a spiritual level, the truths communicated by the filmmakers of both productions (and their adherence to God's Word whether they did it intentionally or not), and the characters' commitment to such, was profound to me personally.
For instance, despite the violence that was depicted every now and then I didn't expect the story to follow what we read in the Book of Revelation...
I also appreciated how BOTH movies didn't end the way I thought they would, which was extremely refreshing to this moviegoer. I drew parallels between that experience and the one that many so-called "Christians" (the "Christians-In-Name-Only") will sadly have one day in the near future when standing before Jesus Christ Himself (Matthew 7:23).
Furthermore, watching these movies also provided me with a stark reminder of what life COULD BE LIKE assuming we may be slightly off in our current understanding of the Rapture and our role in such an event.
The taglines for these movies are...
Exactly, right?
Thus, in thinking about my reasons for sharing my experience with these two movies with you today I think I know what I want to say in conclusion.
Pray for the escape to come (Luke 21:36), but prepare for persecution as a Tribulation saint. That's the message I want to communicate to all of you following my viewing of these flicks.
Keep looking up! MARANATHA!!!
Share|
One was the Denzel Washington flick The Book of Eli and the other is a lesser known, but equally stunning and similar film (due to the apocalyptic theme) called The Road.
In The Book Of Eli, the story revolves around Eli, a nomad in a post-apocalyptic world, who is charged with delivering his copy of a book, the last remaining Bible (a King James Version translation), to a safe location on the West Coast of the United States. The history of the post-war world is explained along the way as is the importance of Eli's task. Thirty years after an apocalyptic event, Eli travels on foot toward the West Coast of the United States. Along the way, he demonstrates uncanny survival and fighting skills. Searching for a source of water, he arrives in a ramshackle town which was built by and is overseen by Carnegie. Carnegie dreams of building more towns and controlling the people with the power of a certain book. His henchmen scour the desolate landscape daily in search of it, but to no avail. As it turns out, the book he wants is the book Eli is tasked with protecting on his journey -- a King James Version of the Holy Bible. Like the story of Samson, Carnegie believes the Book itself is inherently powerful as an object, failing to realize that it's God -- not the Book -- that is powerful.
In The Road (based on the best-selling novel of the same name), the story follows an unnamed father and son journeying together across a grim post-apocalyptic landscape, some years after a great, unexplained cataclysm has destroyed civilization and almost all life on Earth. Realizing that they will not survive another winter in their unspecified original location, the father leads the boy south, through a desolate American landscape along a vacant highway, towards the sea, sustained only by the vague hope of finding warmth and more "good people" like them, and carrying with them only what is on their backs and what will fit into a damaged supermarket cart. Because of falling ash, the setting is very cold and dark and the land is devoid of living vegetation. There is frequent rain or snow, and electrical storms are common. Nearly all of the few human survivors are cannibalistic tribalists or nomads, scavenging the detritus of city and country alike for human flesh, though that too is almost entirely depleted.
Here are the trailers for both movies to help you get a better idea of what they're about...
The Book Of Eli - Trailer
The Road - Trailer
I should mention at the outset that both movies were not as graphic or violent as I had feared going in. Of course, the movie studios hype those angles and downplay the religious element to the narratives.
Yes, make no mistake, BOTH films have a very overt, very strong religious message to them that even the most hardened non-believer will pick up on. Not sure if that was done intentionally, but either way it's good to know that millions of lost souls have been exposed to the truth and perhaps have had their spiritual eyes opened slightly thanks to the Father using Hollywood to call the elect.
It's interesting how both movies deal with the aftermath of some kind of worldwide devastation that is unprecedented. In The Road, we are transported to a time only 3 or so years removed from the disaster. Oddly enough, the scenes shown in the trailers that depict natural disasters as being the result of the worldwide tragedy are not in the feature length presentation. In The Book Of Eli, we learn that the events taking place are roughly 30 years after the global catastrophe, or what's known as the enigmatic "The Flash" following nuclear world war.
Mrs JRed went off to bed and I stayed up to watch The Road by myself. The description on the back of the DVD case calls it "a story about the love a father has for his son..." or "a future in which men are pushed to the worst and the best that they are capable of -- a future in which a father and son are sustained by love..." Of course, right?
Within the first 5 minutes I was struck by this line by the Viggo Mortensen character...
"My son is my warrant. If he isn't the word of God, then God never spoke."
Yeah, I know.
A mere 5 minutes in I knew what I was in for. A mere 18 minutes in and I wanted to run upstairs, wake up my little boy Luke, and hold him in my arms telling him (again) how much his daddy loves him. By the end of the movie, I wanted to strengthen the bond between me and my children even more than I do each and every day.
The Road was definitely the more intimate and personal of the two films for me. I'm sure the Father-Son story had a lot to do with that being a dad myself. Still, that's not to say that The Book Of Eli didn't have an impact on me. Quite the contrary!
What I was most struck by after watching both flicks is this...
1. I need to strengthen my faith for any potential "hard times" that I might have to go through in this life (even if they're not the result of some unprecedented, end times, apocalyptic scenario).
2. I need to study the Bible and pray about how I would react and respond in the face of pure evil especially as it pertains to defending my family.
3. I need to nurture the kind of faith that expects miracles from God even in a time and a place where we do not see the kinds of miracles recorded for us throughout the Holy Bible because His divine, supernatural protection is real.
To help clarify what I mean by all of that, please listen to this brief interview with one of the actors who starred in The Road as the father...
The Road - Interview With Viggo Mortensen
I really hope you took some time to watch that interview especially if you're a parent.
I'll echo his sentiments here. Both films are the kind that break your heart, but also give you hope at the same time, and I walked away from them feeling different and wanting to bury myself in the Word right away. I also allowed them to leap frog into my own personal "Top 5 Favorite Films" of all time. As a former Film Student, I take that list seriously (HA!). So, what does that tell you?
So it goes sometimes with Hollywood. Most of the time they give us nothing but garbage, but every now and then they give us a masterpiece that speaks to the human condition.
No, I'm not saying that The Road or The Book Of Eli is on par with the historic classics. In fact, I'm sure they'll barely get a thought come Oscar time. However, in light of EVERYTHING that we've studied together, and given where I believe we are on God's prophetic timeline, I must say that these two movies strongly resonated with me on several levels.
On a visceral level, I imagined that the "fictional" world depicted on my TV screen was a preview of what the Bible warns us is coming during the Tribulation.
On a spiritual level, the truths communicated by the filmmakers of both productions (and their adherence to God's Word whether they did it intentionally or not), and the characters' commitment to such, was profound to me personally.
For instance, despite the violence that was depicted every now and then I didn't expect the story to follow what we read in the Book of Revelation...
Revelation 13:10 (KJV) He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
I also appreciated how BOTH movies didn't end the way I thought they would, which was extremely refreshing to this moviegoer. I drew parallels between that experience and the one that many so-called "Christians" (the "Christians-In-Name-Only") will sadly have one day in the near future when standing before Jesus Christ Himself (Matthew 7:23).
Furthermore, watching these movies also provided me with a stark reminder of what life COULD BE LIKE assuming we may be slightly off in our current understanding of the Rapture and our role in such an event.
The taglines for these movies are...
The Road: "In A Moment, The World Changed Forever..."
The Book Of Eli: "Believe."
Exactly, right?
Thus, in thinking about my reasons for sharing my experience with these two movies with you today I think I know what I want to say in conclusion.
Pray for the escape to come (Luke 21:36), but prepare for persecution as a Tribulation saint. That's the message I want to communicate to all of you following my viewing of these flicks.
Keep looking up! MARANATHA!!!
Share|
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9 Comments:
Wow, I am going to rent the Road today!
My favs: Babettes Feast, I am David, Defiance, Red Dawn, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, China Cry.
I would also like to encourage by saying, if you are not going through a difficulat time right now, you may not be prepared for the next difficult time. From trials and tribulations to The Great Tribulation. "But for the joy set before us, we must endure..."
Peace,
Dee
You are getting awfully passionate about secular movies that really just contain another version of the old post-modern new-age religiosity with a vague nod to Christianity to get less-aware, less-discerning Christians on board and liking and supporting their movies so they get your money too.
There is no true gospel in these movies, just a lot of feel-good hype and pseudo-Christian elements into which you've mentally placed the gospel simply because you know it. The rest of the audience doesn't know it and doesn't fill in the gaps the way you might choose to.
Interesting the increasing lack of discernment being demonstrated here recently (the blue beam camera artifact being another example you latched onto strongly, preferring the fantasy over the reality). Or maybe it's been here all along and I'm just now starting to see that this place isn't as discerning and solid as it first appeared.
Dee, so true indeed. Defiance and Red Dawn. Good mentions there too.
Bobby, if by "awfully passionate" you mean that EVERYTHING in my life (as well as EVERYTHING that's happening in my life) is making me spend more and more time in the Word than I already did, and more and more time thinking about Him, and my life (my role in His plan), and my response in the face of evil and tyranny, then YES, I'm guilty as charged.
Again, the common theme (common problem from my perspective in regards to your comments on this post or those received by people in response to any other that I publish on any other subject) is that people MISS THE OBVIOUS, and fail to acknowledge what was plainly written.
I really don't know how much clearer I can get about what I write, about what I believe, and about what the mission is here. It's all there for you or for anyone. Please go back and read what I wrote here about Hollywood in general, and these two films. You'll see what I mean and maybe even change your perspective a bit. If you don't, that's fine too, and I'll certainly take your criticisms under prayerful consideration immediately.
Bobby, of course, there is no true Gospel in these movies. I never said that there was, and I never would. All I did was share the details about an experience I had (watching 2 movies) and how both got me thinking about the end times. Again, I just don't understand the criticism, but i still thank you for it. Perhaps the Lord is speaking to me through you. We'll see. So, I'll take it under prayerful consideration for sure.
Saved By Grace Through Faith,
Jeff ("JRed")
I have been reading your blog for quite a while now. In fact it is #4 on my favorites list.I have never commented before but I really enjoy all of your insites.I could never put all of the stuff together that you and others do.I think I have learned a lot from your blog.
I haven't seen the movie "the book of Eli" but have heard from others about it. My sister said it had a lot of bad language in it and I just wonder ,as christians, how much of this wordly stuff we are suppose to expose ourselves to.
My sister also said at the end of the movie he puts the bible on a shelf "with all the other good books" such as the koran, ect. Isn't this just a subtle message saying that the bible is "just another good book".
I suppose I may have to watch it before I can comment on it further.
Thanks for what you do and i try to pray for you and your family often
Ann
Ann,
First, welcome to LUF and thanks for commenting!
I have to say that if these are the types of comments we can look forward to from you then please comment more -- you spot on nailed it!
You're right about the need to be careful when immersing yourself in the world and particularly pop culture like Hollywood.
I've mentioned before how EVERY TIME that I sit down to watch something like that (or walk into a movie theater) I make sure I put on my spiritual armor and begin with prayer. Mainly, I ask for wisdom and discernment to spot the deceptions that will be force-fed to me during the next 2 hours or so.
That's what this is all about too. It's about doing a sort of "scouting report" on our common enemy so that I can talk intelligently about such things and educate/warn others who aren't believers or who aren't as strong in their faith.
Even so, there are some who don't agree with such an approach and perspective and that's fine. Anyway, I hope that helps address your concerns.
Thanks for writing!
In Christ,
Jeff ("JRed")
Oops! I forgot one more thing...
I'm glad you mentioned those two sequences from the film.
See, I take the "bad" for granted and just assume that everyone here is discerning enough to notice those things when they see them, and since I wanted to make this post about the FEW positives I got out of both movies I didn't get into that.
But that's EXACTLY how I took both scenes too with the exception of a slightly different view of the end. Sure, that's one possible interpretation, but the story documents how God divinely protected Eli throughout (feats that are even more miraculous when you get to the end, and I don't want to ruin it for people).
So, in that sense, I took it as how people CAN SEE ALL THE PROOF OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD WITH THEIR OWN EYES and they still choose to ignore Him, and treat Him like any other god, and treat His holy Word like any other book.
Again, excellent observations Ann.
In Christ,
Jeff ("JRed")
Ann,
I think you make a very good point about 'exposing ourselves to too much junk'. At work, at the store, on the road, we are overloaded with tons of yuck. At some point, we need to decompress and hopefully we can do that at home. We live in the world but are not of it. And we do have to 'filter' out stuff all the time. I do think it is very difficult to 'create' our own utopia's and in that thought: that's where we need to be patient with ourselves and each other. While I detest Disney and most of tv and most music and movies, I have a time or two watched movies like "Taken" that was violent and super scary, but dealt with the reality of the sex trade industry. It also showed as to what extent a father may go to save his child. I will admit I loved every second of it and it sortof opened my eyes to some worldly realities. Thank you all for allowing me to share my thoughts on this.
Peace,
Dee
Bobby, you spook, you plant, you child of the devil! I've suspected that the enemies of the gospel of GOD were watching this website, not you are the proof. Thanks for revealing yourself.
Also, who's holding on to fantasy, you of Jeff? You mock God and say he doesn't exist, yet we can provide evidence, both Christian and non-Christian, that Jesus of Nazareth is real, that he is the Son of God as he claimed, and that evolution is a farce.
Yes, I watched the road sometime ago. It was very sad.. I cried like a big baby.. I suppose I got two messages out of the story. But I will not say, because it seems I'm the only one that ever sees these things. In book of eli.. I didn't realize until I watched it the second time - His character was actually blind.. Very good movies. Wouldn't want to live like that though.
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