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The Book of Eli
A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.
2010 · Directed by Allen Hughes · 118 min · Action · Thriller · Science Fiction · Screenplay in the scene database · 12 frames
Tagline
Some will kill to have it. He will kill to protect it.
Plot
Thirty years after a nuclear holocaust, Eli travels on foot across the wasteland of the continental land of the former U.S. nation in search of water. He arrives in a ramshackle town ruled by a warlord named Carnegie, who seeks to control the people through the power of a certain book, which his henchmen have been unable to find.
Eli barters with a store owner, the Engineer, to recharge the battery of his portable music player. At the town bar, he is attacked by a gang of bikers, but swiftly kills them all, demonstrating uncanny survival and fighting skills. Impressed, Carnegie invites Eli to join his employ, but Eli declines. Realizing Eli is a literate man like himself, Carnegie forces him to stay the night under guard. Carnegie's blind mistress, Claudia, brings Eli food and water, and Carnegie orders her daughter Solara to seduce Eli, but he rebuffs her. Solara sees Eli has a book, and he offers to share his food, saying grace before they eat. In the morning, Carnegie overhears Solara repeating the prayer to her mother and realizes Eli has the book he has been seeking — a Bible.
Eli sneaks away, but Carnegie and his henchmen confront him in the street. When Eli refuses to give up the book, Carnegie orders him killed; the ensuing battle leaves Eli untouched, but many henchmen are dead, and Carnegie is shot in the leg. Solara catches up to Eli and leads him to the town's water supply, hoping to accompany him, but he traps her inside and continues alone. Solara escapes and is ambushed by two bandits who attempt to rape her, but Eli reappears and kills them. Continuing west, Eli explains his mission: He has the last remaining copy of the Bible since all other copies were intentionally destroyed following the nuclear war. He says that he was led to the book by a voice in his head, directing him to travel westward to a safe place and assuring him that he would be protected and guided on his journey.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Written by: Gary Whitta
- Cinematography: Don Burgess
- Edited by: Cindy Mollo
- Music: Claudia Sarne, Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross
- Production design: Gae S. Buckley
- Produced by: Denzel Washington, Joel Silver, David Valdes, Andrew A. Kosove
Cast
- Denzel Washington as Eli
- Gary Oldman as Carnegie
- Mila Kunis as Solara
- Ray Stevenson as Redridge
- Jennifer Beals as Claudia
- Michael Gambon as George
- Tom Waits as Engineer
- Frances de la Tour as Martha
- Evan Jones as Martz
- Joe Pingue as Hoyt
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Alcon Entertainment, Silver Pictures
- Budget: $80,000,000
- Box office: $157,107,755
- Themes: faith, chaos, dystopia, post-apocalyptic future, bible, survival, gunfight, blind, brutality, cannibal
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