Sure he has a good sense of smell and hearing ability but at no point in the movie does it imply that he is blind. His bible is written in braille, which is that dotanddash language books and signs meant for blind persons are written in. Taken inside, eli is revealed to be blind, and dictates the new king james version of the bible from memory to lombardi, the sanctuarys leader. Realizing eli is a literate man like himself, carnegie forces him to stay the night under guard. The book of eli is a movie telling the story of a post apocalyptic world in which the main character morgan freeman is a blind man who has one of the last books in the world. Unpopular opinion i know but the difference between the book. Whether you liked it or not, its hard to deny that the film starring denzel washington didnt send your brain on its own journey, especially after the movies grand twist was revealed. There are moments where you could construe he was blind only after you decided he was. Hi, i made this video to prove that eli is not blind at least not in this scene.
If not, then theres no other explanation for how he s been able to do all that he did. The book of eli starts out with 10 minutes of dialoguefree imagery depicting the type of postapocalyptic wasteland made familiar in recent. After carnegies blind mistress claudia brings eli food and water, carnegie orders her daughter solara to seduce eli, but he rebuffs her. My view is that when you see what the book is and that he s blind that to me tells you god must exist. The book of eli is a 2010 american postapocalyptic neowestern action film directed by the. The oscarwinning actor trained hard for six months to drop 50 pounds. Solara sees eli has a book, and he offers to share his food, saying grace before they eat. As eli is speaking, the camera zooms in on his eyes, and we see that eli is blind. When the multiple twists occur at the end of the film, elis blindness only being one of them, i found myself in a unique place of appreciating every. He shot guys and fought guys all while being blind. Eli is a wanderer, but the film does not center on his life. At the end of the book of eli it is revealed that the eponymous bible that eli used to read and learn by heart is actually written in braille. The book of eli 2010 is both underappreciated and a secret. Jennifer beals, best known for her main role in the 1983 film flashdance, has been last seen acting in the 2010 film the book of eli where she plays the role of the claudia, the blind mistress of the nomad eli.
I watched the movie several times andnever realized that eli was blind. If you watch it a second time there is a lot of things you dont catch the first time when you assume he can see. In the bible, the high priest eli was blind, and some might say that there are several scenes which may indicate that in the. The book of eli believable except for this one small. A man of few words and many brave and horrible actions is what eli is. When he reaches a village ruled by the powerful mobster, carnegie gary oldman, the man views elis impressive fighting skills and offers eli a place within his gang. If eli was actually blind then thats one of the crappiest shyamalanesque twist ive seen.
In this latest episode of he said he said, jeff bayer and i try to wrap our hea. Although eli is not a literal preacher, he is the closest thing to a religious figure in the postapocalyptic world and he is so totally badass that only god can help you if you mess with him. The director is acutely aware that gary oldmans character is much more interesting than eli, and the focus of the film substantially shifts for the better to what he wants the. The bible he had with him was in braille and is of no use to carnegie, who finds his city falling apart now that he no longer has his soldiers to maintain order. The book of eli and the road to redemption catholic stand. His dangerous and often selfsacrificial mission, inspired by god and rooted in a deepseated personal faith, is certainly inspiring. In the first house eli holes up in, he looks at the mouse, he roots through his bag, while moving his head to see better into the bag. For that matter, eli is something of a modernday elijah.
The bad guy had the bible, but it was useless to him because the one person who could read it feigned having lost the ability to. Carnegie is the main antagonist in the 2010 postapocalyptic film the book of eli. However, eli proves to be the better man when he gently declines her advances. There are many many clues as to eli s character being blind throughout the entire movie.
Just because the bible is written in braille doesnt mean he is blind. He asks her whether it happened after or during the war, which may give the reason for his blindness. The book of eli denzel washington interview youtube. Now, we dont learn until the end of the movie, but eli is carrying a king james bible that is written in braille. The book he carries with him is a brail bible which he literally guards with his life. And they find a pocket of civilization holed up in alcatrazan echo of the monasteries that outlived the dark ages. Was eli from the book of eli fully blind or partially blind.
Im not sure that would happen over the brief duration of the film, but maybe he wasnt fully blind in the film, but had learnt brail in the world before so as to better be able to read. By every thing that is shown in the movie i simply cannot accept that eli was blind. In the bible, eli grew gradually more blind, from partial sight up to the stage of his. Jennifer beals, best known for her main role in the 1983 film flashdance, has been last seen acting in the 2010 film the book of eli where she plays the role of the claudia, the blind mistress. Yes, there are clues that he is blind, like overdeveloped smelling. My problem is that eli did not behave like a blind person. After looking around i saw that im not the only one. The trees stripped of their bark and white like ghosts. Yet im not sure what further conclusions to draw from this. A wound from eli s gun has infected his leg and he has little time to live.
Eli, who was nearly blind, was sitting at the front gate to hear the returning soldiers return was unaware of the event until he asked about all the commotion in the city. Its not until shortly before the film ends that we learn the most remarkable thing about eli. In the postapocalyptic biblical thriller the book of eli, denzel washington plays a blind man who feels he s been called by god to carry the last remaining copy of the bible across the country. However, theres visual evidence that he is not blind, like the fact that he looks at things. The book of eli written by gary whitta june 21, 2007 a civilization is destroyed only when its gods are destroyed. In the movie the book of eli, was the character played by denzel. Hell, even the title of this article is spoilery if you are geeky enough to be familiar with both 2010s the book of eli and the enormous series of japanese films from the 1960s and 1970s featuring a wandering swordsman named zatoichi many will question my choice to spend one of my cinapse pick of the week slots which ive now just. Eli bumps the car door with his bag to gauge exactly where it is. Eli was blind before the war and after finding the bible and hearing gods voice he regained his sight until his task was completed finding a safe place for the bible this is why he did things a blind man would do and could read braille and also why is eyes were normal at the start of the film and clouded and the end. According to imdb faq, yes he was possibly partially blind. At the end of the movie, we find out he is blind like the biblical eli and that the book he s been carrying around throughout the film is the bible in braille. Theres this whole issue, without giving it away, is he blind, is he not.
In fact, faith is the only semisatisfying explanation for eli s ability. Remember, he asked solaris mother when she lost her sight she. If you look at the movie, sometimes i actually bumped into stuff and they used it. A soldier had returned through the back gate and given the news of the battle to the people. Was eli just able to read braille for some unknown reason or was he actually blind all the time probably since the apocalypse 30 years ago, which is implied to have blinded many people. Eli was blind the entire move, so yes divine intervention was the entire twist to the movie. The book of eli 2010 frequently asked questions imdb. If eli was blind, how did he know which direction was west. Christianity and the book of eli believe it or not. Eli has been traveling for about thirty to thirty one years, during that time he has formed many survival skills most of which allow him to do things that would be near impossible for a man his age believed to be late forties to earlymid fifties. Eli is blind and if so, he either trained himself to be able to travel, hunt, shoot, etc. The girl sees eli s book, and when carnegie finds out he beats her mother until she reveals what she.
Now, eli might become blind at some point in the movie but not in this scene. In the book of eli, when eli opens the zippo lighter, he hovers his. Subverted when we find out that carnegie has the real book, but cant read it, whereas eli knows the whole thing by heart. Carnegie presses his blind lover claudia jennifer beals to send her daughter, solara mila kunis, to at least convince eli to spend the night by sleeping with him. Denzel washingtons character eli is blind in the movie book of eli. The book of eli, sometime in the future a lone warrior eli denzel washington is on a mission surrounding the presumed last remaining bible. In the movie the book of eli, was the character played by. He s just going from point a to point b, and plowing through obstacles. After looking around i saw that im not the only one who questions whether or not he is. Thats how he could read braille, and had a braille bible.
The professional, drexl spivey in true romance, egor korshunov in air force one, mason verger in hannibal, jeanbaptiste emanuel zorg. Watch the movie very carefully, and its pretty apparent. In the book hes blind, in the movie no he fuckin aint, cataracts maybe but his acting was terrible. He obviously struggles with his own personal failings, but, for the most part, acts according to the book he. If eli was blind through out the movie then the movie is of the same genre as godzilla just plain camp, because ive known quite a few blind people with. The only thing i disagree with was the sightedness of eli, he wasnt blind. When he searches the cabin for example he doesnt look at anything he just feels around the shelves with his hands. In the bible, eli grew gradually more blind, from partial sight up to the stage of his eyes were set so he could not see. In the bible, the high priest eli was blind, and some might say that there are several scenes which may indicate that in the movie eli was blind or at least partially blind. Carnegie even references it in one part of the movie when he says do not quote me shoot this guys already. In the movie the book of eli was eli blind the entire.
He had memorized the whole thing and dictated the contents to that dude. So were led to believe at the end that eli is blind. We also learn that he is blindand possibly has been blind or can see with some sort of divine intervention for the entire movie. Eli does not notice the car with the skeleton until he hears the sound of rattling metal. Eli has to feel the feet to see if there are boots on the skeleton. Eli survives the gunshot and makes his way west with solaras help. Eli tries to see if the woman is blind by testing her. Eli wears dark sunglasses, as blind people often do. He looks out the window the next day, moving his eyes to and fro to take in the situation. At the end, we see eli telling the librarian that he has the book, intercut with a scene of carnegie attempting to break into the one he s been given. After watching the book of eli, i started to wonder if eli was actually blind the whole time. Denzel washington has stepped it up for his role in the book of eli. Book of eli eli is not blind at least not in this scene.
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