There are few movies in the world which have made me listen to the sound of music very closely. Somehow, for no particular reason, I am very much defiant to myself in the last few months. There might have been reasons which are trivial but I made it a point to take it through.
The music of the movie, The Book of Eli was suggested by virtue of technology to me, a buzz from a friend of mine made me hear it, and I was wonder struck by the use of resonating sounds. The music by Atticus Ross, who is also the sound engineer for the movie, is absolutely magnificent in its subtlety and smooth silence. I was intrigued enough by a poster at a DVD shop which showed the hue of the movie as a very pale greenish yellow. It was good time for me to see it.
I searched for it and I found it among my 'yet to be seen' folder. The movie started in a very normal pace. I did not know what was the movie about. I did not know whether it was a post nuclear fallout movie or a alien invasion, neither did I know about the kind of book Eli had with him. From the start, I could make assumptions but I resisted. The movie has a stellar cast for so few central characters. Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman are the main protagonists and carry the movie splendidly on the brilliance of their acting.
Half an hour into the movie, I found the movie to be intriguing. Character of Eli is with many flaws, but lives by faith. He is typical 20th century man. He wants to do the right, but luckily for him, the 21st century men around him are so much involved in primal fights that he is left without any temptations. Gary Oldman, the venerable British Shakespearean actor as Carnegie is brilliant as usual.
The Book of Eli soundtrack was good enough to make me see the movie, and it gives a sense of afterthought and calm. Some of the tracks did not give me any feel or a sense of mood of the title, maybe it is the because of the lack of visual support(but what about the movies like, The last of the Mohicans or Forrest Gump?). Having said this, I will still say that I could put many of the tracks in my playlist and listen to it anytime. It has enough quality to soothe me, and there is a bit a melody to it too.
What transpires in between make the story, but the ending is simply fulfilling. The ending may be interpreted in many ways. Some may not even have crossed the mind of those who wrote the story even, but that is why the spoken word is so powerful. The Holy Book itself tells the same thing, God said(he spoke!), let there be light and there was light. He did not think, he did not command. He spoke. The movie talks about faith, in the absolutely best way possible - through music - "It doesn't have to make sense. It's faith, it's faith. It's the flower of light in the field of darkness that's giving me the strength to carry on. You understand? .... Is that from your book? .... No, it's, uh, Johnny Cash, Live at Folsom Prison."
Some more:
Atticus Ross is an English composer whose only credit is to scoring 5 episodes of the television series Touching Evil in 2004 and a part of score in the movie “New York, I Love You”. He is however probably most known for his collaboration with Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails(well, that is no news)
