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Photo courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures

OK, so there’s violence. And the Bible. But according to twin brother directors Albert and Allen Hughes and actors Denzel Washington and Mila Kunis, The Book of Eli is not a movie about good or evil.  Nor is it a religious movie.  It’s all about belief, purpose, hope and, well, whatever you want to bring to it yourself. It’s a lot like life: The story of a man on a journey, protecting something of value to him. It just so happens to be the last Bible on the face of a post-apocalyptic Earth, and, quite possibly, humanity’s only hope for survival.

Read on for a little HLife convo with the cast and crew of this thought-provoking movie. 

HLife: How did the idea for Book of Eli come about?

Albert: [Writer] Gary Whitta just pulled it out of nowhere – and he’s an atheist, which is the strangest thing too. I don’t think it’s a religious movie, but there’s a lot of spiritual and religious elements in it, and for an atheist to write something like that, it’s pretty wild.

Allen: I remember asking him something and he told me in confidence – I think he’d be OK with me sharing this – he said he just woke up one night and something said ‘write this movie’. And he wrote the first draft in 24 hours straight. I think the theme of the movie is a universal one. It’s really not about the Bible, it’s about faith and belief and purpose. And I think that’s what struck Gray – something struck him – and being an atheist, he got up and…that’s the age-old battle there, you know. And I thought that was very fascinating that he almost went into a manic state – I believe it was actually 48 hours straight, I may have it wrong.

HLife: For people who might see it as a religious movie – is it really a movie where the Bible is the protagonist?

Mila: It is about the Bible but I think the Bible in this movie represents hope, not Christianity or Catholicism or Judaism or any sort of religion. I think it just represents the future of humanity. And I am not a religious person. I’m Jewish, and proud, but I’m spiritual more than anything, so I never read the script thinking ‘oh this is gonna be a Christian-based film and Denzel’s character is Jesus.’ No. I just read it as a man who had a purpose and inspiration, and whatever that inspiration may be, to him it was the book, to other people it could be something else. I think it’s just a matter of hope.

Albert: The thing is, that book could’ve been plans for a bomb. The good guy would protect it and the bad guy would take it and make a bunch of bombs. It’s something sacred and special to that person who’s told to keep it and protect it. Could’ve been an issue of Playboy, the only one left on the planet.

Allen: I think if somebody is smart, they will say, ‘well, that’s what life is, that’s what the story is about, it’s about one guy taking something and doing something good with it and another guy trying to do something bad with it. There’s a lesson in that and we hate lessons but, you know, I think a preacher or religious person would see that clear as daylight.

Albert: The stakes are just as high for the audience. It’s what Alfred Hitchcock used to say, ‘the audience wants to know what’s in that suitcase, they don’t really care about the details of it’.

Allen: This is where I differ a little bit. I think that it HAD to be the Bible. Because of our civilization and what we are a as a culture and even globally, that book…the wars and the battles that have been fought over those sacred words ring a lot deeper than a bomb does. Those resonate a lot and it’s about the human condition. Sacred text, religion and faith, as old as that is and as many conflicts that have been stirred up over this because people look at it in different ways, I think it hits everybody. It HAD to be the Bible, I believe, for it to be the story that we told.

HLife: So if it’s not a religious story, how would you categorize the film?

Denzel: I think it’s really easy to categorize things. Good, bad – those are easy categories. I don’t think people fit into categories, that’s how life is. Life is not you’re either this or you’re that.  One of the lines I threw in to the screenplay when we were working on it was a line that Gary [Oldman] says, after he shot me, he says, ‘pray for me, I mean it’. I think that reflects life. Life is complicated, it’s not just good, bad, evil, good, fun/not fun. What did he mean by that? Did he really mean to pray for him? Was he mocking him? I don’t know it depends upon what you see in it. I always say, what you get from a film depends upon what you bring to it. For each person it might be something differently. For me, it’s what I said, it’s not one thing. I don’t want you to get any particular thing out of it, other than stimulated by it.

HLife: You guys set this in a post-apocalyptic world, just as other people are making movies about 2012 and also discussing the end of times. What is the significance of this type of setting today?

Allen: It started here in America with 911, when we as Americans felt our mortality for the first time, and I think it was healthy for us – I don’t think it should’ve happened, but it did happen. I think whether it’s the Mayan calendar 2012 thing, which, you know, a lot of people have predicted that as well, or post-apocalyptic movies or this movie, they are here to remind us what really matters, what really IS precious, what Denzel said in the movie, ‘we threw away things people kill each other for now’ How absurd is that? Anything that can remind us of what it’s really about – being human, being tactile, and learning how to get through life without computers and blackberries – is a good thing. We need to be reminded of those things. Or not!!

HLife: Denzel, what does the Bible represent for you?

Denzel: On a daily basis, it’s an opportunity to learn positive lessons, it’s history, it’s the word of God. It gives something to think about every day, to work on every day. I think we’re all in this journey – I hope -  to better ourselves, to grow, to understand who we are. So, in my life it’s been the most powerful tool in that growth. The thing about improvement is, we talk about what needs to be fixed, but I think it really starts in the mirror. I think if everybody worked on themselves…obviously, some people don’t have mirrors, they might be poor, so it’s part of our job to help others, however we can, not just with money but with patience with love and kindness.

HLife: What would you consider working on yourself?

Denzel: Just trying to be a better person. I read The Daily Word, different things, The Bible, every day. And one of the words today was ‘don’t complain’.  Just to work on not complaining – that’s huge! You get up and you can start that one every day!  ‘Ah, what’s wrong with this room, it’s not cold enough, I can’t hear myself…whose war is this?’ So you can create, you know. I tell you another thing: Words are powerful. The Bible, all spiritual books, talk about ‘the word’, what you say everyday.  They have power.