Question: I see this in nearly all post apocalyptic movies, and in spades in the Book of Eli. The dystopian world they live in is so devoid of necessities that things like chapstick and even water are extremely valuable. OK, fair enough. 30 years ago a nuclear war destroyed society. So how is it that in this world of extreme scarcity, that they are able to keep multiple vehicles running? Beyond gasoline, a car requires a working battery and multiple other fluids, not to mention parts.
Answer: Scavenge and cannibalize from all the derelict cars, and loot abandoned stores?
Question: Why does Eli run into the house and look out of the window where the old lady and man are just before the fight with Carnegie and his men? Surely if he was blind he would not look out of the window, he would at least put his ear to it.
Answer: Because he isn't blind. He was blind but his sight was returned so that he could complete his task. He doesn't become blind again until the end of the film, as shown by his eyes going gray.
That's incorrect. He's blind throughout the movie.
Corrected entry: In the scene where Solara is being taken back by the bad guys, one of them take out Eli's machete and places it on the dashboard. After the car flips over, she manages to get the machete (because it couldn't have stayed on the dashboard) and stab the bad guy in a matter of seconds. If the car flips, that machete could have gone anywhere.
Correction: She did not stab him. He was stabbed in the accident. It is possible that the hilt of the weapon turned to press against the windshield and at some point in the flip (perhaps the landing) he was thrown forward into it.
This is where the separation from art and reality occurs. Some of us know that a black cloud hangs over our heads and this is the sort of thing that would happen to us. While others in the same situation, the machete would miss them and a winning Powerball ticket would fall in your hand.
Corrected entry: When Eli is done bargaining with the engineer, the engineer tells Eli he needs a couple of hours to charge the "Fathom 900," yet it's still connected and apparently still charging, from what the engineer is saying, when Eli goes to get it the next day. (00:23:40 - 00:49:00)
Correction: The engineer was working for the antagonist. Eli shows this by telling the engineer to tell "him" that he made him do it.
I don't know that the engineer was working directly for the antagonist. It may be that the antagonist held such power over the people in the town that they all feared him, to include the antagonist.
Correction: Also... he told Eli that he "could put a trickle charger on it." trickle charging is less than 1 amp and takes up to 48 hours to charge a flat battery.
Question: Eli locks Solara in the spring after he dupes her to go back in to find his glasses. How does she escape?
Answer: She could have picked the lock. It was an old door, she could have used one of her weapons to open it. Plus, there was most likely a second hidden emergency escape hatch.
It was a known location by a few for obtaining water so eventually someone was bound to come by and open the door.
Question: In the scene where Carnegie and his men were looking for Eli and Solara while they were sleeping, Solara tried looking through Eli's bag to see the book. When she opens the bag you could see the book with the name "The Book of Eli" on it. Later when Carnegie steals the book from Eli there is just a cross on the book, not the book Solara saw in his bag. Why wasn't it the same book?
Chosen answer: It was a name tag and was attached to his backpack, not part of the book.
When he opened the backpack there was a patch saying "Hello, my name is Eli" which made me wonder if he was blind and had been a braille student or teacher. Also, he seems to always check where the sun is for direction but a totally blind person could easily lose the ability to discern west from east or day from night. I simply can't believe that a blind man could fight like he can. I love the movie and have watched it several times and each time I'm looking for hints.
Corrected entry: Didn't anyone else notice that his eyes were perfectly fine and brown? If he was blind the whole time (and in the end his eyes were white), why are his eyes brown when we takes off his shades and looks out the window and look up at the sun? Doesn't make sense.
Correction: This is a question, not a mistake. They never say how he became blind. If his blindness was caused by a severed optic nerve, for example, there would be no change in the eye's external appearance. Many blind people don't have deformity or discoloration on their eyes.
The issue was not addressed as to why his eye color changed from brown to white even though he is blind at the start of the movie.
He is not blind at the start of the movie.
Correction: He is blind but in the novel for which the movie is based, our hero is blind but given sight to carry out the mission.
Corrected entry: The first scene of the movie shows leaves falling from dead trees like it's snowing. If it was 30 years later, the leaves would have all long since fallen off. An argument could be made that the leaves are instead ashes falling. But the trees would not be smoldering after 30 years. Also, when Eli stands up, it's obvious that they are leaves are falling off him.
Correction: I didn't see any leaves falling off Eli when he stood up. No, trees would not have been smoldering for 30 years, but who says the fire burned 30 years ago? Forest fires happen all the time from natural causes. In a world this dry they'd be even more frequent.
In addition to this, who's to say that there wasn't a recent fire in the area or that they were showing Eli at a time immediately following the Apocalypse. This would be a clear indicator of the length of his journey to the West. One could only imagine that it had begun in the East fun in the East.
Correction: It is nuclear fallout, an unknown time after the nuclear explosion(s). At the time, he is wearing a mask to protect himself from it.
Question: Why didn't Eli want the hijacker leader to touch him?
Answer: Anyone experienced with hand to hand combat knows not to allow an opponent to lay hands on him. That almost always leads to escalation.
I thought he was simply defending himself since the hijacker leader, along with the other hijackers were probably dangerous men.
He probably considered the hijacker leader an opponent due to the way he was threatening him.
Answer: The hijacker messed up because he let Eli know exactly where he was and how close he was.
Question: SPOILER: Is Eli blind or just visually impaired? There are many signs that he's not in fact blind. For example, in the first house he finds, he wakes up just as the sun hits his face. He also knows his way around unfamiliar territory all too well for a blind man - well for a sighted man, in fact. He's able to follow the road without a cane. He's also able to tell the difference between day and night. If he were completely blind he could travel at night and need less water, etc.
Answer: No. Eli is not blind. There are moments where you could construe he was blind only after you decided he was. 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. He looks out the window the next day, moving his eyes to and fro to take in the situation. He can see the Pawn Shop owner's finger on the trigger. He is able to find the Pawn Shop in the first place, even though he's never been there. Eli has several conversations with people while looking right at them. No one reacts as if he is blind. Eli closes his eyes every time he reads the Bible in order to more focus his sense of touch and cut off the visual stimuli. He can see that the pawn shop owner hasn't detached the battery leads. He and Solara exchange a "What the...?" look when invited to tea by the old cannibals. The man can see, at least to a certain extent.
He has normal vision throughout the film. He looks directly at people on several occasions, and his eyes are normal. The point of the story is that he WAS blind (hence his ability to read braille, heightened senses, ability to fight in the dark, etc.), but was given his sight back so that he could complete his task. By the end of the film, he's completed his task and is dying, and so he returns to being blind, and his eyes are cloudy.
He wakes up in the morning because he feels the sun on his skin and it's warm. Not because it's bright. He found the pawn shop because when he open the door we see and hear the bell ring. Your eyes moving are involuntary reflex. You notice he does not look at the mouse until he hears the mouse.
With all due respect, the whole point of the film is that he was blind. In every situation where he it appears he navigates through trouble as a sighted person would, there are clues (usually audible clues) that he uses. I can't list them all but there are several articles online that explain how he gets through each situation. Eli is most definitely blind.
He is blind. God gave him his sight until he completed his task.
Answer: He can see, but not by light. He walks by faith, and not by sight.
It's a correlation to the bible. Making the blind see. He walks by faith, blind faith.
Answer: He is blind or at least partially blind. He mentions he can smell the salt in the air and mentions that Solara's mother's perfume smells nice when he was a foot away from her; when you lose one sense, such as sight others become stronger. If he could see, he would write the bible that he has memorized, himself instead of making the old man write it for him. He literally quotes "we walk by faith, not by sight" which is definitely some obvious foreshadowing. Also he doesn't see the 'no trespassing' sign at the cannibal's house because he literally can't see. There are many other indicators in the movie that prove he has visual problems if not fully blind.
Answer: I believe he is physically blind, but he "sees" through faith. His faith helped him to find a "way" to achieve his mission. Eli found a "way" to compensate for his blindness by immensely heightening his other senses, predominately hearing. Other evidence of blind behavior I observed during the film include his occasional bump into a table or other obstacle here and there; and most significant to me, his light kick to locate the step at the entrance to the cannibals house.
Answer: He is only blind at the end, where he is channeling the words to be written.
I agree he can see. He looks at his reflection in a bowl of water then disturbs the water as if not liking his reflection. Not to mention the constant eye contact.
Question: How does Eli exit the room in Carnegie's tavern? The guard said he was there all night and didn't see or hear anything.
Answer: It seems to imply a miracle escape like Paul and Silas from prison in the bible.
Answer: The Guard must have fallen asleep. You see he even looks tired when approved.
Answer: Did you miss the scene where the guard was lured away from the door, causing him to lie about being there all night?
What scene was that?
Corrected entry: The protected copy of the Bible is placed at the end next to a copy of the Artscroll Tanach which includes the Hebrew/English version of the original bible as well as the other 39 holy books, so they had it all the time.
Correction: The Tanakh, as much as it is the "Hebrew bible", does not include the entirety of the new testament, which, as well as there being numerous changes between the Tanakh and the KJV, means that no, they did not "already have" what Eli was bringing to them.
Yeah he specifically said he had a King James bible, meaning the English translation of the old testament. Though it just a translation the old testament of the King James bible is still of important historical value. And of course the inclusion of the new testament and apocrypha like Maccabees.
Question: In the beginning of the film, Eli kills the cat with the arrow. He has donned a full gas mask and protective clothing. If the air was bad enough that he was not able to breathe it for fear of toxic fallout, how could he have eaten the cat and not gotten radioactive poisoning anyway?
Chosen answer: I believe Eli was donning such protective gear, not as a means to protect himself from fall-out or any other such dangers but rather, as a means to mask his scent from the wild animals he was hunting. He would have been 'sniffed out' otherwise and nothing would have even come close.
It was camouflage.
Corrected entry: SPOILER: There are many many clues as to Eli's character being blind throughout the entire movie; he bumps into a table, he felt around for the boots on the body, he heard the rat, he said "you have to come to me", when the woman said he'd have to say something or come to her, he scratches his shirt (and finds out she too is blind), he says he travels by faith not by sight, he counts the clicks on the iPod to get to a song, he fiddles with the iPod because he cannot see the battery is low, he asks the shopkeeper if he has his trigger off of the gun, he's always listening to birds/people, he doesn't shoot until he's shot at, he says he can smell people (the ambush), he says he "didn't see the (no trespassing) sign" at the old folks house, he heard the china rattling so he knew that they eat humans, etc.
Correction: The reference to walk by faith and not by sight was not because of his blindness, he was simply quoting scripture (2 Corinthians 5:7). It does make it a little humorous and ironic that he says it though.
The scripture is both ironic and true. Eli says in the movie "I am not a Liar" and he always phrases things so he doesn't say anything that would be misunderstood.
Correction: Good points! Also he told his companion to be quiet so he can hear the vulture in order to shoot it with an arrow.
He asked the shopkeeper to take his finger off the trigger assuming it was. Another good example is that he ran his hand over the lighter to make sure it had a flame. He also didn't have an immediate (visual) response to the hanging man.
Question: If he is blind how do you explain the accurate shots with the arrow?
Answer: A large study was done after the atomic blasts in Japan in WW2 after the surrender on the effects to victims' eyesight. Over 70% of the people that indirectly looked at the light were not completely blind. They suffered from cataracts, and out of those studied over 50% could see during the day - mostly shades of black and shadows / silhouettes of people and objects. Those that survived became very keen to see movement as long as they were in bright light, also heightened since of smell and feeling vibrations. This would explain why Eli never traveled at night and was not totally blinded by a nuclear flash, if he was completely blind - night would give him a much larger advantage. You notice he always travels when the sun comes up so he can see silhouettes of people and objects moving. Also when Solara interred his room at Carnegie's hall she said "it's bright in here" Eli had all the lights on so he could see anyone entering the room / cell. Also he wears sunglasses because obviously he does not want his cataracts to get worse. If you watch the movie again there are many tells to support that he is only partially blind and had mild to moderate cataracts. You can also see his eyes on the boat to Alcatraz, showing his cataracts.
He was born blind, at the start he smells the hijackers and moves into the dark to level the playing field.
How would he know where the dark is?
He was not born blind. He was blinded during armageddon, but after finding the Bible was given his sight back in order to complete the task given to him by God. Once his task was completed he once again lost his sight.
Nope! He was given his sight back by God in order to complete the task he was given, only to lose it once again after it was completed.
Answer: Believe he is partially blind. You don't need to be completely blind to need to learn braille.
He is not blind. He sees cars coming runs into the house and immediately checks the windows.
Answer: He was blind before the flash. That's how he could read braille, and had a braille bible. Remember, he asked Solaris' mother when she lost her sight - she said before the flash. That's why she also could read braille. He was totally blind. God gave him the ability to do what he did.
Answer: I think everyone missed something that is completely obvious. He is absolutely 100% blind. He always reacts. He never starts at first. During the gunfight he never once fired upon someone unless he was shot at first. During the bridge fight, he did not attack anyone until they screamed or were close enough to where he was feeling them. When he found the body hanging in the closet and he felt it with his hands from head to foot and felt the boots. Same thing with the car with the skeleton. He felt all the way down and realised it did not have boots. Every fight scene and everything he did in this movie was a reaction to somebody else doing something first.
Answer: He is 100% blind and if you pay close attention to the movie, it is proven and shown. He only reacts to his senses, the scene where the man is hanging, Eli smells him; he does not see him. The scene with the hijackers, he goes under the bridge, soo he can hear their movement using echolocation. The shootout scene if you listen very closely when Carnegie is speaking to him, Eli clicks his tongue using echolocation again. The scene with the couple as he is walking up to their home, he makes the clicking noises again and bangs of the door with the gun to listen to the sound. In the shootout scene, Eli only shoots at those who were firing at him; which was in the direction of the gunshot sounds. The scene where he gives up the book and is shot, he stands up and looks around with confusion because he does not know who else is there, and he blindly swings his knife around to try to fight back. He was able to do what he did due to God's protection and guidance.Hence "Walk by Faith not by Sight".
Answer: It's clear from examining his eyes in various shots throughout the film that he is not blind for most of it. He was almost certainly blind before his journey began, then is sight was restored so he could complete the task. There are several scenes where his eyes can be seen. They are brown and when he talks to people, he looks them in the eye. At the end of the film, his eyes go gray, showing he is blind again.
Um...no...sorry good theory, but he just has heightened senses, and I believe isn't 100% blind but is mostly like 80-90%.
If you disagree, then please present evidence to refute my theory, rather than simply stating an opinion. Do you disagree that his eyes are brown throughout the film, then go gray at the end? Do you disagree that he looks people directly in the eye? Do you disagree that he is able to aim and shoot at distances a blind person wouldn't be able to?
The idea is that he was blind to begin with. The fact they didn't show his eyes grey is that it would reveal that fact and make the movie look stupid. The way they approach it is the surprise at the end that it turns out he is blind, not that he had gone blind again. If wasn't blind during the movie there would have been no point in showing him blind at the end, nor would it be logical he has a braille bible that he knows by heart.
We'll just have to disagree. My take was that he was blind previously (hence his ability to read braille and his use of his other senses) but was given sight to complete his task, then lost his sight just before death.
Answer: He can hear their wings flapping, and he is guided from above. His other senses are extraordinarily sensitive and honed.
Answer: Like you said, society collapsed so the survivors scrounge for food, water, basic needs. Vehicles, their parts, and oil are not basic needs however and are only required when new, primitive, societies start up again. Sure individuals might use a vehicle, but plenty of cars lying around to use until they rust and then you go on to the next. But, these societies can, though crudely, create parts and collect fluids, based on their needs, from whatever they can scavenge. The technology and knowledge is still there, as is the skill to keep cars running. They'd go great lengths to keep them operational, sometimes moreso than food production.
lionhead
I can appreciate your answer, but 30-year-old gasoline? It just doesn't work. But then it dawned on me that an engine can run on other substances, like grain alcohol. Probably still hard to come by, but nowhere as difficult to create as gasoline would be. So, yep, you're right. Thanks.
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