By Steve Hynd
How's this for ridiculous? According to the producer of a new UK-made movie about Charles Darwin's life, no distributor in the U.S. will touch it for fear of the religious Right.
US distributors have resolutely passed on a film which will prove hugely divisive in a country where, according to a Gallup poll conducted in February, only 39 per cent of Americans believe in the theory of evolution.
Movieguide.org, an influential site which reviews films from a Christian perspective, described Darwin as the father of eugenics and denounced him as "a racist, a bigot and an 1800s naturalist whose legacy is mass murder". His "half-baked theory" directly influenced Adolf Hitler and led to "atrocities, crimes against humanity, cloning and genetic engineering", the site stated.
The film has sparked fierce debate on US Christian websites, with a typical comment dismissing evolution as "a silly theory with a serious lack of evidence to support it despite over a century of trying".
Jeremy Thomas, the Oscar-winning producer of Creation, said he was astonished that such attitudes exist 150 years after On The Origin of Species was published.
"That's what we're up against. In 2009. It's amazing," he said.
"The film has no distributor in America. It has got a deal everywhere else in the world but in the US, and it's because of what the film is about. People have been saying this is the best film they've seen all year, yet nobody in the US has picked it up.
When the teabaggers in D.C. yesterday were saying they'd like to see the U.S. returned to the nation it was 100 years ago, this is the kind of thing they meant.
Update: Here's the trailer for the movie:
And here's a review from Reuters that calls it:
one of the best delineations of intellectual and emotional struggle seen on film in many a year. The actor's scenes with Annie and Emma have an extraordinary tenderness that grips the heart just as Darwin's scientific dilemma engages the brain. West is unaffected and winning as the girl, and Connelly, with a perfect English accent, shows the wife's anguish as well as her undying loyalty.
Amiel's greatest achievement is that "Creation" is a deeply human film with moments of genuine lightness and high spirits to go with all the deep thinking.
So it's unlikley that the film is simply too poor to get a U.S. distributor. It's far more likely that the distributors are all shying away from religious Right outrage and pressure.
Too many Christians - not enough lions.
ReplyDelete"It's quite difficult for we in the UK to imagine religion in America. We live in a country which is no longer so religious. But in the US, outside of New York and LA, religion rules."
ReplyDeleteWhat?
I find it difficult to believe the religious right is in control of theater chains in New York, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Boston etc., not to mention most university towns Maybe the film, in addition to being about Darwin, isn't all that great and is in competition with big studio productions that are apt to make a hell of a lot more money for theaters than an intellectual film about a great scientist.
It would be a shame if you may not be able to get to see it. The movie's based on the great book Annie's Box so focuses more on Darwin's personal life and his own religious struggles and coming to terms with his significant insight. I think it is one of the opening movies at the TFF (Toronto Film Festival). Incidentally we also have religious crazies here but our winters are still cold enough to keep them hiding in their caves most of the year.
ReplyDeleteZen, it's not about "control" so much as pressure and the prospect of demonstrations, as I'm sure you're actually well aware. Also, see the review in the update.
ReplyDeleteRegards, Steve