Creation Reviews

When I heard about this flick, I thought it had some great potential so I was quite eager to check it out. Indeed, Charles Darwin must have been one of the most brilliant human-beings that ever lived and to make a movie about this man and his revolutionary theory sounded like a great challenge. Unfortunately, they decided to rather focus on how the man became physically and mentally ill after the death of his oldest daughter. So, instead of having a deep reflection about his amazing theory of evolution, we got instead a well made but still terribly pedestrian domestic drama. I mean, it was not completely worthless, Paul Bettany gave a really solid performance, he did what he could with the material and there were some interesting bits about his struggle between what he believes his true and the common beliefs had the time and also between his love for his wife and the fact she deeply believed in God while his theory pretty much shattered most of the Dogmas she believed in. To make things worse, towards the end, all these dilemmas seemed to be pretty much easily solved after a heartfelt and emotional discussion between the two of them which seemed a rather abrupt short-cut. To conclude, the whole thing felt like a missed opportunity but, somehow, it remains watchable and I think it is still worth a look.

Oddly-paced moved. Semi-spoiler: this is NOT a biopic about Darwin's explorations or how he arrived at his theory of creationism. Rather, this is more about the struggles Darwin encountered within his own life as he tried to rationalize what his scientific training told him with his Christian upbringing and the then-prevailing ideas that all existed as God created them and spontaneous conversion (i.e. goose barnacles become barnacle geese). The driving factor here is Darwin's faith was shattered by the death of his young daughter (medicine still being more of an art than a science at the time). I walked away unimpressed.

"Do you not care that you and I may be separated for all eternity?
That one line drives the emotion behind this biopic film about Charles Darwin. Emma Darwin played by the lovely and excellent Jennifer Connelly, projects this hard hitting line to Charles(Paul Bettany) during one of their many struggles and arguments. Creation revolves around Charles Darwin during the time of his construction of, the uber-famous: The Origin of Species. Darwin struggles with coping the loss of his eldest daughter and it shatters his belief in God or a "god". He continues to conflict with his dearest wife Emma, who does not wish Darwin to produce such a book. Emma is a Christian or Catholic(whatever you can derive from the film) and constantly wants Charles to repent and turn back to God, in most loving way possible...most of the time.

Director Jon Amiel does a splendid job of making this film memorable. Scenes flow into each other quite well and for such a film keep you wondering how the next scene will pan it out. This film has surprising visuals and some of the high speed camera and realistic "food-chain" sequences capture the films emotion, gripping the viewer. I honestly wasn't expecting anything of the sort, but I must give Jon props for his direction of the film.



Paul Bettany..wow he was the best part of the film. I was looking for wife Mrs. Connelly to take the prize, however Bettany dominates with no flaws. Scenes jumping from past to present explode with different and rather difficult emotions most actors wish they could dream of pulling off. One line he seems insane and in the next sad or happy. When talking about his daughter's death, it's quite sad and even got me "teary-eyed" in some scenes. Paul was brilliant and deserves an award for this film. His performance was worthy of an Oscar nomination.

Creation deserves to be viewed and is quite under the radar and underrated. I'd advise this film to those loyal of Bettany and drama films in general. The scenes are magnificent, visually excellent and leaves you with the feeling of "Wow that was a sweet film!"

Rating: 8.8/10

“A obra `A Origem das Espécies` de Charles Darwin, publicada em 1859, tem sido chamada de a maior idéia original na história do pensamento. Esta é a história de como foi escrita”.

Elucidamente anunciado por esta citação inicial, “Creation”(2009) mergulha na pesquisa individual do cientista sob uma ótica da complexidade temporal e o dilema moral, focada em sua devotada relação com a primogênita e precoce Annie.
No roteiro, baseado no livro “Annie`s Box”, escrito após o autor Randal Kyenes, tataraneto de Darwin, encontrar uma caixa com alguns pertences de Annie, Darwin aparece em seus quarenta anos, recluso e melancólico, com a saúde fraca, profundamente preocupado com a propagação dos resultados de sua pesquisa em uma sociedade fundamentada no cristianismo, assim como a resposta de sua religiosa esposa a uma guerra que Darwin trava com Deus, “da qual ele não pode ganhar”, nas palavras de Emma Darwin, numa interpretação duvidosa de Jennifer Connelly. Quem triunfa é seu marido (também na vida real) Paul Bettany.

Em flashbacks, ele aparece relatando trechos de sua viagem a bordo do Beagle, em especial sua passagem pela Argentina, para sua vívida e curiosa ouvinte, que demonstrava precoce interesse e prodígio entendimento pelos estudos do pai. Paul e a pequena (e notável) Martha West atingem uma sincronia e afeição intensa e espontânea em uma demonstração espetacular de profunda e tão especial conexão filial; simples olhares transbordam em admiração mútua capaz de nos atingir com uma real sensação de luto e pesar por sua morte aos dez anos de idade, tragédia que devastou igualmente a saúde e psique de Darwin. É preciso dizer que qualquer burburinho que já se tenha ouvido sobre uma interpretação mirím não é concorrência para Martha como a Annie.

Sua morte também foi definitiva para romper sua crença e culpa com a Igreja, enquanto sua esposa buscou refúgio nela, um abismo foi aberto entre o casal, principalmente pelo fato de que eram primos de primeiro grau e culpava-se pela direta e conhecida relação entre o parentesco próximo e a debilidade da Annie. Darwin torna-se, então constantemente assombrado e confortado pela presença póstuma da filha.

Algumas digressões de teor científico são ricamente ilustradas pelo diretor inglês Jon Amiel nesta cativante e sensível biografia do ilustre Charles Darwin apoiada em exímia competência na edição, direção de arte, na comovente trilha sonora de Christopher Young, que poderiam ter composto uma fita impecável não fosse a escalação de Jennifer Connelly. Ainda assim, não é motivo para “Criação” ter sido tão subestimado, é necessário lembrar que (absurdas) correntes criacionistas tem seu espaço, inclusive defendida por figuras políticas dos EUA e Reino Unido.

para os aficionados por Darwin e (certamente) pelo filme recomendo o site oficial creationthemovie.co.uk/