In the International Year of Science, few popular films could have as much import as Jon Amiel's Creation. Exploring the personal and ideological conflicts Charles Darwin experienced prior to publishing his book On The Origin Of Species By Means Of Natural Selection, it provides a guide to some of the most important ideas in the history of science, yet presents them in a very human context. “I would have hoped by now that Darwin’s ideas would have been as axiomatic and obviously authentic as Galileo’s or Newton’s. It’s kind of appalling to me that people because of a religious agenda want to turn back the clock,” said Amiel, referring to the difficulty the film has had in securing US distribution.
Creation premièred at the Toronto Film Festival and opened in the UK on Friday. Some commentators have accused it of deliberately seeking controversy by way of its title, which could be seen as referencing the Biblical idea of a divine creation, and have argued that it fails to be honest in its treatment of religious issues because (unlike the book on which it was based, Annie's Box, which was written by Darwin's great great grandson Randal Keynes) it ignores the fact that the scientist eventually turned his back on Christianity. The film has sparked fierce debate on Christian websites, with movieguide.org describing Darwin as the father of eugenics and denouncing him as “a racist, a bigot and an 1800s naturalist whose legacy is mass murder.” According to a Gallup poll conducted in February, only 39 percent of Americans believe in evolution.
Darwin's personal writings suggest that he would have supported public discussion of these ideas, but should the controversy prevent Americans getting to see the film at all? "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," explained producer Jeremy Thomas. "People have been saying this is the best film they've seen all year, yet nobody in the US would pick it up. We tried to make the film in a very even-handed way. Darwin wasn't saying 'kill all religion,' he never said such a thing, but he is a totem for people."
In fact, this is not a didactic film, but the portrait of a bereaved man and his family. The focus is on the loss of a daughter and the deep love between a husband and wife, played by real life couple Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly, who find themselves with differing religious beliefs. Darwin’s research and his increasing belief in the mutability of species provide the backdrop to this very human story. The fact that Paul Bettany experienced the loss of a brother while in his teens makes this all the more poignant.
“We at Newmarket pride ourselves in getting behind important films that help open the door for discussion and conversation, as is the case with Creation," said Chris Ball of Newmarket Films, who eventually agreed to distribute the film in the US. Ironically, Newmarket is the same company which previously distributed Mel Gibson's massively successful religious film The Passion Of The Christ. Ball went on to say that “while Darwin’s name has come to symbolize one side of a debate between the scientific and the theological, Creation personifies the debate, with both sides contending, sometimes violently, within the man. In that sense, we believe that the film will appeal both to people of faith and people of science.”
Meanwhile, several prominent Christian writers have argued that the film is of interest to people of faith who are themselves people of science, and that keeping certain ideas out of circulation has no place in modern theological debate.
