had an intensely personal reaction to his character -- the
charismatic, but fatally corrupt, detective Alonzo Harris.
"I try to bend even the worst of my roles, like 'Training Day,' " said
Washington, the day after a press screening of "The Book of Eli" in
Los Angeles. "The first thing I wrote on my script was 'the wages of
sin is death.' "
After that biblical pronouncement, the superstar pleaded for a crucial
change in this role, for which he won the Oscar as Best Actor. In the
original script, viewers learned about his character's death in a
television newscast. Washington insisted that this urban wolf be
yanked out of his car and forced to "crawl like a snake" before being
riddled with bullets, while people in the neighborhood turned their
backs on him.
"I said, 'No, no. ... In order for me to justify him living in the
worst way, he has to die in the worst way,' " explained Washington.
For Washington, this "bending" process is part of his ongoing efforts
to make sense of his Christian faith in the midst of a career as one
of Hollywood's most powerful players in front of, and behind, the
camera. The goal isn't to sneak faith into mainstream films, but to
pinpoint themes about sin, redemption, justice, dignity and compassion
that mesh with what he believes to be true as the son of Pentecostal
pastor and an active member of the giant West Angeles Church of God in
Christ.
That's what he was doing while playing Malcolm X, emphasizing that his
sermons built on racial hatred were evolving into messages rooted in
equality. In the violent "Man on Fire," Washington played a bodyguard
who decides to sacrifice his own life to save a young girl from
kidnappers. This "bending" process is easier in some movies than
others.
In the R-rated "Book of Eli" -- directors Albert and Allen Hughes call
it a "post-nuclear western" -- the actor plays a warrior who marches
through a devastated American landscape while, literally, on a mission
from God. He is carrying the last surviving copy of the King James
Bible, along with his machete and a few other weapons that he uses
with righteous fervor. Call it "Mad Moses" in "The Prayer Warrior."
"Here's a man who, like Saul, or Paul, gets knocked off his horse and
has this epiphany, this moment," said Washington.
In a vision, the voice of God tells Eli, "Take this book west," and
promises to protect him until he can deliver it into safekeeping.
There is one big difference between Eli's story and the biblical
account of St. Paul's conversion, the actor admitted, with a laugh. "I
don't know if it said anywhere in there, 'And kill everybody on your
way.' "
While early drafts of the script contained even more religious
material, the film does show Eli reading the Bible and praying every
day. In a pivotal scene, he teaches a young woman how to pray, while
trying to protect her from a strongman who wants to seize the Bible to
use it as "a weapon aimed at the hearts of the weak and the
desperate."
Eli's basic message is simple: "Do more for others than you do for
yourself." The movie ends with a prayer that includes a famous
quotation from St. Paul: "I fought the good fight. I finished the
race. I kept the faith."
Washington said these are the kinds of messages that linger after the
Bible studies that he strives to fit into each day. He has worked his
way through the Bible three times, spurred on by the example of
Pauletta, his wife of 26 years.
While reading the Book of Proverbs recently, he began looking around
his house, marveling over "all this stuff." This led to a sobering
question: "What do you want, Denzel?" He focused on "wisdom," which
led to the word "understanding."
"I said, 'Hey, there's something to work on. How about wisdom and
understanding? How about that? I started praying, I said, 'God, give
me a dose of that,' " said Washington. "I mean, I can't get … anymore
successful, you know, but I can get better. I can learn to love more.
I can learn to be more understanding. I can gain more wisdom.
"So that's where I'm at."
Terry Mattingly (www.tmatt.net) directs the Washington Journalism
Center at the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities.
No comments:
Post a Comment