Creation (2009/I)

Director:

Jon Amiel

Writers:

John Collee (screenplay)
Randal Keynes (biography)

Release Date:

22 January 2010 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Biography

Tagline:

How he saw the world changed it forever

Plot:

English naturalist Charles Darwin struggles to find a balance between his revolutionary theories on evolution and the relationship with religious wife, whose faith contradicts his work.

Plot Keywords:

Charles Darwin | Evolution | Scientist | Country House | 1850s

Cast

Jennifer Connelly	...	Emma Darwin
Paul Bettany	...	Charles Darwin
Jeremy Northam	...	Reverend Innes
Toby Jones	...	Thomas Huxley
Benedict Cumberbatch	...	Joseph Hooker
Jim Carter	...	Parslow
Teresa Churcher	...	Mrs. Davies
Martha West	...	Annie Darwin
Zak Davies	...	Jemmy Buttons
Pauline Stone	...	Mrs. Darwin's Maid
Harrison Sansostri	...	Lenny Darwin
Christopher Dunkin	...	George Darwin

Also Known As:

Annie's Box (International: English title) (working title)
Nature (International: English title) (working title)
Origin (USA) (working title)
Untitled Charles Darwin Project (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, England, UK

Company:

Recorded Picture Company (RPC)

Trivia:

Anne Elizabeth "Annie" Darwin's death (2nd March, 1841 - 23rd April, 1851) may have been the cause of scarlet fever, or tuberculosis as some may believe.

Quotes:

[from trailer]
Emma Darwin: Do you not care that you and I may be separated for all eternity?

Nice Darwin family drama

I saw this film on 19SEP2009 at the Cambridge Film Festival.

The Beagle's only in a couple of short flashbacks, the whole thing is about Darwin's life from 1841 to 1859, when he was ensconced in Kent with his growing family, 200+ pages of Origin had already been drafted and he was wondering whether to complete the book.

The script is based on Randal Keynes's book Annie's Box (Annie, Charles's daughter, died when she was 10). It is mostly a family drama, but does include sex scenes - however, the participants are married, both on and off screen. Not too exciting, not much science but a well-made film that's pleasant to watch and pushes the right emotional buttons. A bit of a romantic weepie, actually. I suppose the conclusion is that you can be an agnostic free-thinking scientist from an atheist family background and still be an emotional romantic as well as an excellent father.

Some of the characters and Darwin himself state or wonder whether he "killed god" but the viewer is able to doubt that. What is beyond doubt, given the deadly struggle for survival and the web of predation on the meadow-bank (well-known before Darwin and completely uncontroversial) and the failure of Darwin's prayers is that the idea of a kind, providential god who loves "his" creatures is untenable.

I really cannot see many Americans objecting to it very much. Some may have problems with the title, which is probably the most controversial thing about the film, or with the fact that Bettany does not have horns, a tail and a pitchfork.