Creation (2009)
It is a hundred and fifty years since Charles Darwin published one of the greatest and most controversial books in science, ‘On the Origin of Species’. This film has been released to coincide with that anniversary. When I entered the cinema I expected a preachy Sunday afternoon costume drama proclaiming the merits of ‘science over ‘superstition. To my surprise, I discovered a sensitive, intelligent and engaging drama. This is no mere Richard Dawkins screenplay. In fact, the only openly atheist character in the film, Thomas Huxley is probably the most unsympathetic. The film is much less about conflict between science and religion and much more about faith, death and grief.
The Struggle for Existence
The film focuses on events in the Darwin household: Charles Darwin (masterfully played by Paul Bettany) becomes distraught after the death of his favourite daughter Annie from scarlet fever. As he tries to understand her death, he begins to lose his Christian faith, and questions the existence of God at all. Why did God allow Annie to die? Darwin becomes ill and reclusive, and his research languishes. His relationships with his children and devout Christian wife Emma (played by Bettany’s real-life wife Jennifer Connelly) fade as he becomes lost in his despairing thoughts.
One Christian minister tries to comfort Darwin saying that ‘God works in mysterious ways. Others try to assure him of God’s righteous and careful management of creation. Annie’s death, they argue, is part of Gods righteous plan. However, through his theory of natural selection, Darwin begins to see that nature is a violent and deadly place where only the fittest survive. Species are not maintained by God’s loving hand but by the ongoing battle for survival. As Darwin writes in Origin of Species:
‘As many more individuals of each species are born than can possibly survive; and as, consequently, there is a frequently recurring struggle for existence.’
Darwin recognises the implications of his work: could Annie’s death simply be nature’s way of weeding out the weakest in a population? Worse still, as Darwin married his first cousin, is he guilty of her death? Darwin has visions of his late daughter, being almost haunted by her memory.
Peace without the Cross?
The finest section of the film follows Darwin’s attempt to find peace. Darwin tries to find physical and spiritual healing through the use of hydrotherapy, a supposed cure-all treatment. Time and time again he is showered with water (with allusions to baptism) as he attempts to wash away not only his physical ailments but his guilt and emotional pain.
Towards the end of the film, Darwin is able to find a degree of peace, leading to the publication of his famous book. He is reconciled with his wife and with his children. One physician suggests that Darwin’s suffering will only be over when he finds faith again. It is clear at the end of the film that Darwin does not regain his Christian faith. Instead, perhaps he has faith in the nobility of evolution, an acceptance that it is the way of things.
Bright and Beautiful?
I felt that both Darwin and the Christians in the film fail to recognise the nature of the Fall. In Church, the congregation sing All Things Bright and Beautiful, extolling the glorious nature of creation. However, the reality is that God’s perfect creation has been corrupted by sin. Nature is both beautiful and cruel, as Darwin realised. As Christians, however, we can hope in a new, physical re-creation. Perhaps because of an idealised view of creation among Christians, our theology often fails to pays sufficient attention to this hope; a hope central to the message of the Good News.
I would highly recommend ‘Creation’ to a Christian audience. It is rare to discover a film that treats religious faith in such a sophisticated manner, even though it ultimately ends with a loss of faith. Both non-believers and believers are likely to be challenged by the film.
Questions for discussion or reflection
•How could Darwin’s pastoral situation have been better handled?
•What comfort can we draw from thinking about the creator God who experienced the turmoil of death and grief in giving his Son?
•How far does our theology and evangelism reflect the fact that the whole of Creation has been corrupted by sin?
•Can love, guilt or grief be a product of the ‘primordial soup’?