Creation

I watched Creation the other day. It's a movie about Charles Darwin and his life as he wrote his book "Origin of Species". I quite enjoyed the movie, I admit I wasn't sure if I would like it seeing as how I have been conditioned to be cautious of anything that mentions evolution.

(For the record I don't believe in the evolution theory that says all people came from the same ancestors as apes or all animals evolved from single cell organisms that crept out of the swamp. But I do believe God uses natural selection and adaptation to create new species and encourage changes within species.)

But the point of the movie was not the theory behind creation or evolution, and as such I won't dwell on it either.

Rather the movie was about Darwin as a man, a husband and a father.

I don't know much about the real story of Darwin's life, besides what I learnt in high school biology, so I'm unsure what parts of his life were portrayed accurately in the movie and what parts weren't.Weither it's real or made up, I found the interplay between the charcters very intersting and thought provoking.

The movie is about the emotional turmoil Darwin goes through when a beloved child becomes sick and dies. It's about the effect that this death has on his marriage, his family life and his other children. Darwin struggles to write a book that is about survival of the fittest when one of his own children becomes sick and dies.

It was also interesting to see the interactions between Darwin and his wife, Emma. She struggles with how to raise her children to love and worship a God her husband no longer believes in. Emma wants to help her husband in his grief but is confused by the fact he seems to be rejecting everything they use to agree on. Darwin struggles with wanting to please Emma but also writing a book that he believes disproves what she holds dear.

The movie is beautifully shot, and the little girl who plays Annie, Darwin's daughter is amazing. She has a presence that lights up the screen.