Film About Darwin's Life Stokes Creationism Debate

Jan. 25, 2009 — -- Charles Darwin has become one of the most divisive men in history. One reason, perhaps, that no one has ever tried to make his biopic. Until now.

"We didn't find that American distributors were beating a path to our door," said Jon Amiels, director of a new movie about Darwin's life called "Creation," distributed in the United States by Newmarket Films. "This is not a fashionable film in that sense and not the easiest film to market in any conventional sense. The fact that it was also a hot potato in terms of its subject content I think also made several studios quite squeamish about handling it."

The Creation vs. Evolution debate is, of course, a bitter one. The conservative Christian Web site Movieguide.org calls "Creation" a "beautifully made, poignant movie" but goes on to warn viewers away: "The fact that the movie is so well done is what makes it very dangerous. ... A lie that there is no God ... is still a lie, even if it's well-written and acted."

"Creation" focuses on Darwin's own struggle as the enormity of his theory of evolution dawned on him.

In the movie, Darwin's eldest daughter, Annie, asks her father, "What are you so scared of? It's only a theory."

Darwin replies, "If I'm right, it changes everything. Suppose the whole world stopped believing that God had any sort of plan for us."

The movie is set at Down House in Kent, not far from London, where the Darwin family lived for many years.

At Down House, one can visit Darwin's study and see the very table on which he wrote "On the Origin of Species." As Darwin worked, his kids would run in and out, steal their father's footstall, pester him and beg him to come play with them in the garden. "Creation " focuses on Darwin's relationship with his kids and, more crucially, his wife.

Darwin's wife, Emma, was deeply religious, a Unitarian. She believed strongly in what we now call creationism. At the time it was just the accepted truth.