by Warrior 4 Jesus » Apr 06, 2014 6:21 pm
NOAH
A short review:
The Noah movie is deeply philosophical and psychological. It’s structured as an aggressive debate on the nature of God, mankind, sin, suffering, justice, mercy and redemption, in the tradition of rabbinic arguments and the great thinkers of the Christian Church throughout its tumultuous history. Much of this formidable debate plays out as a small (but heated) family drama between Noah and his kin.
The movie borrows from a number of ancient source materials, namely the Old Testament Bible, the interesting but uninspired Book of Enoch and the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Noah proves to be Darren Aronofsky’s most mainstream movie to date (that said I’ve only seen three others of his) but it’s probably still the most unorthodox interpretation of Noah and the Great Flood you’re ever likely to witness.
A really good (if highly speculative) take on the book of Genesis, chapters 6-9. You'll be thinking about the movie long after you've left the cinema.
Check out my detailed review below to find out more.
8/10
A rather long review:
Great movie! Going into it, I knew this version would be different from the historical account found in the Bible, in the book of Genesis, Chapters 6-9. The movie is, in parts, both true to the Bible and rather speculative. The story borrows from Noah's story in the Old Testament but also other sections in the Bible, including the earlier chapters of Genesis (the creation, the fall, Cain and Abel, the early genealogies). There's some Jewish lore (the Book of Enoch), some Jewish mythology and Mesopotamian mythology and of course, director Darren Aronofsky's own ideas.
I've seen some of Aronofsky's other works - Pi (good), The Fountain (clever but dull) and Black Swan (good), so I had some idea of what to expect. He is clearly passionate about the story he's telling and he's not afraid to take it in unorthodox directions.
I found the storytelling to be layered and challenging and the major characters to be both psychologically and philosophically rich, save for Noah's son, Japtheth. Much of the acting was well done, especially Russell Crowe playing Noah.
Noah's story is fascinating. It's terribly dark and disturbing and the movie is sombre in tone. Noah has many doubts and his dreams eventually drive him mad. He later develops a form of cabin fever aboard the Ark. That said, his story extrapolates on what may have happened eg. Noah's doubting his role in God's plan, family struggles, withstanding the culture of sin surrounding them, the fear and horror of experiencing the Flood - hearing all those outside the Ark dying, the doubts in creating an Ark and then trusting that God was watching over them, surivour's guilt and so on. This Noah's a far cry from the biblical man but he's certainly shown to be fallible. That and his eventual psychosis is intriguing to watch.
The visuals were often compelling but not distracting. They were only there to further the story (here's looking at you Michael Bay!) I was surprised at how little of the actual Flood was shown. It's not a disaster movie in the tradition of Dean Devlin and Roland Emmirech (you don't really see the continent break apart and the volcanoes erupt. You don't even see the waters rise or recede or much of the violence done to the land, the people and the animals. Much is left to the imagination.
Many say Aronofsky is an atheist. After watching seeing several of his movies and now Noah, I have to strongly disagree. Seems to me, he's either a lapsed Jew or one who's struggling to hold onto his faith. He questions so much and uses all of his characters, to different degrees, to share a little of his story, his fascination with Noah and his own struggle with his Creator God. The result is raw and ugly and disturbing. It's also honest and strangely encouraging. No saccharine religiosity here.
I have a few objections given the speculative nature of the movie. Some of them are major and some minor. My major objections are that the fallen angels are in league with Noah and his family and help them build the Ark (hello, these were Satan's minions). The CGI fallen angels as rock giants looked a little silly and out of place. I wonder why they changed the character design from the graphic novel (which I haven't read - yet). At one point, Noah tells the creation story to his family, but it's laced with evolutionary imagery (which admittedly is artfully done and highly impressive but also contrary to what the Bible teaches. Noah fighting off Tubal-Cain's men as the great waters of the deep shoot up into the sky. That was rather silly. Perhaps Noah's madness was taken too far. The movie needed more humour and at times, a sense of joy.
Minor objections: The stowaway on the Ark wasn't bad, so much as unnecessary. The writers could've mined Genesis 6:1-8 for more material; that was a missed opportunity. The meat = sinful, environment = good, people = bad message was a little preachy, but not nearly as bad as I feared. Also, there not being any dinosaurs aboard the Ark and no scenes where Noah's family tended to the animals. Once they're aboard, we see very little of the animals, because they've been drugged into hibernation (how convenient for the CGI artists!) Finally, I would've liked to have seen more of a civilization pre-Flood.
Judgment, sin, suffering, redemption - these themes are all given a fair hearing. Mankind is certainly not let off the hook for their sins and God isn't portrayed as the enemy (very good).
All in all, Noah was a really good movie. The story is controversial but artfully considered. Just don't go to see it expecting Noah's story to be wholly true to the Bible, because it most certainly isn't.
Warning: Mature audiences. Contains: Moderate violence, adult themes and disturbing imagery.
8/10
Currently watching:
Doctor Who - Season 11
I enjoyed the 'Let it Go' song. It sounds a LOT better in English but in Russian it wasn't so bad either. I also liked the little bit that was taken from the original story, about love thawing a frozen heart, the whole thing about a heart being frozen into a piece of ice and only love being able to thaw it. Of course, in the original fairy tale it's different, but I like the way Disney interpreted it. And the way Elsa cried while hugging Anna reminded me of how Gerda hugged Kai and cried over him. It was nice to see little part of the fairy tale still come through, even though the story was completely different.
They're doing a good job of hashing over the good and the bad in DoS in the Tolkien thread, so I won't say much, but I'll agree that the pacing was just way too fast; there wasn't any time to breathe.
And it wasn't "letting it all go" since she still wasn't able to control it when Kristoff and Anna showed up. 
I might have to see if my husband would be interested in seeing it on a date night. Otherwise I'll probably wait for the DVD. But I REALLY want to see this one. I loved the last one.
