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Noah poster

CAST
RUSSELL CROWE
DOUGLAS BOOTH
JENNIFER CONNOLLY
MADISON DAVENPORT
KEVIN DURAND (VOICE OF)
ANTHONY HOPKINS
FRANK LANGELLA (VOICE OF)
LOGAN LERMAN
MARK MARGOLIS (VOICE OF)
LEOH McHUGH CARROLL
NICK NOLTE (VOICE OF)
EMMA WATSON
RAY WINSTONE

BASED ON THE STORY OF “NOAH’S ARK” FOUND IN
GENESIS CHAPTERS 6-9

SCREENPLAY BY
DARREN ARONOFSKY
ARI HANDEL

PRODUCED BY
DARREN ARONOFSKY
SCOTT FRANKLIN
ARNON MILCHAN
MARY PARENT

DIRECTED BY
DARREN ARONOFSKY

GENRE
DRAMA
FANTASY

RATED
AUS: M
UK: 12A
USA: PG-13

RUNNING TIME
138 MIN

 

NOAH (2014)

A new interpretation of an ancient story, Noah is as awe-inspiring as it is perplexing, led by Russell Crowe in one of his best performances and forever changing the biblical epic.

The long, rich history of bible based movies has shown that secular filmmakers often make the more interesting films (The Gospel According to St. Matthew, King of Kings) due to their ability to step outside of the box and look at scripture in a different light.

Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan) does just that in Noah, an adaptation of the legendary/mythical/inspirational flood narrative found in the Book of Genesis, which the acclaimed filmmaker has obsessed over since he was 13 years old. It’s no surprise then to find Noah is as much a film about ideas inspired by scripture as it is a film based on scripture, ideas about man’s relationship with creation, Gods love/hate relationship with man, and the psychological plus spiritual impact on one man who is literally charged with placing the weight of the world on his shoulders.

That man is Noah (Russell Crowe), a descendant of Seth (the third son of Adam and Eve) who is separate from the other men that have gorged the Earth into an inhospitable, violent wasteland. When Noah experiences a nightmarish vision of an impending watery doom for mankind, he undergoes a mission from God (in this film only referenced as “The Creator”) that he build an ark to shelter two of every animal from a forthcoming deluge set to wipe out humanity.

It’s a story known by many but never told as Aronofsky has. As well as the Old Testament, Aronofsky has taken significant influence from Jewish texts such as the “Book of Enoch”, which told of fallen angels fathering giants who roamed a pre-flood Earth. Here Aronofsky has them as fallen angels turned rock monsters, evoking a Lord of the Rings vibe (whose author J.R. Tolkein was also influenced by the bible) and once again establishing: this is not your Noah pop-up book.

Aronofsky has created something that’s gritty in its earthiness and epic in scale, his strong visual approach providing many awe-inspiring moments, such as a depiction of the Genesis creation story that is shown in theological evolutionary fashion, reminding of similar imagery from Terrence Malick’s equally perplexing The Tree of Life.

Other moments evoke pure horror, especially the depiction of visions that haunt Noah such as when the Earth’s soil is infused with the blood of mankind, or when scores of bodies are littered under the ocean like an underwater mass grave. One image that will be hard to wipe away is that of screaming men, women and children hanging on to a boulder as giant waves pry them off, Aronofsky taking influence from French artist Gustave Doré’s 1865 illustration “The Deluge”, projecting the horror of God’s justice upon the wicked and properly portraying what Genesis described as a “cosmic cataclysm”.

Front and centre amongst the epic is Russell Crowe, who in the title role delivers his best work in years, relying on that strong screen presence of his to create a vigorous, grounded performance that anchors this big budget spectacle of visual and scripture to a relationship of one God with one man on one Earth, and the self-righteousness that comes from such heavy responsibility.

At times the ideas presented can grate, especially the heavy handed environmentalism that stands to attention as soon as the movie begins. But then again this is a story about God’s punishment to humanity for destroying the jewel in his creation, and for those who believe that Earth is indeed God’s creation then some heavy handed environmentalism is understandable.

This is not the first time Aronofsky has delved into matters of the spiritual with such epic scope, as seen with his polarising 2006 movie The Fountain. Yet Noah is a much tighter, bigger and inspiring work. Exactly how it will play to religious or non-religious viewers will be anyone’s guess, but one thing is for certain: the bible movie will never be same again.

****

 

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