Review of Noah (2013) by Derek B — 31 Dec 2014

As a young boy, Noah witnesses his father, Lamech, killed by a young Tubal-cain. Many years later an adult Noah (Russell Crowe) is living with his wife Naameh (Jennifer Connelly) and their sons Shem, Ham and Japheth. After seeing a flower grow instantly from the ground and being haunted by dreams of a great flood, Noah takes them to visit his grandfather, Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins). On they way they encounter a group of people recently killed and adopt the lone survivor, a girl named Ila (Emma Watson). Noah and his family are chased by Tubal-cain and his men but seek refuge with the fallen angels known as the "Watchers", confined on Earth as stone golems (nephilim) for helping humans banished from the Garden of Eden. Methuselah gives Noah a seed from Eden and tells Noah that he was chosen for a reason. Returning to his tent that night, Noah plants the seed into the ground. The Watchers arrive the next morning and debate whether they should help Noah until they see water spout from the spot where Noah planted the seed. A forest grows quickly, and the Watchers state that they will help Noah do the Creator's bidding. The trees are cut by the Watchers to build Noah's Ark with the help of Noah and his family. After birds fly to the Ark, Tubal-cain arrives with his followers and confronts Noah about his reasons for building the Ark. Noah defies Tubal-cain and remarks that there is no escape for the line of Cain. Tubal-cain retreats and decides to build weapons to defeat the Watchers and take the Ark. As the Ark nears completion, animals of various species enter the Ark and are put to sleep with incense. With Ila having become enamored of Shem, Noah goes to a nearby settlement to find wives for Ham and Japheth, but upon witnessing humans being traded and apparently slaughtered for food, he abandons his effort and begins believing that the creator wants all of humanity dead. Back at the ark, he tells his family that he will not seek wives for his younger sons. After the Flood, they will be the last humans, and there will be no new generation of man...

Paramount Pictures were very worried about how Noah (2014) and its religious theme would be treated properly, so they screen tested three different rough cuts of the film, both without the approval and knowledge of Darren Aronofsky and all of the versions met with resounding criticism from Christian audiences. It has, since then, led to countless controversy and debacle on its correspondence to the biblical text found in the Book of Genesis. Aronofsky said that he was very unhappy with Paramount testing alternate versions of Noah that were not 'true to his vision': "I was upset - of course. No one has ever done that to me. I imagine if I made comedies and horror films, it would be helpful. In dramas, it's very, very hard to do. I've never been open to it. I don't believe that." After much discussion and compromise, the studio announced on February 12 that Darren Aronofsky's version, not any of the studio's alternate versions, will be the final cut of Noah. "They tried what they wanted to try, and eventually they came back. My version of the film hasn't been tested... It's what we wrote and what was greenlighted," Aronofsky said. It will not be test screened until post production is finished, as per Aronofsky's wishes. Russell Crowe explained his characterization of Noah as not necessarily having to be nice: "The funny thing with people being, they consider Noah to be a benevolent figure, you know? Because he looked after the animals. Are you kidding me? This is a dude who stood by and let the entire population of the planet perish!" Darren Aronofsky had been fascinated with the character of Noah since childhood, seeing him as a "a dark, complicated character who experiences real survivor's guilt". As an avid fan of Aronofsky´s previous work I wanted to see his adaptation of the biblical character Noah as well. It´s a visually stunning movie and I reckon there´s all sorts of intriguing stories in the bible that can be put on the silver screen, now recently we have Ridley Scott´s "Exodus". However, I personally think that "Noah" is a biblical slush puppie structured like some sort of religious actioneer with over the top theatrical performances from all involved and silly dialogue. It just doesn´t come together at all. Yes, this is an adaptation of the figure Noah and his tale, but I just think that Aronofsky handles it wrongly and the existential/spiritual values gets lost in this action mish mash. The story is there, no matter what you think of it from a religious point of view, but "Noah" is not what I hoped for. The Wrap called the film "Darren Aronofsky's Biblical Waterworld", but with that said I did like "Waterworld" and not "Noah".