Noah is a bold and
ambitious film to make for a modern audience.
Christianity in pop culture is usually relegated to the realms of
extreme moralism, intent on reaffirming the beliefs of those who consume it and
hoping to proselytize to unbelievers.
However, Noah is both a
call-back to an earlier era of film-making and a reimagining of the Biblical
epic using modern technology. It’s like
someone took the debaucherously true-to-scripture The Ten Commandments and made it using the stylistic sensibilities
of The Lord of the Rings. This is the Bible used as the source material
for a fantasy epic, yet never ceases to take itself or its biblical origins
seriously. And this is a film that
reimagines fallen angels as monstrosities encased in stone, looking like a troll’s
shambling extra-limbed cousins. It’s a
little insane that director Darren Aronofsky managed to pull this off, but he
does so beautifully.
For those unfamiliar with Abrahamic mythology, Noah is the
story of man commanded by God (or as the film calls it, The Creator) to build a
massive ark in preparation for a flood that will wipe out the rest of humanity
for being so corrupt. Two of every
animal is gathered and placed inside, so that new life may emerge and thrive
after the flood recedes. Where the film
tends to focus, however, is on the human characters. Noah and his family are the last remaining
descendants of Seth, the brother Cain didn’t kill in the Biblical tale. The rest of humanity is the descendants of
Cain, an industrial society with no regard for the world they live in, so much
so that the world is near-dead in their wake.
The film masterfully sets up these two factions so that understandable
tensions mount between them when Noah refuses them admittance to what would
essentially be their salvation from the flood, and as Noah prepares for the
coming storm, the followers of Cain prepare for war.
The action scene that results feels right at home in a
post-Peter Jackson blockbuster, which is an incredible feat for a story that
derives its origins in the Bible. But
that isn’t even the climax, though. The
battle between Noah and the rest of humanity is an important turning point in
the film, for we transition from looking at the ark as a vessel of hope to a
vessel of psychological torment. I won’t
spoil what makes the third act so powerful, but the film’s final hour is
harkened by the screams of those drowning outside, a starkly horrifying
contrast to the righteousness Noah proclaims for his cause.
The film taken as a whole is a thesis statement on the
nature of humanity, its internal struggle between good and evil, and how Noah
can reconcile his warring feelings about the people he saves and those he
leaves behind. It’s a powerfully
thought-provoking film in that respect, leaving behind the black-and-white
moralism that religiously-based media seems to revel in, and instead paints the
world in shades of gray, and humanity as subject to the whims of a higher
power, regardless of that power’s claim to righteousness or indifference
thereto. This is all beautifully
captured in Noah’s dream sequences from which he interprets the end of the world,
but also in images from biblical mythology, including a surreal take on the
Garden of Eden and a scientifically accurate montage of the creation of the
universe, set to narration of the Christian creation myth.
In other words, Noah is
the very definition of epic, in its scope, ambition, and visuals. This is the type of film that biblical
literalists will hate for all the wrong reasons, and religious naysayers should
see for all the right reasons. This is a
fantasy epic with the most epic of origins, and it’s not trying to convert
anyone or tell anyone their beliefs are the right ones. Instead, it tells a damn good story about the
faults of humanity and leaves us more questions to ponder than answers.
Have a favorite biblical epic? Let me know in the comments below.
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