Noah (12A)
This review was first published in The Methodist Recorder (www.methodistrecorder.co.uk).
Art-house filmmaker Darren Aronofsky’s Noah arrived in cinemas amidst a perfect storm of controversy and sensation. Critics praised, Christians cried sacrilege - but is this really a case of Hollywood defacing Scripture, or a worthy attempt by a secular artist to grapple with some very difficult subject matter?
At the very least, Noah is evidence that Aronofsky is a man of immense God-given talent, and those who panned it not only for straying from Scripture, but for being ‘boring’ or ‘badly made’, overstep their jurisdiction. But one thing is for certain, a Hollywood interpretation should never be used in place of the real thing.
The story is isolated from its position in the Biblical narrative, cloaking it's true meaning from those who aren’t already versed in Scripture. The most obvious embellishment is the inclusion of giant rock creatures - fallen angels inspired by mention of the mysterious ‘Nephilim’ in Genesis 6:4, and described in greater detail in The Book of Enoch, which though not canon with Scripture, as a secular writer Aronofsky considered equally valid source material.
An eco-centric agenda is clearly pushed, with the violent antagonist Tubal-Cain (Ray Winstone) characterised by his industrial and carnivorous lifestyle, which is equated negatively with the Biblical mandate to have dominion over creation. Environmentalists have often vilified Christianity as posing an unsustainable plan of plundering the Earth without replenishing, which is a biased misunderstanding of God’s command to subdue and multiply in it.
The temporary warping of Noah’s character from righteous man to disturbed murderer, is explained if we notice that the purposes of God (referred to in the film as ‘The Creator’) are portrayed as beyond the understanding of any one character alone, be that Noah’s Grandfather Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins), his doting wife (Jennifer Connelly) or even Noah himself (Russell Crowe). All are used to do God’s will, and in the end a divine being of mercy and love is revealed.
One gets the sense that though misguided, Aronofsky is on a desperate search for truth, even daring to take seriously the concept of sin - something tragically rare and unpopular these days, and amazing to see tackled in a mainstream film. Christians are the privileged few who can separate the fact from the fiction, and despite numerous times the film gets things wrong, it’s still moving to see familiar concepts explored in such a giddy mix of confused flaws and exhilarating artistry.
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