Review: 'Noah' (2014)

Paramount Pictures

Note: The scripture used in this review comes from the New International Version of the Bible.

It is in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, that the life of Noah and how God used him is shared. Chapter five of Genesis is the first mention of Noah as it explains is family line. Why God flooded the earth and how he used Noah in this event becomes the focus of chapters 6 through 9. So can a feature length film be adapted from just 5 chapters? Whether it can be or not, whether it should be or not, Darren Aronofsky does exactly that with his latest film Noah. So with this, the question becomes how much of Noah is the Bibles account? How heavy is Aronofsky’s account? Going hand in hand with these questions are audience expectations and how artistic license plays into those expectations. Of course this is a review of Noah but it is hard to explore the films effectiveness without digging into these questions.

Noah begins with the introduction of sin into the world and is concluded with Cain killing Abel. This then leads to a brief explanation of the behaviors of the descendants of Cain and his brother, Adam and Eve’s third son Seth. We first encounter Noah (Dakota Goyo) as a young boy, witnessing Tubal-Cain (Finn Wittrock) killing his father Lamech (Marton Csokas). Lamech’s death is really the first event in the film that is not explained in detail in the Bible, making it Aronofsky’s account. Verses 30 and 31 of chapter five read “After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died.”  In this scene is also the introduction to Tubal-Cain, a descendent of Cain which can be found in Chapter 4 of Genesis. In this same chapter, in a description of Tubal-Cain, verse 22 says that he “forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron” which is also made clear in the film.

The film then fast forward to Noah (Russell Crowe) as a father of Shem (Douglas Booth), Ham (Logan Lerman) and Japheth (Leo McHugh Carroll). This is when the film begins to get into Noah’s place in God’s plan to flood the earth. Genesis chapter 6, verse 9 reads “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God”. The same chapter goes on to say in verse 13 “So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them”. In Noah, God, referred to as ‘the creator’ in the film, communicates this to Noah in the form of dream-like sequences. These sequences really aren’t an addition to what the bible but more an artful approach or interpretation by the filmmakers of how God spoke to Noah. In a second dream sequence Noah is told to build an arc and how many animals should go with him and his family on to the ark. One thing to note about these dream sequence in the film is that it can be perceived that Noah interpreted these dreams rather than God telling him what to do.  

When Noah begins to build the ark is where the film really takes close to full artistic licenses. How do Noah and his sons build such a massive boat? They accomplish this with the help of ‘the watchers’, angels condemned to earth by ‘the creator’. These rock-like beings not only help Noah and family build the ark but also protect them from Tubal-cain’s people stopping them from getting on the arc. Of course Noah and his family are able to get on the arc but who exactly makes up this family? Genesis chapter 7, verse 7 says “And Noah his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood”. In the film, Noah, his wife Naameh (Jennifer Connelly), there three sons and Shem’s wife Ila (Emma Watson) enter the ark. Also entering the ark, the biggest stretch of the film other than the rock angels, is Tubal-cain (Ray Winstone) who gets on the side with an axe.

Once in the ark, family issues and feeling towards one another and being the last humans on earth become the focus. Ham, mad at his father for not letting a love interest of his enter the ark, discovers that Tubal-cain has broken into the ark. Tubal-cain quickly uses this anger Ham has towards his father and tries to convince him to kill Noah. While this is happing, Noah is in constant question about why his family is allowed to live. He comes to the conclusion that they must die as well and the family line must not continue. This affects the family when Ila discovers she is pregnant. Noah declares that if the child is a boy, he will be the last man to live on earth but if the child is a girl, Noah will kill her.

Of course audiences will have trouble with the events mentioned above that take place throughout the film due to how they are not a part of the scripture or vary from the scripture. This is why audience expectations and how Noah should be viewed is important to discuss. First and for most, Noah has to be seen for exactly what is. Noah is a film, nothing more, nothing less. As basic as it sounds, a film is a form of art that usually has a primary goal of entertaining (making money over anything else is probably number but that’s an issue for a different write up). In order for Noah to do this, for it to entertain as many people as possible, it has to take artistic license. Which leads to the question, should there be certain things that film should not touch? Should artistic license be taken when it comes to the Bible? While the Bible features direct words from God, it also requires some interpretation. For films sake, interpretation can be related to conflict. Of course the Bible focuses on conflict but is it conflict suitable for film?

Noah for example creates conflict not in the scripture. The scripture doesn’t go into what happens with the family when on the ark. A film has to have something happen, it needs some kind of issue so of course, Noah creates some type of conflict. The thing to remember here that this is a interpretation from man for the purpose of film. It is important to keep this in mind or one will not be able to see the film in a fair manor. The debate on whether or not scripture should be adapted into film could and will go on forever. Scripture wasn’t written to be adapted into film but that doesn’t mean that adapting into to film isn’t all that bad. Of course, a film could twist scripture to where it is completely disrespectful and detrimental and although there is no question that it takes major artistic license, Noah still has some amount of respect for the scripture. Because of this, a film such as Noah, bring a discussion about scripture and the word of God which may not be case if a film doesn’t put these things into focus.

Noah also allows for thought to be put into how God speaks to someone and how that person perceives it. The scripture never really says that Noah questioned God or his faith wavered when God told him that he was going to flood the earth. Again in a way of interpreting how Noah reacted to God’s orders, the film does show that Noah has trouble fully accepting God’s word. Nobody’s knows what Noah actually thought, but him being only human, it is possible to believe that Noah would struggle some with God’s word. I do not question that Noah was a man God but faith isn’t always an easy thing to digest. Imagine God telling you that he was going to flood the earth, killing everyone but you and your family. Think of all thoughts that would be racing through your head. God had a plan for Noah, he had to trust that but as a human he was still going to have fears and doubts. Although Noah could be more up front about Noah being a strong man of God and that Noah and his family being saved from the flood was solely Gods decisions and not Noah’s, it at least is somewhat realistic about how as human and sin being a natural part of the human condition, questioning God is natural.

Like I said Noah is a film. It has to be taken that way. It’s neither a visual version of scripture nor a piece that totally disregards scripture. As a film it is technically hard to take your eyes off of it. Visually, Noah is beautiful as well has engaging. Whether it be a great portrayal of the sin that had taken over God’s earth, a gigantic forest sprouting out in front of your eyes or even a story about God creating the earth, Noah will have your attention. Mix this in with the thought that Noah provokes and the film becomes very difficult not to think about long after you leave the theater.

Grade: C+