This movie is going to cause a fuss. It’s not great, but it’s good. It is the job of the critic to put aside one’s private prejudices and recognize when good art is made. Darren Aronofsky’s new Bible epic Noah — I can’t believe I’m saying this — is good art.
The film is provocative, elegant, bold, gritty, dark, and beautifully done. As anyone could have predicted, it has caused a stir among those who believe the film is about real events (Christians). I’m not a Christian, so I cannot speak too much about its controversy, but after watching it, I have a fair idea of what the objections might be. I know Genesis and don’t remember giant rock monsters helping Noah build the ark.
I confess that I went into the theater biased. I love Aronofksy and his filmmaking (he has directed some of my favorites), but I wasn’t sure why he decided to make a big-budget Bible story. Haven’t Bible movies come and gone from popular cinema?
Aronofsky went against form. He decided not to market his new movie as a dark indie, but instead, as a sweeping, CGI-heavy epic, which was a bit upsetting. The latter approach appeals to conservative audiences, which can’t be Aronofsky’s fan base. After years of loyal support from us indie snobs who loved Requiem For A Dream, The Wrestler, and Black Swan, it was jolting to see him pander to Christian Hollywood.
But maybe it wasn’t pandering at all. Branding Noah as a Christian epic brought audiences who were surprised to see that, from the opening credits, Noah is — thank god — an Aronofsky movie. It is truly a subversive trick. Get them in, piss them off.
The opening sequence shows a fish evolving into an ape. Russell Crowe plays a deeply flawed, brutally human, vegetarian Noah, a character who proves to embody the angry, obstinate, and ultimately self-destructive prototypical zealot with violent faith. His performance is matched in power by Jennifer Connelly, his wife.
The film may be one of Aronofsky’s best, so long as you view it and its source material as a fable. If you’re looking for an exact rendition of the Bible story, you’re going to be disappointed and probably angered.
Aronofsky knew his film would cause heat. Good art is meant to provoke, not instruct, but try telling that to Rick Warren and the Bible brigade. To be safe, he added a disclaimer at the end of the theatrical trailer after Christians expressed outrage.
Religion is the enemy of art. It stifles its creation and casts out its makers. Millions of people across the world will hate the film because of their religion. They will see Noah, like the material it pays tribute to, as an offering of truth. In doing so, they will fail to see what it is: a thriller led by good performances and gorgeous cinematography, a fable of human cruelty, a codified animal-rights polemic, and an epic about the complicated and poisonous relationship between god and man.
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