Noah has
been banned in Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and in Egypt. Paramount
Pictures test-screened three
different cuts of the film to Christian audiences, all of whom hated
it. Moreover, it hasn't picked up much positive praise at all, in
religious circles or otherwise. This is rather surprising as,
conversely, Noah is as
about un-biblical as a biblical epic can be.
From
its opening sequences, it's obvious that Noah isn't
going to be an end-of-term DVD choice in every R.E. teacher's
arsenal: it deviates from its source text to such a great extent that
it has more in common with the sci-fi genre than a religious epic.
Starring Russell Crowe in the titular role and Emma Watson as his
adopted daughter, the film is, first and foremost, bonkers. Indeed,
it is so ludicrous and frenzied that any sense of a serious religious
or moral subtext is, ironically, drowned out.
The
action takes place in an unidentified land where humans have
corrupted the Earth and our hero Noah receives instructions from the
Creator (the word 'God' is never used in the film) to build an ark to
save the creatures of the planet when the floods come to cleanse the
world of evil. So far, pretty standard biblical fare. Where it
departs from this narrative – and I'm no Biblical scholar – is
when fallen angels arrive on the scene in the form– rather
bizarrely – of rock monsters with glowing eyes and voices which
sound like Brian Blessed through a sub woofer. Throw in a few animals
which could be straight out of The Lord of the Rings and
the whole thing becomes rather bemusing. Add in a lot of shouting,
Russell Crowe's every-changing hair style and some battle sequences
and you've got a very confused film.
Crowe's
performance is somewhat disengaging. One minute, he's the saviour of
the world (quite literally) and the next he's a manic and
self-destructing murderer, intent on wiping out the human race at any
cost. I'm not even sure the audience are meant to like him. Any
empathy which can be given lies with, instead, his wife (superbly
played by Jennifer Connelly) whose emotional turmoil and outpourings
of grief give the only sense of humanity to the character of Noah.
Emma Watson is fine, but her role – along with the other female
characters – felt a little underwritten. Ray Winstone is just about
convincing as the bad guy Tubal-cain, intent on surviving the floods
and Anthony Hopkins (for it is he) plays Noah's grandfather
Methuselah.
Whilst
the story of Noah and the drowning of millions was never going to be
an easy narrative to translate to film, for a 12A, I was surprised by
its graphic and, at times, very harrowing moments of death and
destruction. The rousing score by Clint Mansell complemented the
impressive visuals which director Darren Aronofksy clearly spent much
time developing. All in all, however, the film doesn't know quite
what it is or what audience it is playing to.
In
the end, the biblical references feel like they have been shoe-horned
in, the script is far from perfect and the total ridiculousness of it
all will leave many feeling alienated. The countries mentioned at the
beginning of this review really shouldn't get so worked up: in many
ways, the only thing the film shares with its source is lots and lots
of water.
Clapperboard Rating: * * *
