The story of Noah’s Ark was always one of the ones I found most inspirational when growing up. While the details are of were quite limited in the Bible to Genesis 5:32-10:1, there have been many who have speculated their version of what also might have transpired during Noah’s time. I recently saw one of those when I went to the theater and watched Darren Aronofsky’s version. The interesting thing I noticed within myself though was that I wasn’t feeling the inspiration I was hoping for when I left the theater that day after the movie had ended.
I really try to look for the good in everything and the movie Noah definitely had a lot of pluses. In fact, I do believe that Darren Aronofsky is an incredible writer and director. All of the films I’ve seen by him including The Fountain and Black Swan have been incredibly visionary on so many levels. The difficulty I have had though in watching any of his films is the darkness that is portrayed within each of them. Noah is no exception to that and while Aronofsky did bring his cinematic genius to the movie, my soul never once stirred with brightness during any point of the film.
I’m convinced that when I cry while watching any movie, whether it be tears of happiness and joy, or sadness and grief, that my soul is stirring within. Films such as Ghost, 42, The Notebook, Pretty Woman, Fruitvale Station, Gran Torino and so many others have done this very thing. I treasure those moments when a movie is able to make me cry, as I feel it connects me so much closer to the God of my understanding.
When I saw the preview of Noah a while back I was looking forward to seeing another movie that would most likely stir my soul again to tears. After all, the story of Noah in the Bible does that all by itself. Who wouldn’t be inspired if God appeared and called upon them for some great task that would not only save all the animals on the planet, but also be tasked to start the human race again? For me, the idea of floating out on sea in a huge ship of sorts, with all those animals, would have brought an incredible array of spiritual experiences. The movie Life of Pi is almost a small version of that on some level. Aronofsky chose to focus though on something entirely different in his portrayal of Noah.
Instead, his perceptive was centered more on a descendant of Cain and the evil left behind in his lineage that was said to have permeated the entire planet. Aronofsky chose to highlight the debauchery, fornication, and temptation of evil that came from that lineage throughout most of the entire film. He also brought in a fantasy element (the Watchers) that was reminiscent of something out of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. And he even portrayed Noah himself as an extremely controlling, and even somewhat of a homicidal man.
While I understand there wasn’t much source material to come up with a full-length movie, I had always pictured Noah as a peaceful man who loved all people and all creatures. On some level, I would have thought Noah was a complete pacifist who was opposed to any type of violence. But, I understand that’s my take on those few passages of Noah in the Bible while Aronofsky had his own idea of what took place back then.
It’s not my place to downplay the incredible work of art that the film Noah truly is, as much as it is for me to express my disappointment that I didn’t feel enriched by a movie that I truly thought would have stirred my soul. In a time and age where there is so much daily bloodshed, war, and violence, I treasure those brief moments in a dark movie theater where I can sniffle and wipe a tear away from my eye in peace. I welcome those moments where I get those God-bumps all over my body when I see something entirely uplifting on the screen. And I am entirely grateful for each of those movies that help me somehow to grow more spiritually after watching them. But sadly, Darren Aronofsky’s Noah wasn’t one of them as much as I wanted it to be.
I commend this writer and director though for beating to his own drum and developing his own work of art that spoke to him. On that level, he and I are no different. I just hope someday that someone will develop a movie about Noah that will portray a spiritual man in a much brighter light. Until then, I know there will be plenty of other movies that will continue to stir my soul and fill me with the love and light that I seek from God.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson