The Movie Noah

By: Peter Santandreu

The 2014 film Noah, directed by Darren Aronofsky, is a modern adaptation of the classic biblical story found in the Book of Genesis. Catholic News Services’ review was less than enthusiastic and they ended up giving it an A-III rating which makes it acceptable for “older teens.” Bishop Robert Barron, who is a known popular Catholic film commentator, notes that the movie “preserves the biblical logic of the story of Noah.” I would like to focus the aspect of bringing the story into the 21st century and what that means for how we understand the bible.

First off, if you haven’t seen it, I recommend you do. Love it or hate it, the only way to really form an opinion is to see it for yourself. When you do see it, one thing to keep in check are your expectations. If you come to the film hoping to see a line by line recreation of the biblical account, you will be sorely disappointed. Noah does not follow in the tradition of The Ten Commandments (1956). While it gets its start from biblical inspiration, the movie takes on a very modern feel. With the inclusion of fallen angels known as “Watchers,” a strong environmental responsibility undertone, and an angst-ridden Noah debating whether or not to kill off his grandchildren, the film has a very different flavor from what one finds in Genesis. All this, however, should come as no surprise from the man who also directed Requiem for a Dream (2000) and Black Swan (2010).

Even the biblical story itself can be seen as a sort of “updating” or “adaptation” of earlier account of the same nature. The Noah story of Genesis is not unique among Ancient Near Eastern texts. One account, dating from the 18th century B.C., known as Atra-Hasis, provides the ancient Babylonian creation and flood story. The difference in this story is that the gods created human beings as a slave class to do the work they didn’t want to do. Once the human race became too numerous and made too much noise, a great flood was sent to eliminate the nascence. In all of this, one family was chosen and given specific instructions on how to build a boat that would get them through the flood. If this sounds familiar, it should.

It has been theorized that the Genesis account fits itself into this tradition of creation-flood stories but with an intentionally different emphasis. The Israelite account does follow the same formula but paints a picture of a humanity created out of love and a God who is more bothered by evil than the constant bother of his creation. God decides to flood the world, pressing the “reset” button as it were, and focus his care on one family that has proven to be righteous. The point is that whenever we see a creation-flood story we should think of it in terms of a template that can be used to express one’s understanding of human origins and the nature of God. This, I think, is exactly what Aronofsky realizes and uses to express his own meditations on the world.

In the movie Noah has received an indication from God that there will be a flood to end the wickedness of humanity and that he is the one who is to survive it with his family. Once Noah realizes this it becomes his obsession. This vision, however, is taken a little too far when Noah begins to believe that God’s plan was to end all humanity including his family after their natural deaths. The situation is complicated when Noah’s daughter discovers that she is pregnant. Is Noah ready to take the lives of his grandchildren to fulfill what he believes is God’s desire? Prayer seems to be worthless as Noah has entered into a dark night of the soul and is left unaided by any further visions or directions from God.

At this point some may wonder why God is so silent. The God of the bible account seems to be guiding Noah by the hand through the 40 days but here he is nowhere to be found. What Aronofsky portrays here is the reality of many people’s experience. Here is the age-old question of God’s silence and why he seems so far away when we need him the most. In the end Noah is able to make the right choice as love is shown to conquer all (is this not what we believe when we read 1 John 5:8?). Perhaps Aronofsky would like us to be more aware of the subtle ways God answers our prayers, not in grand visions of light, but through the presence of the Holy Spirit inside each one of us — our ability to give and receive love.

All in all, whatever your feelings are about “messing with the text,” I believe that there is something more going on here that helps us to understand the very nature of biblical storytelling. This is not to say that the stories are not true but that they may not be historically factual. Once we can start seeing ancient myths in the mode of pre-formed templates that act as vehicles to transport one’s understanding of God and humanity, it will be easier to deal with biblically-based movies that add their own twist. Here Aronofsky seems to use the Noah story as a means to talk about the environmental crisis and the reality of a sometimes seemingly silent God.

As for the “Watchers,” they come from an ancient Jewish source called Jubilees and not, as some have thought, out of thin air.

Peter is a Seminarian studying at Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, NY and will be at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish for pastorial experience until June 2016. Peter grew up in Hamburg, NY. Following graduation from St. John Fisher College, he spent two years as a volunteer doing missionary work at an Argentinian orphanage where he learned to speak Spanish. He later earned a M.A. in Theology St. Michael’s in Toronto.