Noah
Dear Friends,
Oh my goodness! I cannot believe I keep forgetting to post! There are so many thing happening in my life. Lots of ongoing adventures, but not the type that are conveniently photographed and shared. Hopefully, I will be better at posting more consistently after this month-long, unintended hiatus. I hope you are all well. Without further ado, here are some thoughts on the movie Noah:
Lately, the story of Noah has been on my mind. Why? Perhaps because of all the rain we’ve been having…or maybe because I belatedly started listening to the Bible in a Year podcast. Possibly both. I also have hagiography on my mind and depictions of Biblical characters is another tricky thing. Anywhoo, because Noah was on my mind, I re-watched the 2014 movie Noah. (Bear in mind, there will be some spoilers in the following.)
Altogether, it was a thought-provoking movie that lasted about a half-hour too long because the movie suffered from this-villain-won’t-die syndrome. There were a lot of really cool scenes (especially the story-telling scenes and the animals entering the ark), and one scene that I would change if possible.
There was a lot more environmental preachiness than needed. I’m all for saving the environment, but everyone is always talking about it and agrees that we need to take better care of the earth: so why do movies have a need to constantly remind us of the fact? The two great sins men were being punished for were: First, that they had destroyed the natural world and, Second, that they were destroying each other. I think those two should be reversed. The great sin is that humans are destroying each other and then that they are destroying the earth. There is a gut wrenching scene though, where you see absolute brutality both towards humans and animals. That is a terrifying scene and clearly illustrates that there was real evil being punished.
Other scenes are excellent at the various times. When the creation story it told, Noah’s voice over tells the story that we know of the First Day, etc.; but the scene that is shown is a time-lapse of the Big Bang, galaxies, the formation of the earth, water, plant life, and then the evolution of animals until humans appear glowing in the Eden.
The temptation is summed up and then the story of Cain and Abel is told. This scene is interesting because it also show cases how all following murders of brother against brother come from that first fratricide. If you just want to see this scene it is on YouTube here.
The scenes of the ark are also incredible. It is one thing to think, “Oh, the animals entered the ark two by two,” but it is another to see exactly what that meant. I particularly like watching the snakes entering the ark and sympathize entirely with Noah’s wife asking, “We’re bringing the snakes too?”
When the water comes and the ark is lifted, you can hear both the creaking of the ark’s timbers and the screams of terrified people outside. There are paintings of people climbing to the top of a mountain to escape the water and the ark is in the background, but something about seeing and hearing in film makes it more real and terrifying.
There is also a theme of mercy in this movie. Unfortunately, it seems to be inconsistently applied. Noah is merciful to Ila and (spoilers!) the babies, but not to Ham’s beloved Na’el (I think that’s her name). The movie would barely have had to change to allow Na’el to come onto the ark. So, if I could, I would change that. Instead of running up and not grabbing her, Noah would grab her and the movie would barely have to change at all.
Ultimately, this movie does affirm the goodness of human life despite the fact that we are fallen. It also showcases the brokenness of families, even good families. This is true of the original Noah story. There is the bizarre scene after the flood where Noah gets drunk, one of his sons “saw the nakedness of his father” and the other two very carefully didn’t (Gen. 9:18–27). The movie basically presents this scene as the words of the Bible tell it. But, the depth of human brokenness is deeper. In his podcast on this story, Fr. Schmitz notes that many (perhaps even some of the earliest) Biblical scholars believe that “seeing the nakedness of his father” is an ancient idiom that indicates a son’s attempt to assert his dominance over his father by sleeping with his father’s wife. None of that is shown or even implied in the movie. Ever since the Fall, families have been broken. Noah’s family in the Bible is broken, and Noah’s family in the film is also broken, though struggling in other ways.
The movie shows human brokenness, but it doesn’t clearly show the depths of human goodness possible. Nevertheless, the movie ultimately affirms that humans are good or at least can be good (though, it is not totally clear how they reach that conclusion from what we’ve seen). All of God’s creation is good; therefore, humans are good even if deeply broken.
Pax!
DS
