Noah

Plot synopsis:
A prelude tells the beginning of the Book of Genesis. In the beginning, there was nothing. Then God created the world as well as man and woman. After Adam and Eve created sin, they had three sons - Cain, Abel, and Seth. After Cain killed Abel, he took refuge under the eyes of fallen angels called the Watchers, giant multi-armed stone golems. The Watchers helped Cain and his descendants build an industrialized civilization, but the wickedness of man spread throughout the world. Only the descendants of Seth would be left to restore mankind.The story begins with Noah shown as a young boy, standing on a hill with his father Lamech . Lamech is about to give him a precious heirloom - the skin of the original serpent from Eden, which has been passed down for many generations. Suddenly, a large crowd approaches, led by a young king named Tubal-Cain (Ray Winstone), who wants to make that hill into a mine. Seeing Lamech, Tubal-Cain kills him and takes the serpent's skin, while Noah runs.Many years pass. The adult Noah (now played by Russell Crowe) is living with his wife Naameh (Jennifer Connelly) and his three sons, Shem (Douglas Booth), Ham (Logan Lerman), and Japheth, when he sees a small miracle: a drop of water hits the ground and a flower grows instantly. That night he has a dream where he sees the mountain his grandfather Methuselah lives on, and water covering the Earth. He realizes that the Creator is trying to send him a message. He and his family journey to see Methuselah and seek guidance. Along the way, they find a group of recently killed humans, and among them, a girl that is wounded but still alive, named Ila (Emma Watson), and they adopt her. Some of Tubal-Cain's men find then chase Noah and his family, but cease pursuit as they are afraid to enter a dark region inhabited by the Watchers.It is recounted that the Watchers are friends of Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins) because he had once defended and saved them. They came to Earth to help the humans, but after learning from them, the humans tried to enslave and kill them. Attempting to flee, Methuselah aided their escape by fighting waves of human soldiers with a burning sword wielding tremendous power. One of them, Magog (Mark Margolis) rescues Noah and his family from the other Watchers, who distrust all humanity, telling Noah that he senses that Noah is a good man, like his father.Noah speaks with Methuselah and receives a seed passed down from the Garden of Eden. He plants the seed on a plain, and a great spring erupts from the earth - extending out as a great network of streams in all directions - and an entire forest grows around its source within moments. The miracle convinces the Watchers that Noah is chosen by the creator. Noah asks for their aid in the building of an ark, and they agree to help in the undertaking.Roughly eight years pass. As the Ark nears completion, animals are seen following the streams from across the land to the source of the great spring and begin arriving to the ark. They enter and settle into the ark and are put into a deep sleep by incense that Noah and his family prepare and dispense throughout the mighty vessel. Meanwhile, the surrounding lands have been running short on food sources and the humans, led by Tubal-Cain, are becoming exceedingly ravenous for flesh. A horde of about 200 men, led by self-declared king Tubal-Cain, approaches the Ark and threatens to storm it, but the Watchers force him to turn back.Noah realizes that his three sons need wives, and that Ila cannot serve because she is barren. He disguises himself and goes into the human camp in order to find three women, and take them into the ark. At the human camp, he sees humans being traded and apparently slaughtered for food, living in feral, crowded and filthy conditions. Stunned by the wickedness of Tubal-Cain's followers, Noah gives up the effort, becoming convinced that the Creator wishes for the entire human race to come to an end. Later in the forest near the camp, Methuselah blesses Ila and her barrenness is cured.Shortly before the rains start to pour, Ham decides to go to the camp himself and find a woman. He falls into a pit filled with the dead and encounters a frightened young girl named Na'el. She is willing to go with him, but as they run back to the ark, her foot gets caught in an animal trap. Noah comes to help but sees the human horde coming to raid the ark, so he forces Ham to leave her behind and save himself. Seconds later, the human horde reaches her and tramples her to death as it passes. All of Noah's family boards the ark except Methuselah, who chooses to die in the flood. As the ark is launched, all the Watchers sacrifice themselves fighting the endless human waves. As they die, they return to their original forms and are spirited skyward as their Creator forgives them. As the flood waters pour toward the ark and his remaining soldiers drown, a wounded Tubal-Cain seizes the opportunity to survive and crawls up a pathway to a high point of the ark, hacking his way inside the vessel where he is eventually found by Ham. The wicked old king plays on Ham's anger toward Noah for allowing Na'el to die. Outside, the family listens to the dying screams of those outside the ark. His family implores him to let some of them in, as they "have room," only for a weary Noah to reply that there is no room for them - that their fate was sealed.Ila wakes up, feeling ill, and goes to Naameh who deduces that she is with child. At this exact moment, the rains stop completely. Ila says it is because the Creator smiles upon the unborn child. Naameh, Shem, and Ila inform Noah of Ila's good fortune, but the patriarch rationalizes that the Creator's wish to destroy humanity also extends to his own family, who he initially thought would simply die of old age once the flood waters recede. He tells the family that if the child is a boy then he will replace their youngest as the last man, but if a girl is born, he will kill the child upon her birth, much to Ila's horror - believing this to be a test for him by the Creator of his faith and resolve to carry out the undertaking to completion. Not truly willing to do such a thing so much as feeling it is a duty to the Creator, a tearful Noah climbs to the top of the ark and asks for the Creator's counsel. Finding no answer, Noah resolves to do as he told his family. Meanwhile, Tubal-Cain finds aid from the naive Ham (eventually acquiring the boy's help in a plot to kill Noah) and Naameh makes one final, unsuccessful attempt to dissuade her husband.Many months pass. Ila, now near the end of her pregnancy, and Shem build a small raft to escape Noah's plot to kill their child. Noah discovers their plan and burns the raft. The shock causes Ila to go into labor. With Naameh's assistance, the terrified young girl gives birth to twin girls. Hearing the babes' cries, Noah pursues Ila to the top of the vessel. As Ila pleads for a moment to sing to the crying infants to pacify them before they die, Noah hears the song he once sang to Ila when young and frightened - then looks upon the girls and decides not to carry out the unspeakable task.Tubal-Cain has seemingly manipulated Ham into believing killing Noah is just and will be for the sake of Ila and Shem's offspring as well as vengeance for Na'el, so Ham lures Noah to the tail end of the ark on the pretense that the animals have awoken and have begun cannibalizing each other. As Noah and Tubal-Cain engage in a brutal fight, the Ark hits a mountain and Tubal-Cain is thrown through the shattered wall of the vessel, being greatly injured. As the king rises and attempts to finish off a similarly-injured Noah, a repentant Ham stabs Tubal-Cain in the ribcage, killing him.As the rest of the family begins making a new life for themselves on newly discovered land as the flood recedes, Ham decides it is time for him to leave, still angry at Noah for what happened to Na'el. Noah, believing he'd failed God, imbibes of wine and becomes a drunkard, living in a cave separate from his family. One day Ham finds his father lying naked and unconscious. He walks away, leaving Shem and Japheth to cover their father with a blanket. Ila confronts Noah on allowing his grandchildren to survive, telling him that perhaps it was the intent of the Creator to give him the choice of whether mankind should be saved or not. When she asks why he didn't kill the babies, Noah reveals he could feel nothing but love for the babies upon seeing them - allowing him to see the goodness in mankind. Noah decides to rejoin his family. He and Naameh reconcile in her garden and she forgives him.Later, the family stands atop a cliff face and Noah blesses them all as the beginning of a new human race. They watch as the Creator sends a rainbow from the sky, covering all of the Earth, signaling his promise to never destroy mankind again.

Tags: good versus evil, violence, psychedelic, murder, storytelling

Review:
That said, I was curious to watch it because I found it hard to believe that Darren Aronofsky would churn out a blockbuster without something of interest in it.The film wastes no time with adding flesh to the basic bones of the story and, if you're looking to get upset by the presence of fallen angel rock monsters, then the film serves them up to you right at the front.
I guess if you came to see a bible story then this may upset you since the bible does not mention these creatures, but for me coming to a film, I really don't care what characters it creates or devices it uses as long as they work.
As per the story, the message comes of the destruction of man and Noah along with his family and rock monsters, get to building an ark for the animals which will be saved to repopulate the world.
It plays it straight and sets it up and there are points where you are not sure who is the "good guy" here since Tubal-cain is really just trying to survive death, likewise the obsession of Noah of ending man's time on Earth and only leaving animals.
It doesn't work though because it doesn't go harder on this and instead of drawing us into the madness of his obsession and the terrible things he therefore stands by and watches, the film actually feels plodding and not entirely sure of itself throughout these aspects.
Some of the scenery and shots featuring animals were really cool, I found myself wishing for more (that is, more time spent on animals...and a closer look at different species as imagined by the creators of this film).Ray Winstone is a distinguished actor but I found his portrayal at times creepy, at times laughable, overall weak (how much of this was due to direction and/or other factors...not sure, when it comes to this film I didn't get a sense either way).
Naturally, when people see a film about a great flood, titled Noah, the automatic assumption is that it's a re-telling of the biblical story.
I believe most people who watch this film will recognise that something is deeply "wrong" in it's portrayal, but they're less likely to realise that the fundamental reason is because the director has flooded (pun intended) his movie with imagery and references based not in Christian theology, but Gnostic mysticism.
But as soon as I finish this review, I'll be dusting off my Magnavox for a quick game of Wipeout just to complete the sensation of time-travel.Acting: This film sports a strong cast with some of my favourite actors and most of them discharge their duties as well as might be expected given the script they're stuck with.
Actually Noah was nowhere near as bad as heard, and while very flawed and by far the worst film of Darren Aronofsky(with his others ranging from very good to outstanding) it did have some impressive things.
Douglas Booth is rather bland and too pretty-boy-model-like while Logan Lerman came across as wooden and forced, Ham could easily have been the character we related to but for that to happen I think the film could have expanded much more on his character arc and situation.
The story is also a bit of a weird one, and one that leaves more questions than answers, in a sense that it does feel like it doesn't quite know what it wants to be, there's some sci-fi, some action-epic and some character-driven study(which takes up the last act), all three of which with uneven results.
Noah is nowhere near as bad as a lot of the negative reviews have said and the stick it gets for not being close to the Bible is on the unfair side- in all fairness though Noah was advertised in a way that was suggestive that it was an adaptation of the biblical story when really it is the bare bones- but it does have a lot of flaws and could have been better considering how much talent was on board.
'Noah" is an imagining of the biblical story (not a reimagining because the Bible really doesn't have much to say about the flood story that people really want to know--he mechanics of it).My goal was to go into the theater considering this film to be separate work from the book (as I do with all films).
There was no real reason to use the title "Noah." I expected this movie to be an attempt to make a new and edgy adaptation of the biblical story of Noah that reflects current social conflicts.
People should stop to consider who they should adopt as role models and when people treat environmentalism as a religion bad things will surely happen but we're ordered to take the side of environmentalism and not to question it In the hands of a lesser director NOAH would have sunk at the box office but thankfully we are talking about Aronofsky .
If you truly believe one man built a boat and put a pair OF EVERY KIND OF ANIMAL on it while god flooded the entire world(something impossible even today, much less thousands of years ago) then yes this movie is not for you.
This movie actually treats the bible with more respect than it deserves and for those with an open mind this is about the best possible telling of the nonsensical Noah story..
Especially when the king of the land(Winstone at his most vile, representing the wickedness of our species) shows up with his army, threatening that if that boat is the only safe place, they will board it one way or another.Causing controversy from before anyone had watched it, this is a non-literal update-for-our-times take on the Bible story, that nevertheless seeks to engage with the same, genuinely universal, values – honestly, everything added here is not only critical to even make it a feature length drama(such as adding a present, physical form to the evil that is being drowned out, as it were), it serves to flesh out what was already there.
Not only are we beyond rescuing, the storm that will come will deliver water sorely needed to reinvigorate nature.This has everything we've come to expect from Aronofsky: solid production values in every aspect, with a solid, and nicely limited(so that there is room for them all to represent some element endemic to us Homo Sapiens, and this is very much a character study of our titular protagonist, and an examination of humanity) cast, a compelling Clint Mansell score, and, of course, amazing(and all with a distinct purpose, artistically) visuals(the desperation of a dying breed is one of the images that will stick with you, something that is in everything Darren has helmed), employing techniques not often seen in the mainstream, including silhouette(such as a brief and stunning extrapolation of Cain) and time-lapse photography(the construction process itself).
But when you see the final result of this dreary mess, maybe there's an actual serious reason that it hadn't been tackled before.Most people (myself included) are only going to watch this flick for the infamous "flood scene." But the movie tries so hard to be "something different" it wouldn't off came as a surprise if that scene didn't even come.
The "2 of every animal" stuff fills about 2 minutes of the flick, while the rest is like some tacky soap opera, crossed with a poor mans "Lord of the rings." Russell Crowe plays Noah, so that he can tick off another larger than life role from his check-book.
And Why do I feel like I'm drunk watching this thing?What would of maybe worked better as a family movie with some sort of important lesson (Please don't sin kids/Be bad kids) has instead been turned into a dark fairy tale that attempts to please everyone.
The Stories a shambles, Crowes "bad-ass" Noah is dislikeable, and the films overall poor special effects and over the top "everything" will leave most people bewildered when its all done..
The story of Noah lasts but a few pages in the bible, meaning Aronofsky had to creatively fill some space to produce a 2-plus hour film.Russell Crowe makes a fine Noah.
On the basis of being a "so bad it's good" movie, this one provides unintentional humor that makes it worth sitting through the whole mess.First, don't expect a coherent story, secular or biblical.
This is my first review on IMDb as I like to make my own mind up about a film and don't really read other peoples opinion but I felt so ripped off with this Movie I decided to type my thoughts.
One other big change that might upset purists is what's done to Noah and his family; the film contrives a huge drama out of their legacy, going so far as pushing them to odd and amoral directions that truly challenge our notion of what could have happened in this ancient story.All that being said, I felt the liberties with the story were warranted, because the film methodically creates many long threads of conflict and entwines them into one big braid of a plot that gives it momentum and drives the characters to their most logical directions.
On the contrary while the movie does highlight what is good about religion, at the end Russel Crowe's Noah goes into a state that warns of the dangers of religious fundamentalism and what such people are capable of doing.
He is the grandson of Methuselah (where did they pull that out of?); you know, the guy who lived 900 and some years (good old Anthony Hopkins) and apparently was some sort of conduit to God. Crowe/Noah builds the Ark, a giant box rather than the stereotypical ship with the little house on top that schoolchildren are used to.
The only reason I went to see "NOAH" and the only reason was it was directed by Darren Aronosky who's past work I loved Pi, The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain I was expecting with Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson to be captivated once again.
It ought not to be possible to make a dull movie out of the story of Noah and the Ark, but Darren Aronofsky has managed to do just that.
Jennifer Connelly looks very modern as Mrs Noah, and their sons, like the Giants and the Wicked People, seem to belong more to Middle Earth than to the time before Abraham.
Go watch this movie to see a beautiful film directed by an amazing director and let your imagination take you to a place where the world in flooded and you get to sit and watch front row center..
It had a lot of unexpected turns which I really enjoyed and I have an urge to read this segment from the bible now.So for a conclusion I will say this: The directing was great, acting was great (except for Douglas Booth, geez), soundtrack was amazing, cinematography was brilliant, visual effects was really good and the fact that they built that ark for real still shocks me.
Noah (2014) Director: Darren AronofskyConsidering that the Noah's Ark story is a fairly popular one and concise in its narration, I was quite interested in what Aronofsky was going to spin.Honestly, this movie didn't work for me.
For a Bible-believing Christian to get the most out of this movie you need to understand that up front.What the director has done with this beloved Biblical survival story is quite liberal to say the least (not that the source text gives us that much detail to start with).
If it makes you feel any better just think of the movie more as a Lord of the Rings-esque fantasy story that just happens to have some biblical names and a lot of animals in an ark rather than faithful adaptation of the more familiar Noah story.
You can even imagine that the story takes place on another planet or in a parallel universe if that makes you feel better.Once you get all that out of the way you can sit back and enjoy what the movie really has to offer.
Yeah, the story is really good, at least the parts that we all know so well—the flood, the feeling of starting over, the human angst, or even the idea that there was another (evil) civilization before the flood which is now lost.Director Darren Aronofsky is of course a creative force with a lot of admirers, and his films are always at least interesting.
He took a lot of money here and used some innovative special effects, and he tried to take a slim story (Noah and the Ark) and make it an over-long epic movie, which is daring enough.But it's not enough to spend a lot on special effects.
(If it looks like Iceland, it's because it is.) His wife is Jennifer Connelly, who is given lines of script to read that make her superfluous (like she'll offer a good suggestion and Crowe, as Noah, says no, let's do it this way instead).
With the help of The Watchers, fallen angels turned to stone for defying God for helping man, they build the Ark. But the king of men, Tubal-Cain (Ray Winstone) wants the Ark for himself and prepares for battle to take it.Noah is Aronofsky's biggest scale movie to date and it is allows for epic entertainment whilst allowing an auteur like him to keep his artistic integrity.
This is a more complex view of religion and God's will than in movies like God's Not Dead which is as subtle as a sledgehammer and only has one viewpoint.Besides the obvious religious themes Noah also tackles environmentalism as man recklessly mines and rips the land, stripping it bare for resources, killing any struggling animal for meat and leaving nothing but ash.
Mansell continues to supply excellent music and provides an epic score.Aronofsky easily steps up to large scale production, giving us a large battle in the middle of the film, moments of violence and works well with CGI, mixing it with the large set for the Ark. Aronofsky gives us some beautiful visuals, with the angels having a golden glow, visions of the Garden of Eden and the Watchers have a classic slow-mo look to them as they move with a jerky motion.Noah is not a film for everyone as the fundamental audiences of both the religious and atheist will dismiss the film as propaganda for and against religion, but it is a film that fans of Aronofsky will enjoy and it is a great addition to his filmography.Noah is not only Russell Crowe's second film about religious redemption and punishment, it is also his second film he gets to sing.
What was Russell Crowe thinking of choosing to appear in this garbage?Taking away the religious aspect of it and arguing whether its true or not (lol) and treating it purely as a fantasy movie I still don't see who could have liked it.Terrible storyline.Within 5 minutes I was hating it and nothing changed.What was it with the stone men, they look like something out of a movie 30 years ago.
With the CGI that was used throughout the movie, I thought a clear colorful rainbow could have be added into a scene but I guess the director/producer may have thought that a Biblical rainbow may offend a certain community that uses the rainbow for their cause.Post-modernism in full swing: a) Towards the end, Noah's daughter-in-law preached to him that his decision to love instead of obeying God sets the new direction for this new world.
This movie did none of those things.Some of the additions to the story were: It made mention of "watchers", supernatural beings (angels) who watched over Noah and his family.
Quickie Review:Noah is a new epic that is based on the biblical story, and helmed by director Darren Aronofsky.
Noah must now build an ark with his family to save the innocent (all wildlife other than mankind).I'll start off with some things that I did like about this movie.
Didn't like it.More like the Hobbit meets Transformers,i mean walking rock creatures and men battling each other as if on the cliffs of Mordor.I was waiting for Gandalf to appear,but instead settled for Russel Crowe.You cannot tell me this is one of Russel Crows stellar performances.While the movie does have a good cast much is left to be desired.That being said it was not so much the actors fault as much as the script itself digital effects and just a bad script.If your watching for any historical biblical facts this is not the movie either.I don't believe the bible mentioning anything about cannibalism and famine during the time the ark was built.If its battle sequences your after stick with Gladiator the script to that movie was more realistic than the story of Noah.If its talking rocks and battle scenes that depict the end of the world then this might be the movie for you..
For a non-believer (in this particular version of the story of the world) - don't waste your time.If you just want to see a bad movie, watch this one.
If you want to learn anything about the Biblical story of Noah and the great flood, read the Bible or watch ANY other movie on this subject.Amazingly, my wife has made it through the entire movie with me, but somehow, I feel the movie had nothing to do with that..
In this film, the story of Noah is portrayed realistically.I implore you to go see this movie, but you must watch it with an open mind..
But if you take it for what it is you get an entertaining movie.Perhaps the most glaring departure are the large rock-like creatures that eventually protect Noah, his family, and the Ark as the bad people attempt to overrun it.