When I heard that there was a movie called Noah coming out this weekend, I was excited to see it.
I knew nothing about the movie except that Russell Crowe and Emma Watson were in it; so, going in I had no expectations, except that I would probably love Emma Watson regardless. As I watched the story from director Darren Aronofsky, though, I saw something that brought the biblical story I knew to life.
The movie outlines the journey of Noah (Russell Crowe), who lives in a wicked land with his wife Naameh (Jennifer Connelly) and children and is told by God that humanity will be destroyed in a flood. From there, Noah realizes that God wants him to build an ark for his family and two of each animal. The story, like the account in the Bible, spans over several years, with Noah’s children seen as young in the beginning of the movie and then seen as older, portrayed by Douglas Booth (Shem), Logan Lerman (Ham) and Leo McHugh Carroll (Japheth). On the way to visit Noah’s grandfather, Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins), the family sees a group of recently killed people and finds a wounded girl named Ila, who they adopt, and she grows up with the other siblings (played by Emma Watson).
Walking out of the movie last night, I really found myself impressed with the telling of the story of Noah for several reasons.
First, I enjoyed the balance between mercy and justice portrayed in the film and how Noah and his wife serve as foils for each other in those concepts. Noah is seen as someone who is very principled and justice-oriented. As soon as he receives word from God, he acts and is willing to complete the tasks asked of him, no matter how difficult. This is entirely biblical as Genesis calls Noah “a righteous man” who receives God’s favor.
As a side note, one aspect in Noah’s portrayal that I really enjoyed is that despite him being a righteous character, he is not a perfect character. He struggles with knowing what exactly God wants, especially when he discovers some unexpected news while on the ark. I enjoyed seeing such a human side of Noah. I think Christians too often paint biblical characters in a non-human, godlike light. However, that’s not accurate. The Bible is full of messy people, and that’s what makes it an encouragement: God can literally use anything or anyone and make it glorious and amazing. A verse that sticks out to me on this topic is 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” Noah is a simple jar of clay and God’s glory shines through him.
Continuing on this point, though, while Noah shows justice, his wife, Naameh, shows mercy in all aspects. She is the one who wants to see her sons live happily after the flood, while Noah is unsure that God wants mankind to continue. Also, when Noah is distressed by the hard choices before him, Naameh is always the voice of compassion that brings him warmth.
Another aspect that I found successful is how everyone in the movie calls God, “The Creator.” I find this to be an extremely reverent way to address God, especially when God doesn’t reveal that he is “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” until Exodus 3, long after the flood. While many critics want to claim that the film is seriously misguided because “it doesn’t mention God once,” it actually is right on point: showing so much respect for the God of the universe that it doesn’t even use his name, but rather uses “The Creator.”
In addition, I enjoyed the movie’s artistic depiction of the story. My favorite visual scene was the creation story, where Noah tells the account in Genesis of what God creates day after day. Critics have called this scene a depiction of evolution and dismissal of creationism, but I disagree. If you notice, right after the scene of the animals being formed one after another, there is a brief pause and then humans are seen in the Garden, golden and almost angelic looking. This shows that humans did not extend from the animals shown, but are another species all their own. Just because the creation scene isn’t something out of a traditional Sunday school book doesn’t mean it isn’t biblically inspired. It actually finds a very creative way to interpret Genesis.
Overall, I do understand that this movie took some creative liberties in telling the story of Noah, but how else do you make a text that is only 4 biblical chapters long into a cinematic narrative arc? The only stark differences I drew from the Bible and the movie are aspects that weren’t in direct contradiction to the text, but rather were aspects that the text doesn’t address.
For example, in the movie, Noah sees the corruption in the men around him and notices that he is flawed as well and thinks that humanity should end with him and his family. Genesis doesn’t mention this, so it’s really up in the air as to what actually happened. The text only says that “Noah did everything just as God commanded him,” which the movie portrayed. I think that Aronofsky had a good interpretation of how Noah must have felt. If in that situation, I could see myself thinking the same thoughts: I am just as flawed as these people; why am I here?
There are a few other parts present in the movie that aren’t mentioned in the Bible, but they aren’t contradictory to what actually could have happened in history. I won’t ruin it for you, but trust me, the director made some good choices in plot points.
Overall, to those who want to say that this movie is unbiblical because of the creative liberties Aronofsky took or non-Christian simply because it was made by an atheist, I disagree wholeheartedly. This movie left me inspired and wanting to go back to Genesis 6 through 9 to read the story of Noah. Movies, obviously, will never be the same as books and I think it’s time that the book enthusiasts (myself included) accept this and learn to love the movies for what they are: a mere artistic depiction of an even greater text.
