Noah

Biblical Noah has made me anticipate a totally epic movie since the very beginning of that project. Actually, the story itself is the best and the most essential story of it all, with pure good and pure evil facing one another. All of this has been getting prepared by possibly the most interesting director of the present time – Darren Aronofsky. Would you expect anything else than an epic movie? I probably wouldn’t. And maybe that’s also why I had to get used to this movie for the first twenty minutes. During that time, I was able to recall reading some articles about Darren having some issues with this movie and the producers forcing his hand or crossing out many of his scenes. But that’s when I was able to get used to the metaphorical conception of this movie. I also got used to the absolutely beautiful Icelandic sceneries, which seemed to resemble the Moon’s landscape. I also enjoyed the awesome music by his go-to composer – Clint Mansell. And I certainly can’t forget about Noah himself – Russell Crowe. It all started to blend a little and after the uncertain beginning came the biggest preparation for the greatest catastrophe in the history of mankind. Throughout the last 40 minutes, it even kept on building up in such an amazing way that only Aronofsky can do nowadays. It doesn’t bother me that this is actually the most classic case of revenge, disappointment and human qualities as such. I enjoyed the beautiful shots, such as when Noah’s silhouette is facing the dawn of the sun, the time-lapse sequences or shots of the whole animal kingdom coming to the Ark. Such scenes are simply unforgettable. Just like this movie is unforgettable to me – even though it’s not perfect, but neither is the Ark story itself. (04/01/2014)

Animals and Manicheans. How do you combine a disaster feature film of biblical proportions with an intimate drama about a father / sons relationship, succession and the moral implications of being "chosen" by the Creator? It’s labor-intensive. Noah alternates between the successful tricks, but at the core ordinary "big compositions" on the border of post-apo, fantasy and new age screensavers with very intimate positions. These are characterized by Darren's precise work with detail of faces and Libatique's contact-raw filming. The first half, which ends with the epic battle of the Ents with the goblins, offers more flashes of attraction, which the more cohesive second half surprisingly takes advantage of. The intimate drama on a schooner full of sleeping animals and Old Testament cruelty has intensity, overlap, and a wonderful thing called the Russell Crowe factor (considering that at one point he plays Noah, Abraham, and himself, it's a gargantuan performance). It is a pity that another dove of peace in the epic breadth of the post-catastrophic landscape kills the impressive catharsis in the form of a gesture, and also the discovery that the whole metaphysical framework of the "creator" is in fact more of a purposeful machination ensuring that "fantastic" things happen in the first half, whilst in the second half heaven is significantly silent and impressively torments the hero. Unfortunately, Noah's message is New-Age banal, i.e., "treasure all living beings, respect them, and multiply in the love that exalts us above innate evil." Noah simply sways between shallow spiritual pop-up and unexpectedly good details. P.S. The greatest miracle of creation is just Divine Emma, isn't it? [60%] (03/26/2014)

If you make a film that is full of religious themes, you have to expect negative reviews, and Noah is a prime example of that. I was used to getting powerful and evocative dramas that could tear me apart, were made on lower budgets, from Darren Aronofsky, so I was very excited to see Noah, which in many ways is a departure from the director's previous films. I'm a non-believer and only superficially familiar with biblical stories, so Aronofsky could have shown me what he wanted and I would have bought it. Personally, I was quite surprised by the presence of stone giants, which had a purposeful use in the story. The narrative was a bit chaotic at times as it jumped from topic to topic, but it wasn't that distracting. The cast was likeable, the visual effects were of a high standard, which is expected of a film like this, and Clint Mansell's music seemed to me to complement rather than stand out (like in Requiem for a Dream). All in all, a film that could have been better, I admit, but I personally enjoyed it, so as a viewer I'm happy with the overall result. (03/30/2014)

The crossover to feature film was a success. Aronofsky relishes in mirroring today’s humanity with the descendants of Cain. Dream sequences and trippy tales from the first chapters of the Bible, maintains the same fascinating effectivity that glues the viewer’s your dry eyes to the screen. Russell is excellent, his acting hasn’t been that good for a long time and he handled the work that his Noah has to perform with flying colors. The purpose of building the Ark is a little bit different here, almost turning the picture into a thriller toward the end and giving it a depressing aura only dispersed by Watson at the end. Lots of people fault Darren for selling out to Hollywood, but I can’t sincerely imagine that anyone else would have filmed a better Noah. Or that it wouldn’t have been so distinctive. I have nothing to fault (maybe Noah’s shaved nut, that was a bit extreme). Too little controversy? Not shocking enough? Too biblical? For God’s sake... You’re saying I don’t I have to do it?! (03/30/2014)

Noah is a historical epic without a clear target audience, combining pop elements from family fantasy movies with depressing psychological scenes in which the blade of a knife hovers above a toddler’s head. Ugh. It is visually beautiful with incredibly contradictory content. It’s been a long time since I saw film that I so much don’t want to see again. (04/03/2014)