Noah (2014)

Noah is chosen by God to undertake a momentous mission before an apocalyptic flood cleanses the world.

Director:

Darren Aronofsky

Writers:

Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel

Stars:

Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Russell Crowe	...	Noah
Jennifer Connelly	...	Naameh
Ray Winstone	...	Tubal-cain
Anthony Hopkins	...	Methuselah
Emma Watson	...	Ila
Logan Lerman	...	Ham
Douglas Booth	...	Shem
Nick Nolte	...	Samyaza (voice)
Mark Margolis	...	Magog (voice)
Kevin Durand	...	Rameel
Leo McHugh Carroll	...	Japheth
Marton Csokas	...	Lamech
Finn Wittrock	...	Young Tubal-cain
Madison Davenport	...	Na'el
Gavin Casalegno	...	Young Shem

Storyline

"In the beginning, there was nothing." So starts this version of the story centered on Noah (Russell Crowe), the man entrusted by God to save the innocent animals of Earth as the rising floodwaters cleansed the planet of mankind's evil. As the telling continues, we learn how Adam and Eve's sins have passed down through generations through their sons Cain and Abel, and how the descendants of their righteous sibling Seth were entrusted with defending creation. One day, while foraging in the country, a descendant of Seth, Noah, sees his father slain by a descendant of Cain. In the process, Noah's birthright is stolen from him. Decades later, as a father of three, Noah experiences a vision foretelling the great flood that will wash over the Earth, destroying every living thing that stands on the soil. That vision leads Noah to seek out his grandfather, Methuselah (Sir Anthony Hopkins), in order to understand his mission. When a second vision reveals that Noah is to construct a massive ark...

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Plot Keywords:

water | wrath of god | based on biblical story | ark | noah's ark | 

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Taglines:

A look into the future of humanity by looking into the past.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and brief suggestive content

Did You Know?

Trivia

Emma Watson and Logan Lerman appeared in The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012). Emma Watson, who is English, had to speak in an American accent for Perks. Logan Lerman, an American, had to speak with an English accent for this movie.

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Goofs

The amount of dirt/sand on Noah's face (for example, his nose) after he is helped up from lying face down on the beach changes between shots.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Lamech: From Adam to Seth, Seth to Enosh, Enosh to Kenan, Kenan to Mahalalel to my father, Methuselah, then to me. Today, that birthright passes to you, Noah. My son.

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Crazy Credits

Besides the title of the movie, there are no opening credits

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Connections

Referenced in The Comfort Zone: Christian Bale's "Exodus" Movie (2014)

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Soundtracks

Mercy Is
Written by Patti Smith & Lenny Kaye
Performed by Patti Smith & Kronos Quartet
Patti Smith performs courtesy of Columbia Records
Kronos Quartet performs courtesy of Nonesuch Records

User Reviews

Peter Jackson Meets Peter Watkins Meets James Lovelock

I was really looking forward to this for one reason and one reason only . The director Darren Aronofsky is just about the most interesting director working today . He doesn't always hit the bullseye but he did direct REQUIEM FOR A DREAM one of the very few films I would describe as a masterpiece and he really upset an uninformed audience who went in to BLACK SWAN thinking it was going to be a high brow film featuring ballet as its theme . Indeed the only time I've seen audience members walk out in obvious disgust was during a screening of BLACK SWAN . With a title like NOAH one wondered Aronofsky might have the same effect on Christians . This is a film that promised to be controversial and as soon as preview audiences saw it there was a very sharp divide between love and hate . Interesting that it had an average rating of 8.8 then quickly started falling as people on this site gave it bad reviews . One can't help thinking there's a campaign by religious believers who seem angry at this film because it deviates from scripture . As an anti-theist my only reservations before seeing it were that the trailers looked like it was inspired by Peter Jackson's version of Tolkien

The bad news is that we've got Peter Jackson meets Peter Watkins meets Professor James Lovelock . NOAH is a heavily religious film as you might expect but not in the way you're expecting . From the outset we're told that the tribe of Cain have built " industrial cities " and it's this that has brought " the wrath of the creator " . It's not the religion of the Abrahamic cult but the cult of environmentalism and Gaia theory . The subtext is so obvious that it doesn't qualify as subtext because it's far too blatant . Noah and his family are all vegetarians who don't eat meat while the villain Tubal-Cain does because .... well he's the bad guy . Actually this is the major failing of the film . There's no one to root for because the screenplay is an absolute mess . Tubal Cain shows signs of Darwinian practicalities by eating animals in order to survive but there's no real in depth psychological analysis to the character . He wants the Ark because the story needs a villain and is so overdone you're surprised why the other characters can't see through him . . Noah isn't any better because he's an animal loving psychotic misanthrope . Can you think of any obvious society full of nature loving animal loving psychotic misanthropes ? I'll give you a clue . It was a Central European country built on Neo-Pagan ideals that used an ancient Sanskrit symbol and lasted from 1933 to 1945 . 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 . And the good news he's reigned in some the excesses that made me hate THE FOUNTAIN . Yes it owes a lot to Peter Jackson but Aronofsky recognises the strengths of Jackson when he made the LOTR trilogy . We see beautiful locations that captures the bleak brutal beauty of nature throughout the film and some of the cinematography is genuinely stunning . The cast are rather uneven which is hardly surprising considering the screenplay and an audience will find their performances divisive , none more so in Crowe . Connelly is rather bland , Winstone is rather one note and is ...well Ray Winstone .love him or loathe him . By far the best performance is by ,Emma Watson as Ila who might have been a mere cypher or plot device and yet manages to flesh out her role without being showy in any way .

In summary NOAH might just fall in to a" flawed masterpiece /interesting failure " camp . It's an extraordinarily beautiful looking film that I'll buy on DVD and one hopes it'll be up for Best Director , cinematography and score when the Oscars come around but since it's been released in the Spring the studio don't seem to have much ( Pardon the pun ) faith in it and it'll be quickly forgotten . While the visuals deliver it does have a very sententious , sombre confusing screenplay that feels the need to both shout at and talk down to the audience . Whatever the flaws of this film it still showcases the talents of Aronofsky and here's to the future and whatever it brings

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Facebook [Australia]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Noah

Filming Locations:

Iceland

Box Office

Budget:

$125,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$43,720,472, 30 March 2014

Gross USA:

$101,200,044

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$359,200,044

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, New Regency Productions, Protozoa Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1