Noah

A thread of obsession weaves through Darren Aronofsky’s filmography, a recurrent strand entwined into his narratives with self-fulfilling determination. In five features over the past sixteen years, his protagonists have toiled in the pursuit of a single goal, their focus sustained by stubbornness but assuaged by external forces. Where Pi’s theorist honed in on numbers, Requiem for a Dream’s quartet subsisted on mood alteration. The Fountain’s fated couple firmed their sights on their connection, while The Wrestler’s mournful fighter and Black Swan’s single-minded ballerina were hardly shy about their points of fascination.

Tackling and transforming the tale known to all regardless of their religious leanings, Aronofsky’s Noah is another man in the midst of a mania for one task: fulfilling the purpose set for him by his creator. The most basic of details stay the same as every rendering of the character from Genesis onwards, the titular protagonist steeling his family for the worst wet weather imaginable. Embellishments of pure fantasy abound in an otherwise thoughtful script co-written with long-time producer and collaborator, Ari Handel, but all additions to the fold furnish the same outcome.

As a boy, Noah was a bystander as he became the last of his bloodline, his fellow descendants of Adam and Eve’s third son Seth cut down by the avaricious Tubal-cain of Cain’s ancestry. As an adult, Noah (Russell Crowe, Winter’s Tale), his meagre life with his wife Naameh (Jennifer Connelly, Stuck in Love), offspring Shem (Douglas Booth, Romeo and Juliet), Ham (Logan Lerman, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters) and Japheth (Leo McHugh Carroll, Fred Claus), and orphaned adoptee Ila (Emma Watson, The Bling Ring), is defined by a prophetic vision of watery devastation. Even as an old enemy (Ray Winstone, The Sweeney) bites at his heels, he remains certain that building an ark, populating it with pairs of every innocent animal species, and letting humanity wash away is his only option.

Like its eponymous figure, Noah branches beyond the expected with bold ambition and resolve, well served by its heavy tone of contemplation and contemporary attempts to recontextualise its mythology. Mood excels, as does artistry, the feature grounded in solemnity but illustrated with poetry. When the film briefly turns its gaze to intricately animated recreations of famed stories, it surges with both aesthetic and emotional beauty. Sparkling special effects and swooping camera work underscore the epic nature of a tale that has withstood the test of time, yet a sense of intimacy is interspersed in director of photography Matthew Libatique’s (Ruby Sparks) handiwork and the suitably erratic rhythm of Andrew Weisblum’s (Moonrise Kingdom) editing.

Striving as they may be, the feature’s achievements are tempered by the curse of all preoccupations: ample evidence of not just reaching, but overextending. Just as Clint Mansell’s (Stoker) score swells in all the right places but too blatantly signposts every change in mood or coming of trouble, the narrative proves more involving when philosophising then when highlighting its histrionics. Though weighted towards the effective, the performances suffer from the same variance, again faring better when restraint is needed. Crowe stands over his co-stars while offering a convincing portrayal of Noah’s conflict, stoic without overplaying his gravitas. Sadly, his co-stars – particularly Connelly and Watson, lumped with parts defined by their gender – show the requisite poise but aren’t afforded any chance for development.

Owning its fixation and its place of progression in Aronofsky’s back catalogue, Noah fares best in marrying its scribe and helmer’s sensibilities with thematically consistent material, bearing all the anticipated markers of his vision. The end result may waver, but the film tentatively earns the mantle of companion piece to his oft-overlooked The Fountain, playing out as a biblical interpretation befitting Aronofsky’s influence.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Release date: March 27
Distributor:  Paramount
Rated: M