Noah (2014)

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Cast: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman

Noah is Aronofsky’s attempt to hybrid his brand of comparatively complex film-making with a mainstream, commercial style.

In hindsight, “Noah” was a 'queer adaptation' of a well-known, straightforward apocalypse story—loaded with heftiness and ostensible profundity, yet enjoyable. 

Some critics would just go ahead and criticize Aronofsky for this pseudo-intelligent film, while some would appreciate his attempt. And, of course, there will be obvious objections from some religious sects. Takes some courage to do something of this sort and serve it to the masses; fortunately, the result at box office seems quite satisfactory. 

Noah is definitely not the best Aronofsky, but a good initiative to introduce the masses to another artistic style of film-making. Striking imagery aided by Aronofsky’s trademark hip-hop montage, impressive background research (a director is allowed some creative leeway), and a strong performance from Russell Crowe, Emma Watson, add to the film.

Side note: Theater I usually visit is always packed to capacity for ‘Anderson/Lin/Bay’ brand of films (that’s obviously what most go for when seeking sheer entertainment) and almost empty for, say, ‘Lynch/Malick/ Bergman’ brand of films. 

Noah, with its rousing trailers, brought in the masses alright and got them cerebrating too. This group of school/college going students was the perfect example. They started out like “what the hell is this!” (on NOT finding the fully fledged action-adventure the trailers promised). By the end, though, group was more than satisfied and appreciated/debated the little bit of symbolism that was there in film.

7.5/10