THEMES
Next, let’s talk about the themes of Noah. I want to talk about them not just because there’s plenty to say, but also to dispel some misunderstandings I’ve seen when reading about the film.
First off, the film is not about Environmentalism. This is a common reading that I have seen, and even laughed at, from various corners of the Internet. Not to say there aren’t Environmentalist themes in the film, but rather that they aren’t an external message being pressed upon the audience by the director. Throughout the film, Noah and his family are presented as vegetarians. They only eat the fruits of the Earth and look down up the descendants of Cain for their excessive hunting of the beasts. There is even a scene at the beginning of the film where Noah’s son, Ham, picks a grouping of small flowers from the ground. When Ham does, he is corrected by Noah stating that “we should only gather what we need and what we can use.” He continues on that they are supposed to tend for the Earth and not ravage it without necessity. This is all reminiscent of modern Environmentalism that seeks to look down upon industry and for a more peaceful existence with the Earth. However, this is the story of Noah being told here and this must be viewed within context. The story of Noah is the fourth story told in The Book of Genesis of The Bible, after the Creation, the Garden, and the Murder of Abel by Cain. Viewing the film through the lens of The Book of Genesis up to the story of Noah, these Environmentalist themes are within strict allegiance to the text. In Genesis 1:29, it reads “And God said, ‘See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields see; to you it shall be for food.’” There is never any mention in The Bible during these chapters where God gives the beasts of the Earth over to man to be his food. Man is instead instructed to eat the fruits of the Earth and to “tend and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). The first mentioning in The Book of Genesis that instructs that man can eat of the beasts is after the waters have receded at the end of the Noah story; Genesis 9:3, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you.” So, within the context of The Book of Genesis, of which the Noah story resides, Noah’s view is not a modern leftist sensibility wedged into a Bible tale. It is rather a view pulled directly from The Bible itself. Now, this theme resonates even more strongly because of the opposing elements in the film, the descendants of Cain. It is not outside the realm of reason and interpretation to believe that the descendants of Cain, thrown away from God because of Cain’s murder of Abel and God’s curse to Cain, “When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you” (Genesis 4:12), that the descendants of Cain would further stray from God’s law by hunting and eating the beasts of the Earth. Noah is the descendant of Adam and Eve’s third child, Seth. The lineage of Seth is told through The Bible to have remained faithful to God in keeping his laws. So Noah, in the film, having such a staunch position is an accurate read of The Scriptures.
Since Environmentalism is not the theme of the film, what is the theme? The true theme of the film is extremely straight forward: Is Man worth saving? This theme is not just a theme pulled from The Bible, but it also one that resonates more strongly in today’s world than any other. With all of the horrors our world has experienced in the last hundred years or so, we often ask ourselves – outside of any religious pretense – Where are we headed? What’s happened to the world? Many even question whether humanity deserves to continue existing when it will only continue to create atrocity after atrocity, day after day. What story from The Bible resonates more strongly to those questions and fears than the one tale in which Man delved so deep into wickedness and evil that God decided to regret his creation of Man – “And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth” (Genesis 6:6) – and annihilate the evil from the face of the Earth? Noah is the perfect story to tell the world today. This theme is the through-line which connects all of the pieces of Noah together; although, through the power of artistic interpretation, this theme is taken to extremely dark places in the film. However, it is because the film gets so dark that allows it to become that much more rewarding by the film’s end. I will be discussing this topic in much greater detail later on so I won’t dwell here too long. I will simply say that the story presented in the film, taken as its own entity, moves through various phases in which Noah’s worldview turns bleaker and bleaker. We as the audience, through the power of Aronofsky’s approach, are able to surrender ourselves into his worldview as well. As we witness how vile and despicable the human race has become and Noah’s attempts to warn them of the coming flood and to repent for their sins – only to be laughed at and mocked, much the same as told in The Bible – we begin to judge for ourselves that mankind is not worth saving, that The Flood deserves to happen in order to start the world anew. At the end of the film, our human nature begins getting appealed to as well. We don’t truly wish death and destruction upon the world, we choose to believe that it can be saved and that things will somehow turn out better in the end. These are the opposing thematic elements dealt with in Noah, these are choices that both the characters of the film and the audience are forced to consider in watching the events unfold. I, for one, believe that Aronofsky completely sticked the landing on this one.
Finally, Aronofsky’s themes themselves, as presented in this work, which exist outside the narrative, are some to consider. For anyone who is an Aronofsky veteran, you probably have noticed that all of his previous films are based on two existing themes: obsession and self-destruction. In each of his films, his protagonists have some kind of obsession; whether it is outside substances (Requiem for a Dream), the refusal to let go of an ideal (The Fountain and The Wrestler), or the search for some ultimate goal (Pi and Black Swan). Throughout their journeys, going hand in hand with their obsessions, the protagonists of these films ultimately end up destroying themselves, thus showing the dangers of obsession. Aronofsky’s films themselves can also be viewed as works of obsession. Laboriously constructing every aspect of the film to be as perfect as he can, viewing his work as imperfect, and continually refining his skills and processes with each successive film until he feels that he has achieved his goal. Noah stands in an interesting dynamic with the rest of his oeuvre in that, the underlying themes are not obsession and self-destruction; they are rather about letting go of one’s obsession and redemption. The film ends in triumph, as the original story does, but the alterations made to film are what allow these themes to really come to light. By placing Noah into such a dangerous obsession during the second half of the film, we see the seeds of destruction being sown, we question what is right and what is wrong, we know what is wrong and we struggle while watching Noah spiral downward into his obsession. However, at the end of the film, Noah is able to let go of his obsession. He concedes to stopping his narrow minded pursuits in favor of following his heart. By letting go of his obsession he is able to rectify the damage (mostly) caused by his actions. However, the film remains grounded in that, not all damage done by unhealthy obsessions can be rectified; some last forever. It is a heartbreaking thing to realize but that is the nature of things. Aronofsky’s shift in his personal themes here makes an extremely strong impression upon the viewer. Granted you have to have seen his previous work to understand why this is important and to possibly even recognize it, but when viewed through the auteur theory, Noah is a revelation. Here is a director who has struggled with his themes for the past 15 years, continually modifying and enhancing them, finally letting go himself; finally turning the corner towards optimism and hope. There’s no better film that he could have made to both relay this shift and to completely symbolize his newfound views than Noah.
