Noah - The Movie; Review

GREAT FLOOD
Russell Crowe has brought Noah to life in the movie. So; what is the movie like?
Noah highlights a number of issues.
It is accepted that a Great Flood occurred. Scientific evidence such as fossils, rapid burial of plants and animals and rapidly deposited sediment layers spread across vast areas exists.

CATACLYSMIC EVENT
The Movie - Noah - is a creative interpretation of the cataclysmic event. Both producers and actors explore the Biblical facts, attempting to fathom the rationale behind the event, as well as to dramatise Flood events
The movie highlights that there is a God, a Creator, with whom humanity and certain angels alike suffered a break in relationship. Noah further highlights that the relationship breakdown occurred in the symbolic events surrounding the Fall.  This fracture in relationship surrounded events linked to a powerful Fallen Angel symbolised as the snake.

GOD AND NOAH
Noah goes on to highlight that God contacted Noah to put before him the plan to build a place of refuge from death for animals and Noah's family - the Ark.
The film movingly portrays the fact that Noah had to exercise his own faith and human judgement in the decisions he had to make. It also emphasises that God did not simply give Noah all the answers to the dilemma, but allowed Noah to pray and communicate with him and exercise his own human free will in making the decisions which led to human life still being extant today.

FALLEN ANGELS
The issue of fallen angels is explored by Noah. The movie highlights that Angelic beings called the Watchers exist (Genesis Chapter 6, verses 1 - 22; Daniel Chapter 4 verse 13; Daniel 4;17). The Book of Enoch also spoke in detail about the Watchers. The issue of forgiveness for fallen angels (symbolised as apparently Stone Golems in the movie) is explored.
The Movie explains the events from the Torah, the Bible, that animals and members of humanity were saved from death in the Flood.
The Movie Noah shows that humanity is capable of deep wickedness towards each other and animals. It also portrays that humanity is capable of great sacrifice, nurture, tenderness and love towards each other and animals. Thus Noah marvellously portrays the dichotomy of which human nature is capable of, and of the necessity of turning towards the Creator to meld our inner selves into the beings we were meant to be before the regrettable Fall of Humanity took place.

LUMINOUSLY PORTRAYED
The acting is sublime. Watching the expressions in the eyes of Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins and Jennifer Connolly is a privilege. The emotions and the best of humanity - love, tenderness, compassion, searching for the right decision, integrity and mercy - are luminously portrayed through their windows of the soul.Truly they are masters of the art.

MICROCOSMIC NOAHS
Today we look out at our world, each from our home or non-home on the street, we are all microcosmic Noahs. Today the same challenge that faced God and Noah at that faraway historic time faces us;
The struggle within ourselves between good and evil. The ease of despair and the difficulty of hope and integrity. The need for family values to underpin our struggling and oft-times broken areas of society.

WONDERS OF HUMANITY
We also see the same wonders of humanity that God does. The never-ending freshness and wonder of new love. The strength and wonder of mature love, when, after betrayal and all the manifold mistakes we humans are capable of making, a couple forgive past hurt and forge a deeper relationship built on love and start all over again. (This, to me, was beautifully portrayed by Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connolly near the end of the movie, when Russell helped her with her digging; and with their simple touch of their hands leading to luminous embrace, they spoke a conversation asking for, and receiving, forgiveness - that did not need words). We see the wonder of vibrant near cosmic birth time, when the earthly elderly rejoice in the simple pleasures of this earth that God gave us, accept that all the lessons in this present life have been learned, and ready for birth into the next life in Eternity. (This was beautifully portrayed by Anthony Hopkins as he embraced - not rejected - the Flood as he enjoyed the simple blessing of a berry from God's Creation).

The Movie portrays The wonder of plants, mountains, air and life in this planet of ours. The wonder and irreplaceability of each animal, insect, living being.
 And the supreme joy and blessing of each child to our society.

NEW COVENANT
Noah expresses the New Covenant between humanity and God, as Noah sublimely consecrated the New Beginning of humanity to God, with his family. Noah, on the mountain top, symbolises the eternal priesthood before God - the priest, who, called by God, continually has to move beyond personal interests and gain to become intercessor before God for a broken humanity. The priest is called to bring about - through prayer, care and healing - mended relationships, new hope, and new commitment to relationship with God and each other. As Russell Crowe wound the reminder symbol of the Fall, the snake skin around his arm, he reminds us that the Fall is not the end. As the snake shed the skin, so we too, can shed sin and begin again. As the world was reborn after the waters of the Flood, so we too can be reborn through Baptism and repentance of our sins.

BLESSINGS
May Blessings be on Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel, Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connolly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Anthony Hopkins and Douglas Booth; for bringing the Word of God to life.
Their remembrance of Noah was a blessing on my path today.

Movie Trailer for NOAH;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OSaJE2rqxU