Noah

Since the release of Darren Aronofksy's film "Noah" in 2014, questions have been raised with regard to the relation between the film and the Bible. This article compares the flood stories in Gen 6-9 and Aronofksy's film "Noah." Probing some interesting and significant divergences between these two texts, I argue that the film "Noah" offers a good opportunity to discuss the open nature of the biblical texts, which often stimulates further transformations and interpretations.

This thesis represents a holistic approach to inner-biblical allusions. A method for analyzing allusions is developed and applied to the text of Jas. 3:1-12. I then consider how the proposed allusions should be communicated in modern translations of the Bible. Thus, apparent discrepancies in the text are resolved through recognition of James's allusions. After suggesting possible markers of allusion in the text, I identify James's probable referent texts, analyze these passages within their own context, trace the tradition history of allusive themes, consider how James intended his allusions to be understood, and apply a series of tests to evaluate the existence and interpretation of the proposed allusions. This thesis argues that James, by alluding to the flood and post-flood narratives of Genesis, supports the theological framework that he only implies in the passage, namely, that what is impossible for humanity is possible with God. Just as God was sovereign over His creation when He re-created the earth in the time of Noah, God has begun the eschatological new creation in human hearts through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why James can assert the futility of human attempts to become perfect in righteousness and, at the same time, expect his readers to discontinue their pattern of duplicitous talk. If the proposed Noachic allusions can be confirmed to a high degree of certainty, I propose that they be communicated in modern translations of the Bible either through explicit words in the translation or through supplementary Bible helps.

American Cinema significantly makes use of universal narratives which originate from myths and religious stories. These narratives which are accepted universally address universe of common meaning values of humanity and people’s common perceptions. Thus, it is easy to reach viewers throughout the world with a movie which was shaped and inspired by these narratives. On the other hand, these cultural products addressing a wide range of viewers can cause interpretational clashes due to different religious dogmatisms. 

The Hollywood movie “Noah” directed by American Darren Aronofsky which cost 150 million dollars and released in 2014 had a great boxoffice success thanks to having a story which was based on a universally accepted holy narration, Noah’s Ark. Aronofsky, both the co-screenwriter and director presents his ideas and worries related to contemporary society, humankind, environment and beliefs through Noah’s Ark, the clues of which were provided in 2006 movie, “The Fountain”. Inevitably, Aronofsky uses Noah’s Ark as the central story since it is meaningful in every nation for everyone and also makes use of Hollywood’s commercial narrative patterns. The movie starts with the myths with regard to the creation and the descend of the humankind onto the earth and is enriched by other several religious themes.

Aronofsky uses the religious stories as mythological narratives not as holy stories in his scenario. The director refictionalizes the narratives which serve as an inspirational source for the movie in order to adapt them to the cinematographic language and to express himself better through these narratives. In this respect, the religious stories in “Noah” show differences from the traditional ones with regard to characters, the flow of the stories, the cultural perception of the narratives, metaphors and their metaphorical meanings. Accordingly, “Noah”, the reinterpretation of a universal narrative by Aronofsky,  is seen as a topic of analysis and evaluated from an intertextual perspective by a descriptive film analysis.