Aronofsky's Noah, and Evolution

It's not easy to adapt the Noah narrative into a full length movie, so I don't blame Aronofsky for the "filler" scenes that lie in between nodes of profundity.

Overall though, the movie fulfills its purposes both by hitting theatres at a time where cultural regeneration and social renewal are the only way that we will overcome the tides of corruption that infect our civilization.

Now, on to the scene that this thread wishes to discuss. When Noah, his wife and his 3 sons and daughter in law settle down in the boat, Noah proceeds to delineate the mythological history as known by the ancient Hebrews. Aronofsky truly made this scene worth watching by giving the allegory of Genesis 1 a scientific basis, alluding to the intuitive wisdom that the ancients had of how the cosmos was formed. From the void, where creation began, Araonfsky showed images of the emerging universe, from the big bang, the expansion of space and time from exploding stars, the beginning of the the planet earth when everything was still formless and chaotic. And then he outlines the process of biological evolution. How the waters served as the source of growth. Prokaryotes, to Eukaryotes, to algae, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and then man.

As he reaches man, he honors the essence of Biblical thought that man truly did (and does) represent a unique entity in the fabric of creation. Adam and Eve walk about as beings of light, beings capable of reflecting upon and internalizing in an objective way the facticity of existence. Being who alone know what it means to IN a universe - Beings who sense ontologically.

I thought this scene was incredibly profound, and frankly, the whole movie was worth that one scene. I found myself absolutely spellbound by that scene, as well a few others at the beginning and at the end.

Thanks for bringing this film to my attention. A brief read of your post has me thinking it's out there and I'm simply unaware. I like the directors work because (and it's been said before) he reminds me of Kubrik.

reply to post by Astrocyte


i haven't seen the movie yet, but i did expect something like you described (an alternative and 'scientific' interpretation of the events) ..i had the same beef with the prometheus intro (mixing mysticism with science)

this caught my eye,

How the waters served as the source of growth. Prokaryotes, to Eukaryotes, to algae, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and then man

(echoes of prometheus again) ...what it made me think of was this bible verse from the book of jeremiah (2:27)
"Saying to a tree, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us"

i don't trust/believe ANYTHING that comes via 'the system'
you'd think people at a conspiracy website would be all over that, but i'm going to be portrayed as a luddite now, aren't i?

fwiw, i starred the OP, thanks for bringing this to my/our attention.