Noah sparks script vs scripture row

How could it not? When the signature moment of a film is a great flood that rids the earth of all mankind, very few would not be curious to see how the whole thing will go down.

Yes, the big wet (and the big zoo on that bloody big boat) looks amazing on the big screen. However, other key aspects of Noah do not always go to script. Or, for that matter, scripture.

So just a word of warning is in order. Before Noah (played by Russell Crowe) gets around to arking up, you could well be nodding off.

This project has been splashing around inside the head of American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) for the best part of two decades.

What has finally come gushing out is neither strictly biblical, nor the stuff of faith-free fantasy.

Instead, we are asked to take a dip in a highfalutin' hybrid of both approaches. Just as pulses will be raised, heads will be scratched.

Sure, there's a disaster movie on a major scale to be witnessed, if escapist adventure is what ye seek.

But there is also a metaphysical meditation upon a solitary man's devotion to an omnipresent deity to be explored. How's that gonna go down with the popcorn-and-cola crowd?

As originally recounted in the Book of Genesis, the whole Noah saga is heavy on drama, but light on detail.

Aronofsky has seized the opportunity to fill in the blanks with some strange, audacious and ambitious choices.

There is no mention of the word 'God' throughout the picture.

Noah, a nomadic family man of rigid moral principles, is often tortured by dreams of an apocalyptic nature. These he attributes to an entity referred to here as The Creator.

Noah interprets these nightmares as weather forecasts direct from The Creator, who has clearly had enough of the rampant wickedness of those made in his image.

A flood is coming that will reboot the entire planet. Noah gets to thinking The Creator wants him to assist with starting the world again from scratch.

Hence the construction of The Ark, a boxlike freighter made of sticks, vines and mud (which Aronofsky and his crew have built very impressively to specs listed in an early version of the Bible!).

Two of every animal will be housed aboard the craft, along with Noah, his wife Naameh (Jennifer Connelly), his three sons and a future daughter-in-law (Emma Watson).

So far, so by-the-book, huh? Well, allow me to run a few of the film's more eccentric embellishments by you then.

Noah builds The Ark with the assistance of some rock-encrusted giants that used to be angels.

These odd boulder-beasts also come in handy when the tribal warrior Tubal-cain (Ray Winstone) arrives with a massive horde of followers at his back.

Everyone wants a spot on the boat. Noah stands his ground. He's not running a cruise liner, you know.

To be absolutely frank, this movie can be taken as seriously, or as silly, as each beholder sees fit.

However, no matter which way you come to look at it, the hardworking effort of Crowe to make sense of proceedings for any and all baffled onlookers is to be applauded.

Whether engaged in a fiery one-way conversation with the sky, or staring solemnly at millions drowning before him, Crowe's admirably committed performance is (dare anyone say it?) a godsend.

Noah (M) Director: Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) Starring: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Anthony Hopkins. Rating : ***

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