The big flood(s)

In the middle of our idyllic existence, suddenly, apocalypse struck. Quite literary. Pipe in washing machine broke causing flood no. 1, pipe under the sink also broke causing flood no. 2 – ironically, since we’ve just seen Noah.

 Some architectural genius put crappy plastic pipe from the sink, straight into the tailed wall, making it impossible to replace, without some major drilling, hammering and all the other plumbing/constructing things.

As if that wasn’t enough, our supply of gas just ended. In India gas pipes are pretty much nonexistent. One has to go through painful application process in order to get gas cylinder, which is then connected to the stove. With all my kitchen toys, we managed to survive on one cylinder since we moved here, but now the time came for a replacement. Apparently to get one, we need some gas company booklet, which, of course, we misplaced months ago. Looks like Universe has a nasty sense of humor today. Ok, Universe, I hear you, loud and clear! Happy April fool’s day to you too!

As for Noah, I needed some time to decide that I didn’t like it after all. I read some reviews beforehand, but the negative ones were solely concentrated around the differences between the movie and the bible. That didn’t bother me at all… considering the length of the written story that was to be expected. Besides, Arnofsky isn’t exactly known for Christian epics and heartwarming family stories.  

Throughout the entire show I had one overwhelming thought:  He had way too many ideas for this movie! If I could take it apart and look at certain motifs and subplots separately, there is a lot of interesting material there. But the final product is a, rather random, mixture of them all. 

There were quite a few moments I did enjoy, mostly the visual parabolas and comparisons; plus Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Hopkins were splendid as always. It’s the inconsistencies that bug me. The stone transformers and magic beans, childish take on veganism and some reptilian hyenas… what was it all for? Plus, it seems like Noah really had it for the mankind. Respect nature, cherish all life, all is well till the man come along. Then it’s back to good old Russell with his anger management issues. 

The interesting part was vision of the flood as ultimate mass murder, and the big question: how is it just? Not to mention the fact that god, as such, is present only by omission. It makes you half wander: was it all just a figment of derange mind? Placing the story above time and suggesting its repetitive nature were also engaging.

I would enjoy a deeper exploration of one or two motifs, but in the present form, the movie is quite schizophrenic. And not in a good way.