Noah (2014)

Noah (2014) directed by Darren Aronofsky.

This was even less Biblical than I expected, but since the Bible narration is sparse on detail the screenwriter has to fill in and elaborate. In this case they have made a "message" fable of their own devising with only loose association with original. It is earnest and well-intentioned, with meditations on violence and coping with it. Eco and vegan concerns to be extra relevant.

Best parts: that in the antediluvian world the stars were visible during the day, and people still had natural magic. The creation story with fast-speed evolutionary details is clever.

Still: once only for me. Would a more traditional version have worked better? Hard to say.

Worst moment: Tubal-cain's grand declamations just before he gets it were stupid Hollywood dialogue. Hard to believe Aronofsky allowed it.

Is it irreverent? It's hard to see how, given the story can't be more than slightly inspired by the original. Indiana Jones had Jewish, Hindu and Christian relics as magic death traps and everyone thought it just good fun. (Except me).

Also note that the Bible doesn't exclusively "own" the story of the Flood. The same events, with different character names, occur in the Epic of Gilgamesh. That the early Genesis stories came out of Babylonia was well understood by the ancient Hebrews.

Genesis says that Abraham and his people ventured west from "Ur of the Chaldeans", which was on the Persian Gulf. They continued to send back to the old country for wives for a while.

So: alternative Noah stories don't seem like a problem to me.