"The Flood and the War - God Almighty's Parallel of the Ages."
Well, that flood sequence was something. A scene of epic proportions, with a cast of thousands, beautiful costumes, and what looked like some very dangerous moments in the deluge where Michael Curtiz seemed determined to hit these sinners as if he was Jehovah himself (and indeed, it resulted in loss of life and limb for some extras). If you haven't already seen this excerpted, fast forwarding and checking it out wouldn't be a bad way to spend a little time. Unfortunately, nothing else works in this very early (partial) talkie, which was mercifully shortened from 135 minutes to 108 minutes when it was restored.
This film is as heavy-handed and moralizing as can be in drawing the parallel between the Biblical account of the Flood and WW1, its central premise. It's notable that just the year before, for Old San Francisco, Darryl F. Zanuck had written a story likening the Earthquake of 1906 to Sodom and Gomorrah, a punishment for city's sins. Noah's Ark is not saddled with the heavy dose of racism that film had, but it's similarly steeped in fundamentalism, and troubling. Frankly speaking, in addition to its artistic problems and backward views of the world, the narrative it constructs is also very weak, particularly for the story in the modern world. So yeah, this is a slog to get to the parts where you're wondering which one is John Wayne out of all those extras, and which three were killed, and which one lost a leg.
Wanting to save the flood for the big finale, the film awkwardly starts with the Ark already resting on Mt. Ararat, and then flashes forward to the modern era, where it stays until the 65 minute point. It gets its points in likening the worship of the Golden Calf to traders in the stock market, who act ruthlessly towards one another, only caring about money, and then various people on a train in Europe denouncing God:
"The Bible won't work nowadays - science is God!" "There is no God, gentlemen, there is only a Goddess. Her name is woman - and she's a devil!" "Military might is the only God!" "Faith is food for fools and invalids. If there is a God, why doesn't he show himself?"
So let's just follow the logic. As mankind was wicked and worshipped heathen Gods in Genesis, Jehovah wiped out almost every living creature (including women, children, babies, all animals after the first two of each species) if the story adapted from Gilgamesh is taken literally, as it is here. It's viewed by the faithful even today as an enlightened and just act. Similarly, so this film says, as mankind was wicked and rejected God in the modern era, the Great War wiped out millions of men ... so, this scourge, this cleansing in the form of the bloodshed in WW1, is another ... justified act? You know, kind of like how evangelicals likened AIDS to divine retribution for homosexuality right? And just as the rainbow at the end of the deluge was God's covenant to mankind, so the Armistice at the end of the war is a sign that there will be no future wars. Hmm to all of this.
This parallel is one of the reasons the film is so light on the horrors of WW1, in contrast to several other films from the era. After a terrifying train crash (another moment worth checking out), we see rather bizarre scenes in the hotel the passengers take refuge, with fistfights breaking out and then Russian agents arriving when war is declared. It's an odd, uninteresting narrative for a historical drama. Later one American enlists to the backdrop of patriotic music, and the other soon concludes "I'm a traitor not to go!" despite being conflicted by having a German girlfriend (Dolores Costello). While we see a legless veteran at the parade, and a man die in battle, the film steers clear of anything truly dark. We see bravery in the attack on the machine gun nest, and frankly more time spent on leave in Paris watching the showgirls, one of whom is Myrna Loy in a brief appearance.
This seems like a film for those who needed a little patriotism to go with their religion, with conservative messages all around. It's got a cartoon view of the war, lacking any sense of nuance. It's too bad this modern stuff wasn't all shelved in favor of the story out of Genesis, which could then be interpreted by the viewer as divine truth or just an ancient story. As it is, it's only good for the cataclysmic scenes.
Well, that flood sequence was something. A scene of epic proportions, with a cast of thousands, beautiful costumes, and what looked like some very dangerous moments in the deluge where Michael Curtiz seemed determined to hit these sinners as if he was Jehovah himself (and indeed, it resulted in loss of life and limb for some extras). If you haven't already seen this excerpted, fast forwarding and checking it out wouldn't be a bad way to spend a little time. Unfortunately, nothing else works in this very early (partial) talkie, which was mercifully shortened from 135 minutes to 108 minutes when it was restored.
This film is as heavy-handed and moralizing as can be in drawing the parallel between the Biblical account of the Flood and WW1, its central premise. It's notable that just the year before, for Old San Francisco, Darryl F. Zanuck had written a story likening the Earthquake of 1906 to Sodom and Gomorrah, a punishment for city's sins. Noah's Ark is not saddled with the heavy dose of racism that film had, but it's similarly steeped in fundamentalism, and troubling. Frankly speaking, in addition to its artistic problems and backward views of the world, the narrative it constructs is also very weak, particularly for the story in the modern world. So yeah, this is a slog to get to the parts where you're wondering which one is John Wayne out of all those extras, and which three were killed, and which one lost a leg.
Wanting to save the flood for the big finale, the film awkwardly starts with the Ark already resting on Mt. Ararat, and then flashes forward to the modern era, where it stays until the 65 minute point. It gets its points in likening the worship of the Golden Calf to traders in the stock market, who act ruthlessly towards one another, only caring about money, and then various people on a train in Europe denouncing God:
"The Bible won't work nowadays - science is God!" "There is no God, gentlemen, there is only a Goddess. Her name is woman - and she's a devil!" "Military might is the only God!" "Faith is food for fools and invalids. If there is a God, why doesn't he show himself?"
So let's just follow the logic. As mankind was wicked and worshipped heathen Gods in Genesis, Jehovah wiped out almost every living creature (including women, children, babies, all animals after the first two of each species) if the story adapted from Gilgamesh is taken literally, as it is here. It's viewed by the faithful even today as an enlightened and just act. Similarly, so this film says, as mankind was wicked and rejected God in the modern era, the Great War wiped out millions of men ... so, this scourge, this cleansing in the form of the bloodshed in WW1, is another ... justified act? You know, kind of like how evangelicals likened AIDS to divine retribution for homosexuality right? And just as the rainbow at the end of the deluge was God's covenant to mankind, so the Armistice at the end of the war is a sign that there will be no future wars. Hmm to all of this.
This parallel is one of the reasons the film is so light on the horrors of WW1, in contrast to several other films from the era. After a terrifying train crash (another moment worth checking out), we see rather bizarre scenes in the hotel the passengers take refuge, with fistfights breaking out and then Russian agents arriving when war is declared. It's an odd, uninteresting narrative for a historical drama. Later one American enlists to the backdrop of patriotic music, and the other soon concludes "I'm a traitor not to go!" despite being conflicted by having a German girlfriend (Dolores Costello). While we see a legless veteran at the parade, and a man die in battle, the film steers clear of anything truly dark. We see bravery in the attack on the machine gun nest, and frankly more time spent on leave in Paris watching the showgirls, one of whom is Myrna Loy in a brief appearance.
This seems like a film for those who needed a little patriotism to go with their religion, with conservative messages all around. It's got a cartoon view of the war, lacking any sense of nuance. It's too bad this modern stuff wasn't all shelved in favor of the story out of Genesis, which could then be interpreted by the viewer as divine truth or just an ancient story. As it is, it's only good for the cataclysmic scenes.