Is Darren Aronofsky trying to create another 'Last Temptation of Christ' with 'Noah'?

By Sarah Sluis

I'm floored. Director Darren Aronofsky is turning to the Bible for his next movie? This is a director known for films that show off the brutalization of the body. They're graphic. There's blood and guts and sex. Okay, maybe at least part of that is a little Old Testament. The director has written a script that's a "re-telling" of the saga of Noah's Ark, which New Regency has committed to co-financing. I wonder if "re-telling" means he's taking liberties with the biblical story, or if he plans to go for a more straightforward tale. Either way, he's setting himself up for a world of controversy.

If I had to place the last time the country went gung-ho over a religious movie, I'd have to go with 1956's The Ten Commandments or 1959's Ben-Hur. In recent years, any attempt at recreating biblical stories has led to huge controversies. Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ came from a religious viewpoint, but it seemed Christians and Jews alike took issue with the film. Then there's Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ, surely one of the most (unfairly) maligned movies. The 1988 film explored the humanity of Jesus, but people just weren't prepared to see the Son of God sleeping with a woman and sinning. I imagine Aronofsky will go with a similarly controversial take, and it will be a miracle if religious audiences spark to his depiction.

At the same time, there's no reason that religious movies should be either lightning rods of controversy or marginalized. A number of religious-themed films have broken through in recent years, but these tend to be movies about Christians or those carrying religious themes. They're not trying to depict scenes from the actual Bible. In theatres now, Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life cites passages from the Bible and explores both creation and the afterlife. The upcoming indie Higher Ground, based on a memoir, covers a woman's rising and waning fervor for religion. Then there are movies like The Blind Side and Fireproof, which have found enormous acceptance with people living by the Word. Maybe Darren Aronofsky's plan to create a film about Noah's Ark isn't so crazy after all. But I won't be surprised if a few religious groups condemn it along the way.