Darren Aronofsky

The movie has been on my mind ever since I saw it in the theatre, in the middle of a brutal breakup. I know the story is meant to be about mother earth and how we abuse her, but this is also very much a story about how it feels to love a malignant narcissist, and have everyone around them fooled into thinking they are perfect. This movie feels like the inside of my head has felt, more than once. It is a terrible anxious nightmare and an emotionally authentic retelling of waking horrors.

Third-rate Hitchcock. Second-rate DePalma.

Thoroughly unpleasant from beginning to end despite good performances. Seen through the eyes of the lead character, Portman's ballerina, the world is a really awful place and the people in it little short of monsters. The director must have watched The Red Shoes one too many times--or perhaps one time too few. The only art in this film is that lent it by Tchaikovsky's wonderful music.

I truly hated this movie. First, the plot is completely unoriginal show more and predicable--but not enjoyable--just sordid, which I usually enjoy, but there is just nothing here to offset it. We are just watching the tragedy in progress, which no number of good performances--Kunis, at least--can rescue. show less

A hauntingly beautiful and heart wrenching graphic novel that suffers from an overly concise back-cover synopsis. I don't think you really should read this story for the plot, because it is rather jumpy and not explained and doesn't really seem to line up very well with the synopsis. Instead I found it much more meaningful to just let myself get lost in the theme - passionate love ripped away too soon.

Things it reminds me of: Paul Pope's drawing style and Sandman's typographical choices.

Chose because I'd read one of Aronofsky's and found it ...unique, and more especially I'd been enamored of Niko Henrichon's art in Pride of Baghdad.

The Story
Aronofsky & Handel manage to make what is generally looked at as a rather absurd story (man builds boat to hold every animal on the planet and keep them there for over a month? what??) into a brilliant and touching graphic novel. From the first panel of the first page it is powerfully evocative and it continues that way throughout. show more Rather than a wacky bible story, they have managed to put together a story about human trials, about human greed and selfishness vs human empathy and suffering. I wasn't so sure what to expect of a story about Noah, but it turned out to be something that far surpassed any expectations I could have had.

The Art
Niko Henrichon's art is nothing short of spectacular. It is realistic and perfectly colored and belongs hanging on a wall! There are several pages that I simply sat gazing at before moving on because they were just that stunning. The color palette, the pacing and layout, variation between pages, everything is perfectly orchestrated. Not a single panel is wasted. The faces of the characters are as expressive as though they were photographs, making only minor dialog needed between characters in many instances—as their faces say so much more than words could.

Overall
Even for someone not at all interested in bible stories, this is a brilliant worthwhile read, recommended for all! show less