Darren Aronofsky's Noah – Chapter 8

Notes on self-motivated animals, shaved heads, nervousness around snakes, and whether Noah's sons "need" wives.

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Ham (Logan Lerman), Noah (Russell Crowe), Japheth (Leo McHugh Carroll), and Naameh (Jennifer Connelly) watch the snakes arrive.

The animals begin to arrive, two by two—and as they do, one of Noah’s sons begins to wonder if there will be a partner for him, too.

JAPHETH: Father, did you see them? Father?
NOAH: Yes, Japheth. It begins.

Images. The “God shot” pointing straight down at Noah as the birds circle above him will be echoed later on, when the storm clouds arrive and the first raindrop falls, in Chapter 13.

The camera pulls up, and rotates, to reveal the birds circling above Noah.

The camera rushes straight down with the first raindrop that lands on Noah.

Sources. The birds come to the Ark on their own, without human guidance. The biblical account says the animals “came to Noah” “to be kept alive” (Genesis 6:20; 7:9, 15), and most Jewish interpreters have taken this to mean that the animals came to the Ark on their own (e.g. Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 23.4; Rashi, Genesis 7.9.2).

The text also says Noah “took” animals with him onto the Ark (Genesis 7:2). Some interpreters have argued that this means only certain species came to the Ark on their own, and Noah had to round up the rest (e.g. Ramban, Genesis 6.20.1). Others have argued that all the animals did come to the Ark on their own, and Noah basically just ushered them inside (e.g. Ibn Ezra, Genesis 6.19.2-20.1; Radak, Genesis 7.2.1).