Sunday Times 2
New film on Noah offends both Christians and Muslims
The Hollywood epic about Noah’s ark has managed to unite Christians and Muslims.
Members of the two religions – at odds for more than a thousand years – are singing with one voice to condemn the £75 million film Noah for its take on the Biblical hero.
Fatwa: Noah, starring Russell Crowe, pictured, has been banned in three Arab countries (AFP)
The blockbuster has already been banned in three Arab countries after religious leaders complained that it depicted the Biblical figure – who is also a prophet in the Quran.
Due to première later this month, the film will not be shown in Qatar, Bahrain or the United Arab Emirates and several other countries are expected to follow suit.
But it appears that America’s devout Christians are also annoyed about the portrayal of Noah, claiming after test screenings that director Darren Aronofsky had made him ‘too dark’.
A representative of an Australian pentecostal mega-church present for one warned The Hollywood Reporter: ‘If you’re expecting it to be word for word from the Bible, you’re in for a shock.
Another viewer at a separate test screening was more blunt, saying it depicted Noah as a ‘crazy, irrational, religious nut’ who is obsessed with apparently modern day problems like overpopulation.
The criticisms come as one of the world’s most respected Islamic institutions issued a fatwa against the Hollywood epic because it ‘contradicts the teachings of Islam’.
Islam forbids representing holy figures in art, instead using conceptual line patterns and lettering to adorn the walls of mosques.
A whole chapter of the Quran is devoted to Noah, who built an ark which saved himself, his family and many pairs of animals from a great flood. He also features prominently in the Biblical book of Genesis and is revered by Christians and Jews.
© Daily Mail, London