John Huston’s Noah and the representation of the patriarch in the 20th Century

Resumen

This article examines the cinematic representations of the patriarch Noah, the ark, and the animals throughout the 20th century. Through narrative and cultural history, it presents the importance of the Flood myth in contemporary societies, particularly the role that the Noahic story plays in disputes between fundamentalists and progressives. Additionally, it explores the cinema’s appropriations of this story from the 1900s to the 1930s, culminating in the production of the film “The Bible” (Huston, 1966).
Within the context of this specific film, the objective is to analyze the Flood sequence, particularly in two aspects: the representation of the vessel and the animals. Connections are established between these scenes and previous cinematic and artistic references while examining how editing and the soundtrack incorporated these references into the film. We conclude that the final result displayed on the screen has become a true visual paradigm of the 20th century and the history of Noah’s Ark.