The Noah's Ark Principle
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''The Noah's Ark Principle'' () is a 1984 West German
science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...
written and directed by
Roland Emmerich Roland Emmerich (; born 10 November 1955) is a German-American filmmaker. Emmerich is widely known for his science fiction and disaster films and has been called a "master of disaster" within the movie industry. His films, most of which are Eng ...
as his thesis at the
Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...
(HFF). While his fellow students typically raised and spent 20,000
Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; "German mark (currency), mark"), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later of unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it ...
for their final work, Emmerich managed to collect a budget of 1,200,000 DM (around US$600,000). This film, shot in color with mono sound, received a rating of 12 in West Germany, and was sold to 20 countries. It was submitted to the
34th Berlin International Film Festival The 34th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 17–28 February 1984. The festival opened with ''The Noah's Ark Principle'' by Roland Emmerich. The retrospective was dedicated to German-American actor, screenwriter, producer an ...
and received some acclaim for technical skill and special effects, but won no prizes.


Plot

The year is 1997, and world peace seems to have come, with most classic
weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a Biological agent, biological, chemical weapon, chemical, Radiological weapon, radiological, nuclear weapon, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great dam ...
having been abandoned. However, orbiting the Earth there is the European/American
space station A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains orbital spaceflight, in orbit and human spaceflight, hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring space habitat (facility), habitat ...
FLORIDA ARKLAB, capable of controlling the weather at any location on the planet underneath. A civil project by nature, it might be abused as an offensive weapon, since it could deliver devastation to any potential adversary simply by creating natural disasters such as storms and floods. The space station soon becomes the central point in rising political tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. The film follows the main protagonist, Billy Hayes, an astronaut aboard the station, as he wades through a plot of secrecy and sabotage trying to tell friend from foe in the process. Billy enjoys a close relationship with his fellow astronaut Max for the several months they spend together in isolation. Max's wife, Eva, contacts the ARKLAB to announce that she has decided to divorce him because his time away has strained their relationship. When spies attempt to use the ARKLAB to their own ends, its nuclear reactor becomes damaged. Max attempts to repair it on his own, creating suspicion he is one of the spies. Eva and Vandenberg are sent up to help repair the reactor. Vandenberg turns out to be a spy and sabotages the station. He injures Max. Max kills him, and confesses his love for Eva before succumbing to his wounds. Billy screams Max's name as the station falls apart. He and Eva escape in a shuttle as the station explodes. Back on Earth, Billy makes a report to his superior, Felix. Felix tells him that the Americans attempted to use the station as a weapon but made a mistake and caused a horrible flood. He sends Billy and Eva on their way. He later learns that both of them died from
radiation poisoning Acute radiation syndrome (ARS), also known as radiation sickness or radiation poisoning, is a collection of health effects that are caused by being exposed to high amounts of ionizing radiation in a short period of time. Symptoms can start wit ...
and openly grieves their deaths.


Cast


Production

The film was the first writing and directing effort of
West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...
born filmmaker
Roland Emmerich Roland Emmerich (; born 10 November 1955) is a German-American filmmaker. Emmerich is widely known for his science fiction and disaster films and has been called a "master of disaster" within the movie industry. His films, most of which are Eng ...
after his graduation from the
German Film and Television Academy The Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB, German Film and Television Academy Berlin) is a film school in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1966. In the German film school rankings by FOCUS in 2006 (Issue 22), the DFFB was ranked 2nd a ...
. Emmerich's inspiration for the film came about from the continued success and appeal of ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' which Emmerich had studied as part of his degree requirement. After accruing 1 million
Marks Marks may refer to: Business * Mark's, a Canadian retail chain * Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain * Collective trade marks A collective trademark, collective trade mark, or collective mark is a trademark owned by an organization (such ...
from sources such as Bernd Eichinger's
Constantin Film Constantin Film AG is a German film production company based in Munich. The company, which belongs to Swiss media conglomerate Highlight Communications AG, is a large independent German maker and distributor of productions. Constantin has releas ...
, Solaris-Film, and the Academy itself, Emmerich assembled a young team, and converted an unused factory hall into a studio. When filming wrapped, special effects were added at the large
Bavaria Studios Bavaria Studios are film production studios located in Munich, the capital of the region of Bavaria in Germany, and a subsidiary of Bavaria Film. History The studios were constructed in the suburb of Geiselgasteig in 1919 shortly after the Firs ...
in Munich. Shortly thereafter, Emmerich would establish his own production company,
Centropolis Entertainment Centropolis Entertainment is a German-American film production company founded in 1985 as Centropolis Film Productions by American film producer Dean Devlin and German film director Roland Emmerich. As of 2001, the company is a subsidiary of Das ...
.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Noah's Ark Principle, The 1984 films 1984 science fiction films Films about astronauts Films directed by Roland Emmerich German science fiction films West German films Films set in 1997 Films set in the future 1984 directorial debut films 1980s German-language films 1980s German films Films with screenplays by Roland Emmerich Weather modification Films set on spacecraft German-language science fiction films