I wish there would've been a line of dialog somewhere along the way that indicated that Indy discovered at some point that man was not meant or allowed to look at the ark or witness its powers.
As it stands, his direction to Marion to not look kind of comes from nowhere...
I guess Indy read in a Bible passage somewhere a long time ago about "averting your eyes" from God or something, and on a hunch, he thought that was the only way to protect himself and Marion at that moment, and since they were tied to a pole, closing their eyes is all they could do since those Ark spirits were flying round all over the place. It was a lucky guess, too, as it saved their lives, aside from being scorched in the fires that consumed the Nazis.
It was alluded to twice, in the scene where he was first told that the Nazis discovered Tanis and when the old man was reading the markings from the headpiece.
shareAlluded to, but he was given nothing that would've given him the specific knowledge to avert eyes.
The first instance was just remarking on the illustration of the power of God emitting from the ark, but nothing specific about it, and certainly nothing about not being able to look at it. And then the old man read a simple warning that they shouldn't disturb the ark.... which by the time he was tied up, he already had a hand in doing.
Indy didn't tell Marion to keep her eyes shut until *after* the electrical equipment had sparked and shorted out and after the spirits were beginning to exit the ark. This is important because it suggests Indy didn't know beforehand that looking at the opened ark might be dangerous or closing their eyes might be their salvation.
Once the machinery shorted out and the spirits started appearing, it was at this point that Indy realized that perhaps there was more to the ark than "mumbo jumbo" and maybe the depiction he saw in the bible about the fire coming out of the ark and attacking the people gazing at it had some element of truth to it.
Being tied up, Indy and Marion couldn't run, so the only thing left was for Indy to use his wits. Since there are other historical legends of people being harmed just by gazing at something supernatural they shouldn't have - legends that that Indy surely knew of even if he never believed in them - Indy surmised (hoped really) that if they didn't look at the ark, they might live.
Correct.
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Here's an outtake, but while the scene was actually different than the one that made the theater cut, it didn't really address your question but I'm putting this here for anyone interested.
https://youtu.be/I2KZHUgtS3A
I’m not sure if it’s in the script, but the book adaptation has the medallion translator explicitly explaining to Indy not to look. It would be really cool if this is in the script (only to be left out, at least we’d know the writing was on point…), maybe someone could check and chime in. Here’s the adaptation link info for curious parties.
https://screenrant.com/indiana-jones-raiders-lost-ark-not-touch-look/
Interesting, but ultimately I think they did the right thing by not using the Iman's warning not to look but instead having Indy thinking on the fly and remembering the frightening depiction of the ark that was in the bible he showed the federales earlier in the movie.
If nothing else, Indy always did well thinking on his feet. In The Last Crusade, he used his quick wits while avoiding the challenges in the cave with the Holy Grail, in Doom he arranged the escape of the rope bridge.
I agree, I think we were given enough hints, as you put, the fire, wrath of God, coming out of the arc in the image you mentioned, plus Marcus gave us a subtle clue with the, “That’s just what the Hebrews thought,” as in this was some serious shit.
I also enjoyed the fact that Indy was thinking on the spur, using his experience and intuition to navigate dire situations.
“That’s just what the Hebrews thought,”
For sure, and with great delivery as well. Denholm played the role of Marcus beautifully.
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Denholm Elliot is that type of actor that simply improve everything he's in. Never a headliner, never could have been, but one of the *invaluable* type of actor that just makes anything they're in better.
I loved him Trading Places!