Movie summary of Agora by Michael The Moviegoer.
AGORA = **
“Sword And Sandal Philosophy”
“Agora” is a sword-and-sandals historical epic which only comes to life, oddly enough, during the scenes between battles.
Set in Alexandria, Egypt, nearly 400 years after the death of Christ, the story centers on Hypatia, a librarian and philosophy professor, wonderfully played by Rachel Weisz.
The film is divided in two halves. During the first hour, the Christians are at war with the Pagans. During the second hour, they battle the Jews. So much killing. So much bloodshed. All in the name of religion. My how things have changed… NOT.
My favorite moments in this film are when Rachel Weisz is philosophizing. She is on the verge of discovering how the earth rotates around the sun, in a world where everyone still believes the earth is flat. This puts her at odds with all the religious elements in her city. But she seems determined to prove her point by experimenting with gravity while practically oblivious to the battles raging around her.
This was a strange choice for director Alejandro Amenabar following the brilliant ghost story “The Others” and the Spanish-language right-to-die drama “The Sea Inside.” Clearly his clout from those films allowed him the opportunity to take this on as a labor of love. Unfortunately, I found it a tad too laborious to sit through.
DVD Double Feature: “The Others”, also directed by Amenabar, is one of the most haunting and underrated ghost stories ever filmed. It’s got one of those great twist endings that literally makes you want to watch the movie over again immediately. Nicole Kidman gives one of her best performances. Definitely worth a look to see what this great director is capabale of when he wants to entertain and not preach.
Michael The Moviegoer
