Hypatia (Rachel Weisz) looks up at the stars in AGORA
I started this blog back in October 12, 2010 and one of the reasons I started the blog was because of AGORA: a big ambitious film which got almost no release in the US. The film's pro-science POV was deemed unsellable in the US. I thought : 'Are we in 2010?' for this to be happening. I thought that the whole genre was really underrated and overlooked and the lack of interest to this film was indicative of this general indifference to the genre. So, 4 years later, I'm still doing it.
Is AGORA perfect? No, it has several liabilities going against it, namely a miscast Rachel Weisz, who doesn't have the gravitas to sustain such a big film. Her acting style just doesn't fit the role even though she looks wonderful in it. The 'pro-science - anti-religious' aspects didn't bother me at all. The screenplay was sometimes too obvious (the symbolisms were annoying, including the outer space moments) but overall it's an excellent production. The production values are sometimes stunning (like in this shot; click on image to see the details) and imo it's best looking PEPLUM film since the classic made 50 or 60 years ago. Better than GLADIATOR, TROY and all. It's quite an eye-filling experience, if you're a PEPLUM fan and it's the true star of this film.
Back on Thursday
This is a favorite of mine as well. Caused me to go out and buy a bunch of books on Hypatia, Alexandria, and such. Glad to know I wasn't the only one it inspired.
ReplyDeleteThe beauty about opinions is that they can be different. I think Agora was the underrated masterpiece on the year of its release. Given how little we know about the real Hypathia, Rachel Weisz is just great as the living and breathing character. You rightfully pointed out how wonderful the movie was in visual terms. The religion science conflict may seen a little obvious in the movie but when you read what is known about Cyril - later made a saint - the whole religious violence thing in Agora is tame in comparison.
ReplyDeleteAnyway... If Agora if the movie that triggered your great website I applaud it.