Rachel Weiss - Ancient Librarian

[Memmia]

Yes we should maybe leave this now, I think we've just about covered everything :wink:

:oops:

[qcarr]

I'm pleased that Hollywood will be delivering this latest feature based on ancient history. The more I study the Classics, the more I realize the dearth of primary source material and wonder how much we lost in the tragic burning of the Library of Alexandria...

Hollywood's "historical" works are certainly disappointing to those of us who immerse ourselves in the discipline ("Troy" is the most glaring recent example, though technically that story is myth not history). But these movies do expose people to historical events, people who would normally have no interest whatsoever in history. Exposure to the subject hopefully leads some to search for the truth.

[Flaminio]

I'm pleased that Hollywood will be delivering this latest feature based on ancient history. The more I study the Classics, the more I realize the dearth of primary source material and wonder how much we lost in the tragic burning of the Library of Alexandria...

Hollywood's "historical" works are certainly disappointing to those of us who immerse ourselves in the discipline ("Troy" is the most glaring recent example, though technically that story is myth not history). But these movies do expose people to historical events, people who would normally have no interest whatsoever in history. Exposure to the subject hopefully leads some to search for the truth.

This movie is not a Hollywood one, actually the production is entirely spanish, as well as the director and most of the artistic crew, Even if the budget is more a blockbuster kind.
I liked the trailer, but ther's one thing I'm afraid about. I've also seen a very brief making of, and showing the filming set I distinguished a group of several lorica segmentata. I ignore if there is any kind of flashback which could justify this anacronism. Otherwise it seems that Amenabar doesn't care about costume accuracy. As far as I know the last evidence in the use of this kind of armour is the arch of Septimius Severus in Rome, which means one century and a half before the movie facts. Anyway is too soon to come to a conclusion and is always good news to find filmakers brave enough to explore the past.

[Narukami]

First Review is in from Cannes on the new Rachel Weisz film Agora and it is generally good.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090522/fil ... dlaXN6cw--


[size=150:2v4vmm1v]Rachel Weisz stars in religious epic "Agora"[/size]

By Natasha Senjanovic – Thu May 21, 8:37 pm ET

CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) – Although no self-respecting epic can come in at less than two hours, Alejandro Amenabar will nevertheless need good word-of-mouth to attract wider audiences willing to sit through 144 minutes and a heavy-handed beginning in his new film, "Agora." Hopefully, he will get it.

Amenabar gets most of the epic staples out of the way relatively early: flatly acted scenes of textbook exposition, overly earnest extras, main characters who wander unscathed through hordes of butchery and, of course, frequently swelling music. The story then becomes a timely parable on religious intolerance, inexorable fundamentalist violence and the powerlessness of reason and personal freedom in the face of both.

The heart of the film is Hypatia (Rachel Weisz in an unfaltering performance), the fourth century AD philosopher and teacher who lived in Alexandria during the Roman Empire. Married only to her unquenchable intellect and passion for mathematics and astronomy, she is loved by two men: her slave, Davus (Max Minghella), and her student, Orestes (Oscar Isaac).

Politics in the film are weakest during the overtly political speeches and monologues, and best captured in the details. Like many, Davus seeks not spiritual salvation in the Christian uprising but freedom from slavery, despite the bloodshed. His first attempt at prayer is brilliant: Unable to remember the Lord's Prayer, he quickly falls into a mantra to God to keep Hypatia away from Orestes. For his part, Orestes will renounce paganism and convert to Christianity during his rise in Roman politics.

Amenabar and screenwriter Mateo Gil adeptly show that each character's destiny is written from the onset. As is history when hatred and power lust are corruptly instrumentalized in the name of a single, incontestable truth.

There is also no question as to what side the filmmakers are on. The Christians in "Agora" are more preoccupied with slaughtering than spirituality and the only truly principled character is Hypatia the atheist, who may have come close to proving that the Earth revolves around the sun 1,200 years before Johannes Kepler. She is the only one who never sacrifices her unwavering "faith," in reason and intellectual freedom, for personal gain.
It is a pleasure to see Weisz's scenes of scientific inquiry, which capture the passion of research and discovery without artifice or pretension. That the scientist is a woman makes it all the more engaging.

The entire cast comes through very well after the shaky beginning, and while Minghella says little he has good screen presence. However, the biggest surprises are the lesser-known supporting actors: Isaac; Sammy Samir as a bishop seemingly devoid of human emotion; and Ashraf Barhom, whose Ammonious, a Christian Parabalani, is the epitome of a devout-less thug.

(Editing by Dean Goodman)

:wink:

Narukami

[Theodosius the Great]

Well, based on the review it sounds like this movie's going to be another dud.

The story, besides being ahistorical, doesn't sound very compelling. It's two and a half hours long and doesn't feature any battles, just city riots ? I doubt many people would want to sit through it for that long as the reviewer says.

Like most directors this one doesn't let facts get in the way of a good (or bad) story. He exaggerates Hypatia's supposed scientific contributions while depicting the murderous Alexandrians as typical Christians of the time. "Christian uprising" ? hock: To top it off he portrays Hypatia as an atheist which she certainly wasn't. Hypatia was an ascetic and a Neoplatonist. No effort was made in the costuming department either. It just looks like they rented familiar costumes from Italy. This movie deserves to fail.

~Theo

[Marcus F.]

At least there's an acient ship in it. :wink: But as someone already said, they clearly recycled Legionary equipment from past movies.

[qcarr]

Does anyone know the US release date of this film? Despite its shortcomings, it still seems worth a look...

[Narukami]

IMDB lists the release date for Agora as December 18, 2009 for the US and September 2, 2009 for Spain

However...

In Hollywood nothing is certain so those dates could change.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186830/

Here is another review from Cannes:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/05/17/ ... ars-agora/

[size=150:e75d29al]Cannes 2009 Review: Alejandro Amenabar's Agora[/size]
May 17, 2009
by Alex Billington

A historical epic at Cannes? That doesn't seem right, but indeed, Agora fits, not perfectly, but it's a good Cannes period piece, at least. In his latest ambitious film Agora, Spanish-Chilean director Alejandro Amenabar takes us back to ancient Egypt, in the city of Alexandria around the year 391 A.D. We are shown the story of the professor and philosopher Hypatia (Rachel Weisz), and the events that occur in Alexandria around her, mainly the rise of Christianity. Agora boasts some wonderful production design and presents a fascinating look at the religious feuds of the time, but otherwise struggles with some writing problems.

One of the problems with Agora is that it struggles to properly develop the romantic side of the story. One of her students, named Orestes (Oscar Isaac), who is destined for great things, is in love with her, but not she with him. On the other hand, Hypatia's humble and shy slave Davus (Max Minghella) is also in love with her, or so it seems. We never really see either of those relationships build into anything. That "love triangle", of sorts, does have an importance in the overall story, but it was the weakest part of the script. However, it's not completely awful, as I was utterly fascinated with the political and religious side of the story.

Agora's real focus is on the rise of Christianity and fall of the Pagans and the Jews in the city. At the time, the Pagans (as they were known), who worshiped Egyptian gods, made up a majority of the population, but Christianity was spreading and soon began to take over the city. We are shown the events that unfold as tempers begin to boil over amongst religions. The turning point comes when the Christians try to overrun the library, which Hypatia's father runs. All of this is occurring while the Roman Empire still rules in Egypt, and a Prefect, somewhat of an emperor with localized powers, has supreme control over the city. This presentation of the historical story was actually well done and certainly the highlight of the film for me.

While the writing may have some rough edges, there is still a lot to admire about Agora. It is hugely epic in scale, and beautifully conceived by director Alejandro Amenabar and his production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas. I wouldn't be surprised if it gets an Oscar nomination for production design, and it certainly deserves it, as the sets were lavish and grand in scale, while also intricately detailed. Indeed, Agora was a true cinematic transportation back to ancient Egypt, and Amenabar deserves heaps of praise for at least pulling that off. While the relationships in the story were undeveloped, I could at least appreciate the visuals.

This film has the "swagger" to be confused for a big budget studio production, but it's also got some finer aspects worth appreciating thanks to the grand vision of Amenabar. Unfortunately, if he would've spent some more time developing the script, maybe it could've been even better. Agora also suffers ever so slightly from the Australia effect - at one point in the middle, the story jumps ahead a few years, and the split could be considered the perfect place to break the film in two. But I, for one, will argue that Agora is great the way it is, and I'll be happy to revisit it again in the future, if not to at least appreciate the epic historical story.

Cannes Rating: 7.5 out of 10

The site (link above) also has photos, trailer, etc. from the film.

:wink:

Narukami

[Thiudareiks Flavius]

While you're wating for this movie to get general release, some of you might be interested in my recent article on this film, the myth of Hypatia as a martyr for science and analysis of the real story - "Agora" and Hypatia - Hollywood Strikes Again.

[Narukami]

Thanks for the link Thiudareiks

You know Hollywood -- Why let the facts get in the way of a perfectly good story.

Or, as Darryl F Zanuck once said, "There is nothing duller on the screen than being accurate but not dramatic."

The shame is that the two are not mutually exclusive, but that is something Hollywood seems not to have learned, at least for the most part.

Thanks again for the link to your article.

:wink:

Narukami