Agora (film)
Agora | |
---|---|
Directed by | Alejandro Amenábar |
Written by | Alejandro Amenábar Mateo Gil |
Produced by | Fernando Bovaira Álvaro Augustin |
Starring | Rachel Weisz Max Minghella Oscar Isaac |
Cinematography | Xavi Giménez |
Edited by | Nacho Ruiz Capillas |
Music by | Dario Marianelli |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Fox International Productions[1] (Spain; through Hispano Foxfilm S.A.E.[2][3]) Focus Features International (international)[1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 126 minutes |
Country | Spain |
Language | English |
Budget | €50 million |
Box office | $39 million |
Agora (
The story uses
Agora was screened out of competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival in May, and opened in Spain on 9 October 2009 becoming the highest-grossing film of the year for that country. Although the film had difficulty finding distribution, it was released country by country throughout late 2009 and early 2010. The film received a 53% overall approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes and seven Goya Awards in Spain, including Best Original Screenplay. It was awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Prize at the Hamptons International Film Festival.
Plot
In 391 AD,
Meanwhile, social unrest begins challenging the Roman rule of the city as Pagans and Christians come into conflict. When the Christians start verbally insulting the statues of the pagan gods, the pagans, including Orestes and Theon, ambush the Christians. However, in the ensuing battle, the pagans unexpectedly find themselves outnumbered by a large Christian mob. Theon is gravely injured, and Hypatia and the pagans take refuge in the Library of the Serapeum. The Christian siege of the library ends when an envoy of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I declares that the pagans are pardoned, but the Christians shall be allowed to take possession of the library. Hypatia and the pagans flee while trying to save the most important scrolls before the Christians overtake the library and destroy its contents. Davus chooses to join the Christian forces. He later returns with a gladius and sexually assaults Hypatia, but he begins to sob and offers his sword to her. However, she removes his slave collar and tells him that he is free.
Several years later, Orestes, now converted to Christianity, is prefect of Alexandria. Hypatia continues to investigate the motions of the Sun, the Moon, the five known "wanderers" (planets), and the stars. Some Christians ridicule the thinking that the Earth is a sphere by arguing that people far from the top would fall off the Earth. When they ask Davus what his opinion is, he avoids conflict by saying that only God knows these things.
Hypatia also investigates the heliocentric model of the solar system proposed by Aristarchus of Samos by having an object dropped from the mast of a moving ship, which demonstrates that a possible motion of the Earth would not affect the motion, relative to Earth, of a falling object on Earth. However, due to religious objections against heliocentrism, the Christians have now forbidden Hypatia to teach at the school. The Christians and the Jews come into violent conflict.
The leader of the Christians,
Cast
- Hypatia of Alexandria. Weisz was already a fan of Amenábar's work when she received the script, and was very interested in the role.[4] Although she had not heard of Hypatia before, she felt that her history was still relevant to the contemporary world: "Really, nothing has changed. I mean, we have huge technological advances and medical advances, but in terms of people killing each other in the name of God, fundamentalism still abounds. And in certain cultures, women are still second-class citizens, and they're denied education."[5] Weisz wanted to delve more into Hypatia's sexuality and her desires, but Amenábar disagreed. She also received science lessons to help inform her depiction of the character.[4] At the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, Weisz spoke about her style and approach: "There's no way we could know how people behave in the 4th century. I imagine they were still human beings with the same emotions as we have now. There are cultural customs, I guess, which were different. We approach the acting style to make the people flesh and blood and to make the acting incredibly naturalistic."[6]
- Max Minghella as Davus, Hypatia's father's slave. Davus is in love with Hypatia, but it is an unrequited love, and Davus turns towards Christianity instead. When Hypatia is about to be stoned to death at the end of the film, he decides to suffocate her because he still loves her and doesn't want her to suffer any physical pain. The character of Davus was invented as "eyes for the audience" and is not based on any historical account.[7]
- Orestes. Student of Hypatia, Orestes is an aristocrat, who like Davus, falls in love with her, and has a strong friendship with Hypatia.[7] Isaac was familiar with the history of early Christianity during the period represented in the film, but like Weisz, he had not heard of Hypatia before joining the project.[8]
- Sami Samir as Saint Cyril of Alexandria
- Manuel Cauchi as Theophilus of Alexandria, uncle of Cyril
- Ashraf Barhom as Ammonius, a Parabalani monk
- Michael Lonsdale as Theon of Alexandria, father of Hypatia
- Rupert Evans as Synesius of Cyrene
- Homayoun Ershadi as Aspasius the old slave. He acts as Hypatia's research assistant.
Production
Development
It's a movie that challenges the audience in terms of reasoning and trying to get into the story. I kept saying the movie is about astronomy and I wanted to express concepts that we study in school—science, mathematics—that don't show how fascinating the topic is [the way the subjects are taught in modern education]. I wanted to translate [man's] fascination with the pursuit of knowledge. I wanted to show astronomy and those who study it in the most appealing way. Those are the real heroes of the movie.
— Alejandro Amenábar[9]
After Amenábar completed
To prepare for the task of recreating the ancient city of Alexandria without relying on computer generated imagery, Amenábar reviewed older sword-and-sandal films such as The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), and Pharaoh (1966).[10] A year before the start of pre-production, designer Guy Hendrix Dyas spent three weeks with Amenábar in Madrid to do some preliminary work on the set designs and the recreation of the ancient city of Alexandria so that previous animations could be generated.
The film was produced by Fernando Bovaira, with Telecinco Cinema as the primary producer alongside MOD Producciones and Himenóptero and it had the participation of Canal+ España.[13][14]
Filming
Principal photography began on 17 March 2008, on the island of Malta, and was scheduled to last 15 weeks.[15]
Production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas used a mixture of sets and locations instead of CGI at Amenábar's direction.[16] The construction of the set employed almost 400 people, and was the largest ever designed on the island. Actor Charles Thake (Hesiquius) suffered minor facial injuries on the set when he collided with extras running during a scene.[17] Filming ended in June.[9]
Release
Agora premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival,[18] but the film was initially unable to find a domestic distributor due to its large budget and length.[19] The film also had trouble finding a distributor in both the United States and Italy, although it eventually found distributors in both countries.[20][21] The North America premiere was held at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2009.[22] Agora opened in Spain on 9 October 2009, breaking box office records for that country.[23] A limited release in the United States began on 28 May 2010, opening on two screens at the Paris Theatre and the Sunshine Cinema in New York City. The film opened on the West Coast of the United States on 4 June, playing only two screens: at The Landmark theatre in Los Angeles and at Regal's Westpark 8 in Irvine.[24]
Home media
In March 2010, Agora was released in Region 2-locked DVD and Blu-ray formats.[25] A Region 1-locked DVD was released October 2010.[26]
Reception
Critical response
A visually imposing, high-minded epic that ambitiously puts one of the pivotal moments in Western history onscreen for the first time.
— Todd McCarthy, Variety[27]
British writer and film critic Peter Bradshaw, of The Guardian, praised Alejandro Amenábar and his film, describing Agora as "an ambitious, cerebral and complex movie.... Unlike most toga movies, it doesn't rely on CGI spectacle, but real drama and ideas." Bradshaw also applauded Rachel Weisz's role as Hypatia, calling it "an outstanding performance".[28] American screenwriter and critic Roger Ebert liked the film and gave it three stars out of four. He said: "I went to see Agora expecting an epic with swords, sandals and sex. I found swords and sandals, some unexpected opinions about sex, and a great deal more."[29]
The film holds a 53% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 93 reviews with an average score of 5.7/10. The website's critics' consensus reads, "Noble goals and a gripping performance from Rachel Weisz can't save Agora from its muddled script, uneven acting, and choppy editing."[30]
Response from Christians
Before its release, the distribution company insisted on screening the film at the
The Religious Anti-Defamation Observatory (Observatorio Antidifamación Religiosa), a
In contrast, the New York-based Rev. Philip Grey wrote a positive review of the film and strongly recommended it: "Christians who see themselves in the fanatic, murderous monks of the film and feel offended need to do some serious soul-searching. (...) Hypatia as depicted in the film is firmly opposed to what, in her time and at her city, is offered—or rather, imposed by brute force—under the name of 'Christianity'. Nevertheless, she seems to me far more a follower of the precepts of Christianity than are her persecutors and tormentors. (...) In particular, in watching the deeply moving final scene, her going calmly to her death amidst the jeering mob, I could not help but strongly recall Jesus Christ on his own way to Golgotha".[33]
Box office
Agora was Spain's highest-grossing film of 2009, earning over $10.3 million within four days of its release on 9 October.[30]
Based on North American theatre tracking data from
The film grossed over $32.3 million (€21.4 million) by 1 December 2009, and about $35 million by 1 February 2010. As of 10 January 2011, Agora's worldwide box office earnings were approximately $39 million.[2] DVD and Blu-ray sales numbers are not publicly available.
Accolades
Agora was nominated for 13 Goya Awards, winning 7.[16] The film won the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Prize (US$25,000) in 2009 at the Hamptons International Film Festival.[35]
Historical accuracy
The Cambridge History of Science has described the film as "spectacularly anachronistic", singling out the film's portrayal of Hypatia's fictional discovery the law of free fall and heliocentric orbits for criticism.[37]
Antonio Mampaso, a Spanish astrophysicist and one of Agora's scientific advisors, stated in an interview that "We know that Hypatia lived in Alexandria in the IV and V centuries CE, until her death in 415. Only three primary sources mention Hypatia of Alexandria, apart from other secondary ones". He added that none of Hypatia's work has survived but it is thought, from secondary sources, that her main fields of study and work were geometry and astronomy. Mampaso dubiously claimed that Hypatia invented the hydrometer, an instrument still in use today, and that probably her father Theon of Alexandria, together with Hypatia, invented the astrolabe.[38] However, it is generally accepted that the astrolabe had already been invented a couple of centuries earlier, and that the instrument was known to the Greeks before the Christian era.[39][40] Similarly, the hydrometer was invented before Hypatia, and already known in her time. In this regard, Pappus of Alexandria was recorded as using the hydrometer before Hypatia was even born. Synesius sent Hypatia a letter describing a hydrometer, and requesting her to have one constructed for him.[41][42][43] There is no evidence that the historical Hypatia ever studied the heliocentric model proposed by Aristarchus of Samos[44] or that she ever found any evidence to support it.[36][45]
The set used in the film is meticulously historically authentic, showing a blend of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian architectural styles that would have been fitting to the time period,[36] but the costumes are anachronistic.[36] The Roman soldiers are shown wearing generic armor and weapons resembling the type used in the first century AD,[36] but the film is actually set in the fifth century AD, by which time Roman troops no longer wore segmented armor[36] and would have instead worn scale armor or chain mail.[46][47][48]
The film contains conflicting information regarding the fate of the Library of Alexandria and Hypatia's life.
See also
- Hypatia – an 1853 novel by Charles Kingsley
- Serapeum of Alexandria
- List of films about mathematicians
- List of historical drama films
- List of films set in ancient Rome
- The Name of the Rose, also about destruction of classical writings
- List of Spanish films of 2009
- New Atheism
References
- ^ a b Evans, Chris (13 July 2009). "Fox picks up Spanish rights to Amenabar's Agora". Screen International. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
- ^ a b c "Agora". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- Lumiere. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ Fine, Marshall (1 June 2010). "The Rachel Weisz theorem". hollywoodandfine.com. Archived from the originalon 5 June 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ^ "Hypatia, history and a never-ending story". The Sydney Morning Herald. Associated Press. 19 May 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ "Rachel Weisz in Cannes for Agora". Films & Stars. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ a b "En primicia: Max Minghella y Oscar Isaac, estrellas de 'Ágor". HolaTV.com. 9 October 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ "Agora - Oscar Isaac". Estrenos de Cine. 8 October 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ a b c Holleran, Scott (30 May 2010). "Interview: Alejandro Amenabar on Agora". scottholleran.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
- ^ a b Billington, Alex (26 May 2009). "Cannes Interview: Agora Director Alejandro Amenábar". First Showing. Retrieved 4 July 2021. See also: Saavedra, Mikhail (18 September 2009). "Alternavox at TIFF: In Conversation with...Alejandro Amenábar". Alternavox.net.
- ^ Goldstein, Patrick (17 May 2009). "At Cannes: Alejandro Amenabar's provocative new historical thriller". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- TheGuardian.com. London. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ Quílez, Raquel (24 February 2019). "Amenábar se pone épico". El Mundo.
- ^ "Agora Starts Shooting Stars". 4RFV.co.uk. 13 March 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ Rolfe, Pamela (14 March 2008). "Bovaira takes wraps off 'Agora'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ a b Olsen, Mark (30 May 2010). "Indie Focus: In 'Agora,' a faceoff between faith and science". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ Vella, Matthew (16 April 2008). "Charles Thake sustains minor injuries on 'Agora' set". Malta Today. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Agora". festival-cannes.com. 17 May 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2021. Fiona (18 May 2009). "Cannes 2009: Agora World Premiere - Reviews". filmofilia. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ISSN 0011-5509.
- ^ a b "Civil groups protest new anti-Christian film". Catholic News Agency. See also: Observatorio Antidifamación Religiosa Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ Amabile, Flavia (10 July 2009). "Il film che l'Italia non vedrà" (PDF). La Stampa (in Italian). Retrieved 4 July 2021. See also: Mikado distribuirà agorà in Italia Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine; Alejandro Amenábar's Agora Finally Bought for US Distribution
- ISSN 0011-5509.
- ^ Hopewell, John; Emilio Mayorga (4 October 2009). "'Agora' Reigns in Spain". Daily Variety. p. 5. Hopewell, John; Emilio Mayorga (16 November 2009). "Spain B.O. Buoyant". Daily Variety: 11.
- ^ "Newmarket Films: Agora". Newmarket Films.
- ^ Blu-Ray.com release info for Agora
- ^ Amazon.com page for Agora
- ^ McCarthy, Todd (25 May 2009). "Agora". Daily Variety. p. 16.
- TheGuardian.com. London. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ "'Agora' review by Roger Ebert". Chicago Sun-Times.
- ^ a b "Agora". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ The film uses a partial paraphrase of 1 Timothy 2:8 - 2:12, King James Version
- ^ Ordoña, Michael (4 June 2010). "Movie review: 'Agora' shows the true casualty of war". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ Rev. Philip B. Grey, "Real and perceived Christianity in today's mass media and popular culture" in 'Positive Christianity Review', Summer 2010 issue, p. 26, 29.
- ^ Knegt, Peter (1 June 2010). "Holiday Box Office: "Agora," "Micmacs" Post Decent Debuts; Restored "Breathless" Scores (UPDATED)". indieWire. Archived from the original on 7 January 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2020. For hard data see: Klady, Leonard (31 May 2010). "True Grit: The Sands of Tommy". The Weekend Report. Movie City News. Archived from the original on 11 August 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
- ^ "HIFF And Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Celebrate Ten Years". Hamptons.com. Hamptons. Retrieved 4 July 2021."Special Screening of Agora with Rachel Weisz". Hamptons International Film Festival. 26 May 2010. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k O'Neill, Tim. (20 May 2010). "Hypatia and Agora Redux=Armarium Magnum". Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ David C. Lindberg, Michael H. Shank (eds.), The Cambridge History of Science: Volume 2, Medieval Science, Cambridge University Press, 2013.
- ^ Sacristán, Enrique (10 September 2009). "'El mejor legado de Hipatia es su propia historia'". Servicio de Información y Noticias Científicas (SINC). Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI). Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ 'It is generally accepted that Greek astrologers, in either the 1st or 2nd centuries BCE, invented the astrolabe', Krebs, 'Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance', p. 196 (2004).
- ^ 'The invention of the astrolabe is usually attributed to Hipparchus of the second century BC. But there is no firm evidence to support this view. It is however certain that the instrument was well known to the Greeks before the beginning of the Christian era.', Sarma, 'The Archaic and the Exotic: studies in the history of Indian astronomical instruments', p. 241 (2008).
- ^ "Ep. 15 is rather short, but gives interesting information: it contains a detailed description of a hydroscope which Synesius asks Hypatia to order for him in Alexandria, requesting that she herself oversee its construction.", Kari Vogt, "The Hierophant of Philosophy" - Hypatia of Alexandria, Kari Elisabeth Boerresen and Kari Vogt, Women's studies of the Christian and Islamic traditions: ancient, medieval, and Renaissance foremothers, p. 161 (1993).
- ^ 'For the sake of completeness we must mention that fact that SYNESIOS in his letter to HYPATIA mentions a hydrometer, which according to some was already known in the fourth century AD to PRISCIANUS, that is a century before SYNESIOS and HYPATIA.', Forbes, 'A Short History of the Art of Distillation: from the beginnings up to the death of Cellier Blumenthal', p. 25 (1970).
- ^ 'In 402, Hypatia receives a letter from the ailing Synesius giving a brief description of what he calls a hydroscope. This is a scientific instrument which was then in common use, although Hypatian is often credited with its invention.', Waithe, 'Ancient women philosophers, 600 B.C.-500 A.D.', p. 192 (1987).
- ^ Edward Jay Watts, Hypatia: The Life and Legend of an Ancient Philosopher, Oxford University Press (2017), 145.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-137-56997-4.
- ISBN 9781851095261.
- ^ "Scale (Lorica Squamata)". Australian National University. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ^ Alexander Sarantis, "Military Equipment and Weaponry: A Bibliographic Essay", War and Warfare in Late Antiquity: Current Perspectives, 161.
- JSTOR 1558311.
- ^ ISBN 9780520258167.
- ISBN 9789047433026.
- ^ Judith S. McKenzie, Sheila Gibson and A. T. Reyes, "Reconstructing the Serapeum in Alexandria from the Archaeological Evidence", The Journal of Roman Studies, volume 94 (2004), 73-121.
- ^ "Agora", in The Encyclopedia of Epic Films, Scarecrow Press (2014), 6, notes that it is a "historical embellishment" without evidence, but upholds it as a "narrative device".
- Catholic New World. Archived from the originalon 8 July 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
- ^ Artemi, Irene A. (12 February 2010). "The historical inaccuracies of the movie "AGORA" by Alejandro Amenabar". Orthodoxos Typos. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ Edward Jay Watts, Hypatia: The Life and Legend of an Ancient Philosopher, Oxford University Press (2017), 145-147.
Further reading
- Alter, Ethan (25 May 2010). "Film Review: Agora". Film Journal International. Archived from the original on 31 March 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- Catholic New World. Archived from the originalon 19 November 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
- De Pablos, Emiliano; John Hopewell (13 March 2008). "Weisz, Minghella to star in 'Agora'". Variety.
- Debono, Galea (16 May 2009). "Malta-filmed Agora premieres at Cannes tomorrow". Times of Malta.
- , 4 June 2010.
- Jacoby, Susan (2 June 2010). "Reason is the star of "Agora"". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 11 June 2010.
- Lopez, John (28 May 2010). "Agora: The Arthouse Does the Summer Blockbuster". Vanity Fair.
- Mayer, Sophie (June 2010). "Agora". Sight & Sound. 20 (6). British Film Institute: 60.
- Orange, Michelle (28 May 2010). "Agora Strains to Keep Up With Its Own Staggering Vision". Movieline. Archived from the original on 1 June 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-14-311251-8.
- Richeson, A. W. (November 1940). "Hypatia of Alexandria". JSTOR 3028426.
- Rohter, Larry (21 May 2010). "Science vs. Zealots, 1,500 Years Ago". The New York Times.
- Scott, A. O. (28 May 2010). "Love Amid the Togas and the Intolerant". The New York Times.
- Stevens, Dana (28 May 2010). "Alejandro Amenábar's Agora". Slate.
- "Focus Features acquires epic 'Agora'". United Press International. 19 May 2008.
- Viney, Donald Wayne"Remembering and Misremembering Hypatia: The Lessons of Agora" The Midwest Quarterly A Journal of Contemporary Thought, Summer 2013, volume 54, number 4, pages 352–369.
- A. Zaccuri (14 April 2010). "Una strana Ipazia illuminista" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
External links
- Official website
- Agora at IMDb