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Special Features
Director’s Presentation
"Journey to Alexandria" Documentary
Deleted Scenes
Production Design story boards
Costume Design storyboards
Photo Gallery
"Journey to Alexandria" Documentary
Deleted Scenes
Production Design story boards
Costume Design storyboards
Photo Gallery
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Alternating between cosmic splendor and human squalor, Agora is a movie of unusual ambition. In the last days of the Roman Empire, the Egyptian city of Alexandria is torn between the aristocratic pagan society and the emerging, rough-and-tumble Christians. As this broad cultural conflict teeters violently back and forth, the scientist-philosopher Hypatia (Rachel Weisz, The Brothers Bloom, The Fountain) struggles to resolve the motion of the planets with her belief in celestial perfection. Tangled in her life are three men: a Roman prefect (Oscar Isaac, Body of Lies), a Christian bishop (Rupert Evans, Hellboy), and a slave (Max Minghella, The Social Network) who turns to Christianity to escape his unrequited love for Hypatia. Some viewers will be uncomfortable with Agora's depiction of early Christianity and others will quibble about the movie's historical accuracy, but the movie's themes--of faith vs. zealotry, of religion vs. the spirituality of science--and its vivid depiction of one culture being brutally supplanted by another demonstrate a scope seldom found in contemporary film. Writer-director Alejandro Amenábar previously made popular ghost story The Others, mind-bender Open Your Eyes, and heartbreaker The Sea Inside; clearly, this is a career to watch. Don't overlook the deleted scenes--the gorgeous original opening shot accentuates the twin pulls of science and spirituality. --Bret Fetzer
Product Description
Set in ancient Egypt under Roman rule, AGORA follows the brilliant and beautiful astronomer Hypatia (Weisz) who leads a group of disciples fighting to save the wisdom of the Ancient World, as violent religious upheaval spills into the streets of Alexandria. Among these disciples are two men competing for her heart: the witty, privileged Orestes (Isaac) and Davus (Minghella), Hypatia’s young slave, who is torn between his secret love for her and the freedom he knows can be his if he chooses to join the unstoppable surge of the Christians.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
276 of 297 people found the following review helpful
By laguna_greg
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Is it right to question? Is it proper to doubt? Is it the question itself, or the questioner, who offends in asking? These are some of the issues presented in "Agora", the compelling film by Alejandro Amenabar starring Rachel Weisz.
The film presents the fascinating life of the Roman philosopher/mathematician/scientist Hypatia, a neo-Platonist philosopher of 4th century Alexandria. Very little is known of her scientific or philosophical discoveries, as none of her writings survived the fall of Rome and the rise of Christianity. What we do know of her comes from other writers of the period, who tell us she was widely regarded as the bright jewel of the empire for her wisdom, virtue and brilliant erudition. The broader outlines of her life are known, as are the larger historical and cultural context in which she lived.
As the film opens, Hypatia is laboring to develop a theory that explains the orbits of the planets in contradiction to the accepted Ptolemaic model of the time. Amenabar and his writer take a few artistic liberties in his presentation, as he imagines Hypatia's train of thought along these lines in the absence of any documentary evidence. We just don't know if this was in fact the case. But never mind that, as Art is well served here.
Do the planets travel around the earth, or the sun? Hypatia struggles relentlessly with this question against the backdrop of abrupt and shocking changes in Roman culture. The early Christians have gained a political foothold with imperial favor, and begin to challenge the Pagans and Jews in the provincial capital. The confrontations become violent. As the Christians gain power, they repress any differences of belief and insist on agreement with their faith, often at the point of a sword. Fascinated with this emerging model of the universe, Hypatia persists in her inquiries in the face of growing danger.
Amenabar has created a very convincing Alexandria. The sets and costumes are wonderful, and the writing is quick and idiomatic. Rachel Weisz gives another stand-out performance as a genius completely taken up with the creative process of thought. Weisz's Hypatia is a woman of great perspicacity, intellectual honesty, personal warmth and moral courage. She gives us the convincing internal struggle with a Really Big Idea, a feat of acting that requires great artistic restraint. She succeeds admirably. Hypatia's simple scientific experiments are mesmerizing and charged with drama. Her intellectual struggles are at the same time rigorous and intuitive, deeply moving, yet not cold or distant. She cares about the people around her as much as her Really Big Idea. The rest of the cast performs at the same superb level.
Much has been said elsewhere about the romantic interests in the film. Fortunately, these are entirely secondary to the larger contrasts of the emerging cosmological model and the ultimate closing of the Roman mind. And it is highly refreshing to see a plot driven by a conflict other than the typical Hollywood-formula "love interest".
In life, we know that Hypatia died a martyr to her beliefs. We also know that this moment in European history marked the beginning of the end of the free-thinking philosophy peculiar to Classical, Hellenistic culture. Which makes Hypatia's problems quite contemporary, as people everywhere face the same challenge today. Is it good or right to question? If history is any judge then it certainly is, because that is the only way one will arrive at the truth.
The film presents the fascinating life of the Roman philosopher/mathematician/scientist Hypatia, a neo-Platonist philosopher of 4th century Alexandria. Very little is known of her scientific or philosophical discoveries, as none of her writings survived the fall of Rome and the rise of Christianity. What we do know of her comes from other writers of the period, who tell us she was widely regarded as the bright jewel of the empire for her wisdom, virtue and brilliant erudition. The broader outlines of her life are known, as are the larger historical and cultural context in which she lived.
As the film opens, Hypatia is laboring to develop a theory that explains the orbits of the planets in contradiction to the accepted Ptolemaic model of the time. Amenabar and his writer take a few artistic liberties in his presentation, as he imagines Hypatia's train of thought along these lines in the absence of any documentary evidence. We just don't know if this was in fact the case. But never mind that, as Art is well served here.
Do the planets travel around the earth, or the sun? Hypatia struggles relentlessly with this question against the backdrop of abrupt and shocking changes in Roman culture. The early Christians have gained a political foothold with imperial favor, and begin to challenge the Pagans and Jews in the provincial capital. The confrontations become violent. As the Christians gain power, they repress any differences of belief and insist on agreement with their faith, often at the point of a sword. Fascinated with this emerging model of the universe, Hypatia persists in her inquiries in the face of growing danger.
Amenabar has created a very convincing Alexandria. The sets and costumes are wonderful, and the writing is quick and idiomatic. Rachel Weisz gives another stand-out performance as a genius completely taken up with the creative process of thought. Weisz's Hypatia is a woman of great perspicacity, intellectual honesty, personal warmth and moral courage. She gives us the convincing internal struggle with a Really Big Idea, a feat of acting that requires great artistic restraint. She succeeds admirably. Hypatia's simple scientific experiments are mesmerizing and charged with drama. Her intellectual struggles are at the same time rigorous and intuitive, deeply moving, yet not cold or distant. She cares about the people around her as much as her Really Big Idea. The rest of the cast performs at the same superb level.
Much has been said elsewhere about the romantic interests in the film. Fortunately, these are entirely secondary to the larger contrasts of the emerging cosmological model and the ultimate closing of the Roman mind. And it is highly refreshing to see a plot driven by a conflict other than the typical Hollywood-formula "love interest".
In life, we know that Hypatia died a martyr to her beliefs. We also know that this moment in European history marked the beginning of the end of the free-thinking philosophy peculiar to Classical, Hellenistic culture. Which makes Hypatia's problems quite contemporary, as people everywhere face the same challenge today. Is it good or right to question? If history is any judge then it certainly is, because that is the only way one will arrive at the truth.
269 of 301 people found the following review helpful
By Sarakani
Format:DVD
Alexandria was one of the most glorious cities of Eurasia, a hybrid of three sets of cultures, European, Nubian and Asian created by Alexander and the Ptolemy dynasty around 320BCE. Its heyday was probably around 200BCE and it lasted well over a millennium. Alexandria was eclipsed by the dark ages around 415 when the whole of Egyptian history in the classical mould came to an end as Theodosius, the Emperor of a dying Rome imposed Christianity on Egypt. Most temples, their gods and writings were destroyed or defaced, from Zeus in Olympia to the temple of Artemis at Ephesus in modern Turkey. In Egypt the Seraphium was destroyed, a daughter library to the famous library of Alexandria that was probably largely destroyed around 50BCE when Julius Caesar took over Alexandria and Egypt fell under Roman sway. This film is very much an encapsulation of the Christianisation of Alexandria and the destruction of its ancient ways, making it ripe for ruin and decay. The one structure that did survive that forms a backdrop to this film is the Pharos lighthouse, created in 250BCE that survived all the way into around 1280 by which time Alexandria was part of the Islamic Empire.
As a satellite city of Rome, Alexandria still enjoyed a cultural and educational reputation at the time of Hypatia, a neoplatonist philosopher who had studied in Athens and Italy. She taught at the Seraphaeum representing a sort of University/Library scholastic complex dedicated to learning. Hypatia was part scientist and mathematician but also and no less importantly a philosopher. She probably believed in transcendental modes of consciousness as taught by Plotinus. She worked with her farther Theon and together they edited several works, clarified various mathematical books added their own contributions, none of which have survived (though some of Hypatias editing may be present in Greek mathematics that she helped transmit). Hypatia invented or devised several scientific instruments. She was obviously a person of importance, not merely a noted academic. Towards 415AD there was a power struggle between the Roman prefect Orestes and the Roman Archbishop Cyril of Alexandria. Orestes was allied with Hypatia and Cyril probably engineered her elimination as a symbol of paganism and witchcraft.
What facts we have come from the letters of her students among other works, including clergymen and the historian Socrates Scholasticus. We know very little about whether the Serapheum had a large book collection and how much of the library of Alexandria had survived there into the time of Hypatia.
This film encapsulates the facts available in the context of a triangle of rivalry between Judaism, Christianity and Paganism and also a struggle between the Church and State. It objectifies Alexandria seen from space. The restoration of the city is very good but perhaps does not do justice to the glories of the city that once was that probably possessed more colour, rather than the dusty restoration the film presents. I was disappointed that there were so many candles shown. They did not use candles. They used lamps of olive oil and we know much about these lamps from surviving examples. So much more could have been shown about Hypatia herself, even as a semi fictitious character. Maybe a vignette of her writing with a quill pen in lamp light, and how she travelled around in a carriage rather than on foot. Here we do get glimpses of her with her students and a famous incident of her rebuffing one of them who declared his love for her. This incident did take place. More is shown of Hypatia the astronomer and scientist and less of her as a spiritual being, a philosopher though some indication is given. My favourite line is concerns Hypatia stating that her father would have celebrated a conjunction between Mars and perhaps Jupiter in Aquarius. Hypatia was no atheist secularist though she would have been a rational thinker who questioned dogma as the film tries to show.
I believe that given the limited resources the film commanded they have done the best they could. Indeed certain details of the script reveal a depth of reading and research that is new to me to deserve exploration. They concentrate on Hypatia formulating a heliocentric view of the Earth's rotation as stated by Aristarchus from one of his books. We hear about this book from the "mother library" that once was in Alexandria of which the Serapheum, associated with Hypatia was a satellite.
In this film they indicate bloody conflicts arising between the pagans and the Christians. I think that most of the aggression came from the Christians given they were supported by Rome and there isn't much evidence for the pagans attacking Christians in cold blood as indicated (though blood was probably spilt one way or another). We are aware that the Serapheum was destroyed and the film recreates this incident on the basis of a precedent which is questionable. Later we see another scene where the Jews rouse the ire of the Christians. What is clear from history is that the Jews of Alexandria were attacked and dispersed, again rendered in unholy detail in this film. The ancient anti semitism is portrayed very realistically and may arouse emotion.
The conflict between Orestes and St Cyril is dramatized extremely well leading to a rather tragic climax. Rachel Weisz gives a good performance where Hypatia stands out like an English heroine. The real Hypatia may have been a bit more tanned (and theoretically a lot older when she died) but Weisz is believable. If only the props were a bit better, with lamps and a carriage for her. Her face looks pained and haunted as she is lead to her death, dealt with rather sensitively if a touch unconvincingly given Hypatia's slave who softens the blow.
Dramatic license is acceptable and much of the context is very powerfully served up. I could have watched a film an hour longer if necessary if more history was introduced. We see the theatre and overall the city comes alive, about as close as a film could ever take you to classical Alexandria. The fanaticism of emergent Christianity is I believe faithful enough though this film is not an attack on religion per se. Indeed, it always tries to create a precedent to indicate why the Christians became hostile, precedents not always contained in history though the hostility was clear. Overall, the film does a good job.
The greatest tragedy of this film is that despite covering its costs it has had a poor audience in the USA and the UK. As far as I'm aware the film was only largely shown in London in two cinemas and rather tentatively at that. I get the impression there is a conspiracy to suppress this film that mirrors the conspiracy to suppress Hypatia. Far more deserves to be shown of Alexandria as a centre of learning and humanity at its finest. Egypt was far more glorious then than it even aspires to today. However the glories of Alexandria continue to emerge from the sea. Above all the Egyptians could learn from this film, though the bulk of them will probably remain unconvinced.
The flavor and power of this film is sufficiently strong and convincing for it to be considered very significant. At least as significant as the old Cleopatra film (with Elizabeth Taylor) that happened to be a cinematic flop. I just hope this film helps to keep the lamps and the light alive for civilisation to continue without getting bogged down in dogma.
As a satellite city of Rome, Alexandria still enjoyed a cultural and educational reputation at the time of Hypatia, a neoplatonist philosopher who had studied in Athens and Italy. She taught at the Seraphaeum representing a sort of University/Library scholastic complex dedicated to learning. Hypatia was part scientist and mathematician but also and no less importantly a philosopher. She probably believed in transcendental modes of consciousness as taught by Plotinus. She worked with her farther Theon and together they edited several works, clarified various mathematical books added their own contributions, none of which have survived (though some of Hypatias editing may be present in Greek mathematics that she helped transmit). Hypatia invented or devised several scientific instruments. She was obviously a person of importance, not merely a noted academic. Towards 415AD there was a power struggle between the Roman prefect Orestes and the Roman Archbishop Cyril of Alexandria. Orestes was allied with Hypatia and Cyril probably engineered her elimination as a symbol of paganism and witchcraft.
What facts we have come from the letters of her students among other works, including clergymen and the historian Socrates Scholasticus. We know very little about whether the Serapheum had a large book collection and how much of the library of Alexandria had survived there into the time of Hypatia.
This film encapsulates the facts available in the context of a triangle of rivalry between Judaism, Christianity and Paganism and also a struggle between the Church and State. It objectifies Alexandria seen from space. The restoration of the city is very good but perhaps does not do justice to the glories of the city that once was that probably possessed more colour, rather than the dusty restoration the film presents. I was disappointed that there were so many candles shown. They did not use candles. They used lamps of olive oil and we know much about these lamps from surviving examples. So much more could have been shown about Hypatia herself, even as a semi fictitious character. Maybe a vignette of her writing with a quill pen in lamp light, and how she travelled around in a carriage rather than on foot. Here we do get glimpses of her with her students and a famous incident of her rebuffing one of them who declared his love for her. This incident did take place. More is shown of Hypatia the astronomer and scientist and less of her as a spiritual being, a philosopher though some indication is given. My favourite line is concerns Hypatia stating that her father would have celebrated a conjunction between Mars and perhaps Jupiter in Aquarius. Hypatia was no atheist secularist though she would have been a rational thinker who questioned dogma as the film tries to show.
I believe that given the limited resources the film commanded they have done the best they could. Indeed certain details of the script reveal a depth of reading and research that is new to me to deserve exploration. They concentrate on Hypatia formulating a heliocentric view of the Earth's rotation as stated by Aristarchus from one of his books. We hear about this book from the "mother library" that once was in Alexandria of which the Serapheum, associated with Hypatia was a satellite.
In this film they indicate bloody conflicts arising between the pagans and the Christians. I think that most of the aggression came from the Christians given they were supported by Rome and there isn't much evidence for the pagans attacking Christians in cold blood as indicated (though blood was probably spilt one way or another). We are aware that the Serapheum was destroyed and the film recreates this incident on the basis of a precedent which is questionable. Later we see another scene where the Jews rouse the ire of the Christians. What is clear from history is that the Jews of Alexandria were attacked and dispersed, again rendered in unholy detail in this film. The ancient anti semitism is portrayed very realistically and may arouse emotion.
The conflict between Orestes and St Cyril is dramatized extremely well leading to a rather tragic climax. Rachel Weisz gives a good performance where Hypatia stands out like an English heroine. The real Hypatia may have been a bit more tanned (and theoretically a lot older when she died) but Weisz is believable. If only the props were a bit better, with lamps and a carriage for her. Her face looks pained and haunted as she is lead to her death, dealt with rather sensitively if a touch unconvincingly given Hypatia's slave who softens the blow.
Dramatic license is acceptable and much of the context is very powerfully served up. I could have watched a film an hour longer if necessary if more history was introduced. We see the theatre and overall the city comes alive, about as close as a film could ever take you to classical Alexandria. The fanaticism of emergent Christianity is I believe faithful enough though this film is not an attack on religion per se. Indeed, it always tries to create a precedent to indicate why the Christians became hostile, precedents not always contained in history though the hostility was clear. Overall, the film does a good job.
The greatest tragedy of this film is that despite covering its costs it has had a poor audience in the USA and the UK. As far as I'm aware the film was only largely shown in London in two cinemas and rather tentatively at that. I get the impression there is a conspiracy to suppress this film that mirrors the conspiracy to suppress Hypatia. Far more deserves to be shown of Alexandria as a centre of learning and humanity at its finest. Egypt was far more glorious then than it even aspires to today. However the glories of Alexandria continue to emerge from the sea. Above all the Egyptians could learn from this film, though the bulk of them will probably remain unconvinced.
The flavor and power of this film is sufficiently strong and convincing for it to be considered very significant. At least as significant as the old Cleopatra film (with Elizabeth Taylor) that happened to be a cinematic flop. I just hope this film helps to keep the lamps and the light alive for civilisation to continue without getting bogged down in dogma.
69 of 76 people found the following review helpful
By Remus
Format:DVD
1500 years later, the story of Hypatia continues to rouse furious controversy. I recently came across a religious blog decrying AGORA which began: "I have not actually seen the movie, and have no intention of doing so...All I know about it is what I have read in an article in the New York Times..."and then proceeded to "debunk" the movie. Thus making precisely the point that Amenábar is making in AGORA, about the pernicious nature of dogma. Bow down before my holy book, or die!
This is a magnificent movie, perhaps the best film ever made about the Ancient World, and visually one of the most beautiful films you'll ever seen. The soundtrack is as haunting as the visuals; the scene in which Orestes plays the pipes before a crowd of theater-goers in an attempt to woo Hyapatia could have become kitsch in lesser hands, but Amenábar imbues the moment with an unforgettable poignancy. This is also one of the scenes in which the camera rises high above the earth, establishing a cosmic viewpoint that informs the whole movie. There is true genius in the making of AGORA.
This is a magnificent movie, perhaps the best film ever made about the Ancient World, and visually one of the most beautiful films you'll ever seen. The soundtrack is as haunting as the visuals; the scene in which Orestes plays the pipes before a crowd of theater-goers in an attempt to woo Hyapatia could have become kitsch in lesser hands, but Amenábar imbues the moment with an unforgettable poignancy. This is also one of the scenes in which the camera rises high above the earth, establishing a cosmic viewpoint that informs the whole movie. There is true genius in the making of AGORA.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very interesting message
This is a thoughtful movie masquerading as a sandal-and-sword movie. It is set in Alexandria after the Roman Empire had adopted Christianity. Read more
Published 1 day ago by Jackal
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Movie
I happen to love stories from antiquity but I think that most people would enjoy this film even if they aren't especially fond of the ancient world!
Published 7 days ago by Jodi
4.0 out of 5 stars
Religious fanatacism versus reason
This film is both an impressive historical drama and more importantly a powerful critique of religious fanaticism. Read more
Published 10 days ago by G. Richards
4.0 out of 5 stars
heavier than the usual fare
I rented this after doing some late night reading which made mention of Hypatia's painful end at the hands of Alexandria's Christian ruler (I believe it was Augustus)... Read more
Published 10 days ago by E.K. Wright
5.0 out of 5 stars
Review
This is certainly a cerebral movie and NOT the standard popcorn fare such as "Gladiator" or time period series like "Spartacus". Read more
Published 14 days ago by Christopher T. Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars
The fight for surpressed truth
This is a truly great movie: Location, cinematography, and plot. It is the classic Theme that caused great controversy and required many, Agora included to go to their death for... Read more
Published 15 days ago by Bob Wolter
4.0 out of 5 stars
Copy
Have seen the film wanted my own copy. Excellent film about a woman who has remained buried in history. A brilliant & remarkable woman.
Published 16 days ago by P. Hirsch
3.0 out of 5 stars
Long and lackluster
I thought the movie had good performances, It just had a cheesey story, and lack of ation made it very long!
Published 16 days ago by Gordonvl
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classical thinking
There is so much going on in this movie! It is a wonderful snapshot at some of the early classical processing of the world around us. Read more
Published 18 days ago by Willow
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent for my students
Captures a part of ancient history not often seen. The ending is rather violent for my taste, but illustrative of the period.
Published 20 days ago by Peg C.
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