Alejandro Amenábar’s Agora is a work of hagiography, and, for that matter, of anti-hagiography. Among its burdens are that Hypatia of Alexandria, the celebrated neo-Platonic philosopher and mathematician, is worthy of veneration, and also that Cyril of Alexandria, saint and doctor of the Church, is not. Neither of these theses is without prima facie plausibility, or unworthy of serious-minded and nuanced exploration. Agora is serious-minded to a fault, but nuance, while not absent, is lacking.
http://www.decentfilms.com/articles/agora
I thought this was such an interesting film. I definitely came home and looked up Hypathia. She's such an interesting character! Although, at first we were a bit sceptical of whether or not she was a real character.
ReplyDeleteI think it was a really good film for history extension too. It just shows us how history can be oversimplified, the gory details, the subtle differences and nuances in each event - glossed over.
Some of the girls, I know, interpreted it as 'anti-Christian' (as they were depicted as blood-thirsty and dressed in black and such) and though I don't completely agree or disagree with that sentiment, I think it shows really well how wars were never as black and white as words in a textbook. Like, in the film, the 'pagans' technically attacked the Christians who retaliated, but then the Christians attacked the Jews first, who also retaliated, but there were mass murders on both sides.
I don't know where I'm really going with this comment, but I thought it was quite an good film for HEx and Ancient.
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That's a really interesting point, Lil, and now I'm definitely going to make sure I watch this movie. :D
ReplyDeleteI saw the film when it first came out in NYC and loved Weisz' performance as Hypatia. Amenabar distorts some history in service to his art (neither Hypatia no the Library ended that way and Synesius wasn't a jerk), but that's what artists do. I don't go to the movies for history. For people who want to know more about the historical Hypatia, I highly recommend a very readable biography "Hypatia of Alexandria" by Maria Dzielska (Harvard University Press, 1995). I also have a series of posts on the historical events and characters in the film at my blog (http://faithljustice.wordpress.com) - not a movie review, just a "reel vs. real" discussion
ReplyDeleteThanks Lillian! I must admit I was surprised by just how confronting some people found it to be. I'm glad we didn't get to the ending. Gulps! We should have a very interesting discussion when we get back to school. But yes, it really does hit the mark for History Extension. I will explain just how much it hits the mark next term. But in the mean time I really think that people should look at all the reviews mentioned above.
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