Agora is a 2009 Spanish historical drama film directed by Alejandro Amenábar and written by Amenábar and Mateo Gil. The biopic stars Rachel Weisz as Hypatia, a female mathematician, philosopher and astronomer in 4th century CE Roman Egypt. Surrounded by religious turmoil and social unrest, Hypatia struggles to save the knowledge in the Library of Alexandria from destruction.
Plot:
In the 4th century city of Alexandria, under the rule of the pagan Roman Empire, Greek philosopher Hypatia (Rachel Weisz), is a female teacher at the Platonic school, where future leaders are educated. Hypatia is the daughter of Theon (Michael Lonsdale), the director of the Musaeum of Alexandria. Hypatia, her slave, Davus (Max Minghella), and her pupils, Orestes (Oscar Isaac) and Synesius (Rupert Evans), are immersed in the changing political and social landscape. She is wooed by her student Orestes, while her slave Davus keeps his love for her secret. Meanwhile, social unrest begins challenging the Roman rule of the city as pagans and Christians come into conflict. The pagans, including Orestes and Hypatia's father, ambush the Christians to quash their rising influence, but find themselves unexpectedly outnumbered. Hypatia's father is gravely injured and Hypatia and the pagans take refuge in the Library of Alexandria. The Christian siege of the library ends when an envoy of the Roman Emperor declares that the Christians shall be allowed to enter the library. Hypatia and the pagans flee, grabbing what scrolls and documents they can, before the Christians overtake the library and destroy its contents. Davus, torn by his love for his mistress and the possibility of gaining his freedom by joining the rising tide of Christianity, chooses to join the Christian forces.
Several years later, Orestes, now converted to Christianity, is prefect of Alexandria. Hypatia continues to investigate the motions of the heavenly bodies. Some ridicule her for thinking that the Earth is a sphere, they argue that people far from the top would fall off the Earth, without taking into account that this theory includes that gravity is directed toward the center of the Earth. She also investigates the heliocentric model of the solar system proposed by Aristarchus of Samos; however, Christians have religious objections against heliocentrism, and Hypatia is now forbidden from teaching at the school. The Christians and the Jews come into conflict, committing violent acts against each other, with the Christians ultimately wresting power from the only other religious group remaining. The leader of the Christians, Cyril (Sami Samir), views Hypatia as having too much influence over Orestes and stages a public ceremony intended to force Orestes to subjugate her. Hypatia's former pupil, Synesius, now the Bishop of Cyrene, comes to her rescue as a religious authority counterweight, but says he cannot help her unless she accepts Christianity; She refuses. Hypatia makes a great discovery, finding that the Earth orbits around the Sun in an elliptical, not a circular orbit, with the Sun at one of the foci. Cyril convinces a mob of Christians that Hypatia foments civil disobedience and they vow to kill her. Davus tries to run ahead to warn Hypatia, but she is captured by the mob. Davus secretly suffocates Hypatia while the mob gathers rocks to stone her.
Cast:
Rachel Weisz as Hypatia of Alexandria
Max Minghella as Davus, Hypatia's slave
Oscar Isaac as governor Orestes
Sami Samir as Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop of Alexandria
Manuel Cauchi as bishop Theophilus of Alexandria, uncle of Cyril
Ashraf Barhom as Ammonius, a Parabolani monk
Michael Lonsdale as Theon of Alexandria, father of Hypatia and director of the Musaeum of Alexandria
Rupert Evans as bishop Synesius of Cyrene
Homayoun Ershadi as Aspasius the old slave. He acts as Hypatia's research assistant
Film je kod nas prvo trebao doći u ožujku. Čekala ga i čekala.. i ništa. Skinula ga, pogledala, i oduševljena sam filmom, i zgrožena postupcima ljudi koje je vjera oslijepila.
Onda je trebao doći u svibnju, pa ništa ni od toga. Na Cinestar stranici piše da treba doći ovaj mjesec. Uglavnom, imam ga, tako da me to više ne brine.
Smrt Hypatie:
One day in March AD 415, during the season of Lent, her chariot was waylaid on her route home by a Christian mob, possibly Nitrian monks led by a man identified only as Peter, who is thought to be Peter the Reader, Cyril's assistant. The Christian monks stripped her naked and dragged her through the streets to the newly Christianised Caesareum church, where she was brutally killed. Some reports suggest she was flayed with ostraca (pot shards) and set ablaze while still alive, though other accounts suggest those actions happened after her death.
Kompleksna tema koja se nemilosrdno dotiče mnoogo toga (s tendencijom poticanja gađenja spram religija). Ineče nezamjetan i bzvz, mali Max mi je bio prekjut u filmu kad je sav obrastao u bradu, Rachel Weisz divna. Iako vizualno i kvalitetom imam osjećaj da gledam holivudski film, svejedno sam primjetila da nedostaje ono nešto, strukturalno, u priči. Da nije Amenabarov film, dala bih najveće pohvale, ali kad znam koliko on talenta ima u sebi, ovo je moglo mrvicu bolje. Naravno, i dalje je za preporuku.