Agora (2009)

Very well executed

Excellent but underrated film

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Blistering performances.

Just brilliant - imo Agora rivals Gladiator, or at least plays in the same league. Superb setting, directing and acting, and on top one of the few movies which give us an idea how life in ancient Roman times (possibly) was. Rachel Weisz is imo one of the best contemporary actresses and one who can stand in very different movies and can play very different characters - from light comedies to avant-garde, and ofc she shines in Agora again with brilliance.Agora is a historical drama set in Roman Egypt. The movie got two main themes: the life of Hypatia of Alexandria, a (historical) woman dedicated to philosophy and mathematics, and the (bloody) rise of the Christian belief. These themes combined we get the eternal fight of humanity and rationality against superstition and religious fundamentalism. If you are interested in ancient times this movie is a must see.

As a Christian, I have liked this movie so much! It does not only reveal you some history about early christians, but it also teaches you so many things about faith.It does not matter that christians these days are not as combative as they are depicted in this movie, but there are so many other features, we should learn from them! Christians in this movie are depicted as brave, faithful, virtue, god-fearing people, who are steadfast in their faith and are ready to do anything to defend it.Parabalani always stand up for their brothers, they are one big family who are always ready to help the people around.The main character Davus has always liked and respected Hypatia, and at the end of the movie I really liked the scene where Davus knows that Hypatia is about to get killed by his brothers, but he does not renounce nor Hypatia nor his brothers in faith. He acts reasonably. He took care of Hypathia, so she wouldn't suffer much, and at the same time he does not rebel against his brothers to defend her because at some extent he agrees with his brothers that she IS guilty (that's what he believes, and faith is everything for him). He did a good act by supporting both sides at the same time, he got my respect for this decision.And the cast is amazing. The actors are not super famous, and that makes that movie even more interesting. I'm no expert in acting, but in this movie you can clearly see, that the acting is on the highest level. ALL actors were just amazing! I really liked Max Minghella (Davus) and Ashraf Barhom (Ammonius ), their characters were incredibly fascinating! I recommend this movie to all christians! Not sure if non christians will like it as well, but if you're interested in astronomy, history, or middle east, give it a shot ;) It's a great movie :)

This is a brilliant movie and I can barely fault it (my only complaint is that it implies that Hypatia was an Atheist, when as a Neoplatonist she was almost certainly a polytheist). I think the reason it has not been more successful is because it is about a time and place most people know very little about. I recommend this movie to all intelligent adults but, unless you have a reasonable background in classics and/or ancient history, I suggest you look up a bit about the period, and about Hypatia, first. The movie is not anti-Christian - a careful assessment of the story shows this (via a number of sympathetically portrayed Christians). Unfortunately so few Christians are actually aware of their early history that many of them will freak out when they realise how violent their history has been (at times) and declare the movie anti-Christian propaganda.

Firstly, I will say that the cinematography of this movie was beautiful. It's a shame that more viewers did not get to see it on the big screen in a cinema because here I'm sure it would have been even better. I first stumbled across this hidden gem on Netflix. I had never heard of the movie or heard of Hypatia but enjoy period movies so I decided to give this one watch. Its an unusual movie for the genre in that the lead is a woman and the casting of the primary male characters were all from virtual unknowns. Having said that, I thought all the acting was top notch across the board. The story is set in forth century Alexandria in a period of great religious change in the city. While at first glance the story seems to be about Hypatia, a philosopher and scientific pioneer, the story is rather seen through the eyes of her young slave Davus, who is played by Max Minghella. I had seen him play in the Social Network prior to watching this and here he was a revelation. His near mute performance is delivered primarily through looks, expressions and body language. Some of the scenes he shares with Rachel are stunning and very touching. The first act delivers strongly, but as the second act unfolds, the main characters seem to get lost in the the up swelling of religious upheaval. Part of the problem is the script here seems to relegate the interesting characters of Davus and Ammonius to spectators while Hypatia studies and the very one dimensional Cyril plots. Oscar Isaac as Orestes was very good in the second half. A powerful scene with his childhood friend Synesius is a strong one. The final section of the movie is completed by a beautifully passionate, violent but heart wrenching scene featuring the leads which is excellently performed. Aside from the scripting problems and some painful lines at times this movie could have been even better. I would class it as a very strong movie with excellent acting, beautiful visuals portraying a very interesting time in history. While many Christians will think of this as anti Christian, I think the overall impression I was left with was the moral of anti fundamentalism. Neither Christians, or Jews or Pagans were sold as good in this movie. All groups committed atrocities which parallel the tensions in our world. Overall worth a view on Netflix at least. 9/10.