Agora – The Movie
Tonight I am watching the movie Agora. I have been waiting several weeks for the DVD.
The movie is about the 4th century fall of the library of Alexandria and the life of Hypatia. The first conflict is between the christians and the pagans. As the number of christians grows, they start to gain more power.
After their gods have been offended one too many times, the pagans lash out and attack the christians. The pagans quickly discover that there are a lot of christians and they are quickly driven back to hide in the library. The christians soon take over and smash everything.
This is a big budget film and it shows. Sadly, it was only in a few theatres in the US. It appears that every US movie distributor was afraid to support this movie, I can see why. The christians work very hard at getting rid of everyone that is not christian. After all of the pagans are converted or cast out the christians start to attack the jews. Not much of a surprise I guess. When you have the TRUTH why listen to other voices.
Winding through the movie is a discussion of science. Does the Sun hold the Center or does the Earth? The movie shows that christianity stops people from asking questions. When the priest pulls out 1 Timothy 2: 8-12 the shit really hits the fan.
8I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. 9I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. 11A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
In summary, the movie is a very graphic and dark presentation of the human condition. However, it is well done and worth watching.
Here is the movie trailer….
I saw Agora when it first came out in NYC and am looking forward to the DVD with its extras. It was a beautifully shot movie addressing an important modern theme. I felt there were a few historical distortions. The Great Library of Alexandria didn’t end as Amenabar depicted and Synesius wasn’t such a jerk. However, that’s what artists do. I don’t go to movies for accurate history. For people who want to know more about the historical Hypatia, I highly recommend a very readable biography by Maria Dzielska called “Hypatia of Alexandria” (Harvard Press, 1995.) I also have a series of posts on my blog (http://faithljustice.wordpress.com) on the events and characters from the film – not a movie review, just a “reel vs. real” discussion.