Agora - a movie worth watching

I missed Agora when it passed through the theatres in Winnipeg this past year. I had wanted to see it because of a review I had seen at the time it was released (http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/movies/28agora.html). I did find it on Shaw Pay-Per-View. I would recommend your viewing it.



It is a story set in Alexandria in 400 A.D. of many struggles: between science and religion, slaves and owners, and men and subjected women. Come to think of it there was also an explanation where the struggle between men and subjugated women was the same as the struggle between slaves and owners. How sad. The story revolves around Hypatia (played well by Rachel Weisz) who embodies the emergence of strong women, a scientist (philosopher, mathematician and astronomer), a teacher, a forward thinker and also a pagan. But there is a great more to this plot which portrays the conflict between pagans, science, Christians, Jews, and the Roman Empire. Mixed into it will be the love for Hypatia by one of her slaves, and also by one of her students, who becomes the Roman Empire’s prefect in Alexandria.



The cinematography is wonderful. The characters, particularly Hypatia, are strong and well developed. The movie is full of mind catching analogies. Listen for a leader of the Christians inciting his followers to violence and shouting to them that “God is with you”. An analogy to extremist Muslim fundamentalism? There is an interesting shot of ants atop the wall surrounding the Library of Alexandria, and then shortly after an aerial view of the Christians, who have taken the Library, ransacking it. The destruction of the statues brought to mind the pulling down of statues in Iraq during the American invasion. At one point the violence between the Christians and the Jews leads to the Christians stoning a large number of Jews to death, and then the Christians cart them away and pile the bodies to be burned. One reviewer has pointed out that these mangled corpses vividly call to mind the bodies of the dead in photographs of Auschwitz.



All in all a good movie, with a strong analogy to our modern situation of extremists, whether religious, political, etc., who attempt to indoctrinate and control others, either with a view or a consequence of inciting violence. Times haven’t changed very much!