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AGORA (2009): A Shift of Perspective

December 15th 2010 09:43

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Directed and co-written by Spaniard Alejandro Amenábar, who gave us the sublime ghostly thriller The Others (2001) and the thoughtful drama The Sea Inside (2004), Agora is that rare cinematic pleasure, a large-scale historical production lavish in its details, rich in characters and hypnotic action, yet overtaken by none of these secondary elements. In keeping with Amenábar’s credo - “my movies are not movies of answers but of questions” - the film is focused on discussing some hefty philosophical and timeless ideas, and doing it elegantly too. Agora is not shy about its purpose, taking its title from the Greek word for a place of assembly, fittingly associated with both commerce and free speech: it is where free citizens of the ancient world came to exchange goods and ideas. And the central idea behind this film is a potent one, if only everyone chose to accept its truth unanimously at any point in human history: ‘more unites us than divides us'.

Hypatia (Rachel Weisz) with her father on the steps of the famous Library of Alexandria in Agora (2009)

Like the sun at the centre of the story, which starts in 391 A.D. in Roman Egypt, is an unusual and very much historical heroine, Hypatia (Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener, The Fountain), a scholar by nature and calling, devoted to tracing the movements of the stars and passionate teaching of mathematics, astronomy and philosophy at the library of Alexandria, a vibrant hub of religion and learning. She is ahead of her time in her thoughts and talents as well as the ability to pursue them, a privilege and freedom her father Theon (Michael Lonsdale, Munich) endeavoured to bestow on her through his position as the senior scholar at the library.

Loves me not: Rachel Weisz and Oscar Isaac in Agora (2009)

Whilst neither inviting nor wanting love in her life, Hypatia nevertheless inspires not only respect but also serious romantic feelings in two men who will play a vital part in shaping the events to come - and she in shaping them. Orestes (Oscar Isaac, Robin Hood, Body of Lies) is the aristocratic pupil at the library, handsome, loyal and fiery in his pursuit of her hand. Hypatia makes a uniquely irrefutable and equally public argument explaining her position on the matter of marriage that is rather unforgettable. The other man that follows her every move is the young slave Davus (Max Minghella, Syriana, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, The Social Network), who struggles to find his way in the tangled web of pursuing love, ideals and freedom.

Illicit passion: Rachel Weisz and Max Minghella in Agora (2009)

These characters, who are unpredictable and allowed to grow well beyond the usual scope of high-end entertainment, live at a time of social, religious and political upheaval. The sweeping waves of pagan, Christian and Jewish influences converge in the cultural and political vortex of Alexandria, resulting not only in the burning of the famed library, but in recurring massacres of the local population as a result of fanaticism, greed and the endless struggle for power - the lower desires that keep civilizations locked in vicious circles of violent repetition. Amenábar does not glide over these processes, but takes his time to present the complexity and ruthlessness behind them and the way they affect the citizens of one city across a number of years, unfolding his plot with a resolute purpose and inescapability of a Greek tragedy. This tactic manages to avoid didacticism, tending to approach the story with a rather philosophical detachment which forcefully brings out powerful insights about human nature, the kind of forces that shape our history and how easy it is to fall under their thrall.

Cosmic shots of planet Earth, sprinkled throughout the film like calm eyes in the middle of a cyclone, serve to distance the viewer from the action presented on screen, offering another, much wider perspective on the events in troubled Alexandria. An image that lingers long after the movie is over is a shot that zooms out of the bloodshed in the city all the way to space, where our small planet, blue and serene, slowly turns accompanied by the continuing screams of suffering taking place on its surface. Is it not too late to start learning from our history now or do we just keep pressing the repeat button?

Review by Patricia Bieszk

Copyright P. Bieszk 2010

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