Letter Review: Agora
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So this is the start of my new review series, where I shall attempt at giving various portions of films a letter grade and then summing them up. First up is the epic Agora. Here is the imdb synopsis:
“A historical drama set in Roman Egypt, concerning a slave who turns to the rising tide of Christianity in the hopes of pursuing freedom while also falling in love with his master, the famous female philosophy professor and atheist Hypatia of Alexandria.”
That’s kind of a misleading synopsis, it really was the story of Hypatia, Davus (the slave), Orestes, and the Christians. I wish I would have known this going in because it would have made for a more exciting movie experience had I not be fooled into thinking it was a star vehicle, rather than an ensemble piece. But here are my grades.
A: Art Direction, Cinematography, Costumes, Scale, Emotional Weight
The film was gorgeous and the sets my goodness. There was such attention to detail in the library and even the CGI portions looked real. The cinematography succeeded at making even the most ugly characters look good and it didn’t go unnoticed that while everyone dressed the same, Hypatia was always in a different color. Beautiful costumes for everyone. I loved that this film tried to be an epic character story and didn’t shy away from it. Those scenes of the pagans going vigilante through the town or the storming of the library were wonderful to behold. And despite the lack luster script, I was emotionally invested in the plight of the characters.
B: Acting
Why have I never heard of Oscar Issac? Playing the student turned prefect Orestes, he delivered what could be a career making performance. Those eyes gah! He embodied the bravado and insecurity of a man in love with someone he knew wouldn’t love him back. Rachel Weisz is an actress who should be showered with closeups and gorgeous lighting, which she was here. As Hypatia, she showed us the strength of a woman who believes in no religion but has a fragility in her quest to unlock the universe. The only weak link was Max Minghella, who played the slave turned revolutionary Davus. He was great in scenes that didn’t force him to show anger (his freedom scene and his last with Hypatia were especially great) but he did little more than squint and pout when he was supposed to show anger. Max showed great promise though, I’m looking forward to seeing his development as an actor.
C: The Script/Direction
For a movie with such rich historical context and good acting, the script was kind of a disappointment. First off, how does everyone have such an “ethnic” name but Hypatia’s slave Davus? I mean Davus, really? The movie felt a lot longer than 2 hours, which isn’t necessarily a good thing. The one plus to the script was that it treated everyone fairly. Even when the characters were being evil, we could see their motivation and never once was something thrown in to stir vitrol, the characters did that themselves.
Though I applaud Alejandro Amenábar on his epic film, I had an issue with the constant moving to outer space for a bit, then diving back into the action. It was just a wierd choice. Also the storming of the library could have been much more exciting if not for all the cut aways to various heights.
D: The character of Hypatia
This is not an indictment of Rachel Wiesz, who was fabulous in this movie, but I really had an issue with how the script treated the character. If she was such a great philosopher, why on earth did they wait till about the second half of the film before we saw how bright she was?
F: None
Overall: B-/C+
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A thoughtful review and, I agree, the film was beautifully shot. I saw Agora when it first came out in NYC and loved Weisz' performance as Hypatia. Amenabar distorts some history in service to his art (the Library didn't end that way and Synesius wasn't a jerk), but that's what artists do. For people who want to know more about the historical Hypatia, I highly recommend a very readable biography "Hypatia of Alexandria" by Maria Dzielska (Harvard University Press, 1995). I also have a series of posts on the historical events and characters in the film at my blog – not a movie review, just a "reel vs. real" discussion.