AGORA - MOVIE [DVD] [2009]

Christians murdering people in the streets? Actually this little disaster of a movie murdered history. I tried hard to finish but just couldn't. The makers had the opportunity to bring an ancient period of history to light and they went the route of pure fantasy.It's a disaster from the point of view of Christianity as well. Not in one single period of history have Christians behaved like that. I'm disgusted.

Well directed! And actors did a great job. What I didn't like is the misleading story-telling of showcasing the church in its earliest forms as an absolutely barbaric and murderous gang hungry for power, when during those ages christians were being persecuted still (in other areas of the world). Im not going to pretend that the church never made any mistakes or that it was not at fault at some points and events in history, but to make Christians appear in this horrible portrait of power-hungry people is absolutely deceitful! The smart way it was presented was not that they said "this is exactly what happened in that era", but rather in a story telling kind of way, which makes it impossible to condemn this movie, but also impossible to believe it :) or trust that these events were true!!I find it misleading for someone who does not have much information about that time, and what strikes me most is how the jewish population at the time came out looking like poor victims, when just a few years ago before Alexandria was declared a christian state, they had been doing the same atrocious things that Christians in this movie were accused of, if not worse by committing some mass executions to certain Christians in that area!Way to fabricate a different version of history!

Hypatia of Alexandria was the greatest Greek philosopher you never heard of. In Agora we are treated to a sample of Hypatia's life both before and after Christian zealots destroyed the library entrusted to Hypatia's family, a sister library to the main library across town. Learning and science fall into chaos and violence as what was once a non-violent culture war between Greco-Egyptian, Jewish, and Christian societies turns bloody.This film is enlightening and at times infuriating as we see in historically accurate detail the real impact of Constantine's adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the Empire. This film pulls no punches. There are no heroes. Just history as one city, and one genius scientist crumbles into ashes. This is where the Dark Ages begins.

Several reasons this movie earned the one-star rating - 1) Within four minutes of the movie, there's a naked woman. I am SO sick of that being a staple of Hollywood films; 2) The first scene shows a woman (Rachel Weisz) as a teacher of men (historically very inaccurate); and 3) Those murderous Christian "bad guys" (again, historically incorrect and a staple of Hollywood). There are other movies out there worth viewing - this isn't one of them. Ms. Weisz, you can afford to be more selective - you're an excellent actress and better than this.

I would normally give this film a 4-star review, as I think it's a good film, but not great. That being said I am giving it 5 stars as I think its 3.5 star cumulative rating is unwarranted and the product of biased viewers. Some viewers see this film as an attack on Christianity, even going so far as to say that Christians never committed acts of violence such as those portrayed in this film. Nothing could be further from the truth. If anything the violence is toned down, especially regarding what happened to Hypatia. Like all historical fictions, this film does take some liberties with historical fact. It's not meant to be a documentary. One could quibble about the date of the burning of the library of Alexandria, but that doesn't mean the film doesn't get the broad strokes right: who Hypatia was, what she stood for, and the conflict and violence that accompanied the rise of Christianity in the Roman empire.I found the story captivating and the subject matter intriguing. And I am especially grateful that-- seeing as Hypatia is regarded by many feminists as somewhat of a patron saint-- the writers did not try and make her into some sort of "grl power" figure, but stayed focused on the defining core of her character: she was a scientist and a philosopher and an unfortunate victim of religious zealotry.

Having said that; verily, I say unto you, my fellow Christians, we must never make these mistakes again, for it is written: 1] Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.[2] And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.[3] And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,[4] They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.[5] Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?[6] This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.[7] So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.[8] And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.[9] And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.[10] When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?[11] She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.[12] Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Without doubt a masterful recreation of the 4th Century City of Alexandria in Northern Egypt.This epic story of Science/Philosopher, Hypatia in a time of upheaval as the Roman Empire morphs into a new form of religious zeal, is undoubtably one of the great juxtaposition stories of all time.Beautiful and carefully crafted, this gives us a tainted look at the dawn of a state religion and the dusk of pagan beliefs, taking with it the philosophical surroundings of astronomical thought, calculation and discovery. Needless to say this pushed back scientific advancements by centuries.Non-the-less, the story centres on Hypatia's love of her art, her insatiable need to question everything, and it is this that puts her at odds with the emerging force of early Christianity.Sad and viciously intolerant to "others", this story applifies all and any doubt that may have existed about the gentle harmonic rapture portrayed by modern Christian story tellers of their days of old. The archived records of slaughter upon Jews, pagans and atheists rings true, even if not seen, in this rendering of ancient history (just after the Nicaen debacle of 325 CE and the forming of the Christianised Bible order of 367).The main and secondary stories are sympathetically told, showing us the order and beauty of Roman architecture, society, thought and beliefs - in opposition to the disruption, dismantling and distraction by the fanatical Christian cultist army who wrought their misguided wrath upon an unsuspecting but changing political landscape.The reviews on here that cry foul about the portrayal of raw corrupt ideology and methodoligy of the early church fathers need not look at this production's efforts to bring this biopic to life. But instead, look at the historic archives with cross-referencing to see just how utterly wretched, murderous and uneducated the usurpers were that took a number of religious ideas and twisted them into a sick cult.The world has never been the same since.

In this 2009 historical drama, the year is 391CE, and Hypatia teaches philosophy at the famous library at Alexandria but as the Roman Empire crumbles so tensions between ’Pagan’ and ’Christian’ grow. Amid the troubles two men –one a slave, both desire Hypatia, but how long will it be before violence [and religion] overtakes all.Based on a real person, this doesn’t gloss over events of the time and portrays her as multi-faceted being progressive in many ways, but conservative in others so she never becomes the total heroine that major characters often become, but many scenes thus appear contradictory. The story moves forward in three stages, each separated by a few years to end in 415CE and re-introduces her pupils as they progress through diverging career paths each being a caricature to highlight the differing factions.The single disc offers play. Subtitles [English, English for hearing impaired, none], special features [basically 7 deleted scenes] and scene selection. Rated 12, this has little to offend in the normal manner as there is no swearing, only 2 rearview shots of nudity but plenty of typical mob violence, however, those with strong religious views will find much to disagree with. However, the science and views of the time are generally well discussed, so although accuracy may be dubious, there is some merit to be found in the educational information as hypatia puts her science above everything –even herself.

An interesting film chronicling the early years of Christian development when the rising power of the Church began to overwhelm the opposition in the form of the persecution and martyrdom of the pagan mathematician Hypatia at the hands of a mob of 'Christian' fanatics.The destruction of the Library of Alexandria is blamed on several different causes but in this version it is the mob of fanatical converts working at the behest of Theophilus the Bishop of Alexandria.

Our scant knowledge of Hypatia of Alexandria comes mainly from writers of the past two centuries. We know very little about the real woman, about her beliefs or about her teaching. This film has done an excellent job of sifting through the dross as well as the meagre fifth century records to present a picture of one of the most intriguing figures in history. Rachel Weisz's portrayal is closer to my mental image than any I have seen of the dedicated and passionate (though not necessarily sexually so) mathematician and philosopher. Hypatia is often painted in sexist terminology or presented as symbol of a particular religious viewpoint, or of two opposing ones. 'Agora' manages to cut through all that to give us a balanced story of a scientist whose only mistake was, perhaps, to have been born in the wrong age.

The DVD quality was excellent, watched on a Panansonic 50" GT30.The film is basically exploring religious intolerance but with a heavy bias against early Christians (4th century).I've read comments by people on internet sites, say silly things to the effect, this film opened my eyes as to what Christianity is about. Unfortunately for them and their new found wisdom, this film is not a documentary created from peer reviewed papers. A lot it is conjecture and stylisation for effect, many times anti-christian effect.For example, there is no evidence that Christians destroyed books in Alexandria although we do know that they did destroy pagan symbols and idols.You will come away from the film thinking that St Cyril was involved in the death of Hypatia. There is no evidence that Cyril had anything to do with the death of Hypatia. The monk that attacked Orestes was executed, Cyril may have had the same fate had Orestes thought he was involved in his mentor and advisor's heinous murder.Many people say this is just a story for a film but unfortunately that is not the case here. In parts, it is cleverly misleading regarding historical events.I gave it 4 stars because it is a great film to watch, research its historical setting and discuss with interested parties - beats a lot of the Hollywood junk out there.