[film] Agora (2009)
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 10:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranthThe other day, courtesy of Lovefilm, we watched Agora, which tells the story of Hypatia of Alexandria.
This film fails the Bechdel test in that Hypatia is the only female speaking role. But it passes in spirit, or so I profoundly hope, because she's that rare creature in film: a woman who is not defined, or even much affected, by her relationships with men. Despite the IMDB summary, which focuses on one of the male characters, Agora is very definitely Hypatia's story.
It's a very uneven film: the premise and the characterisation are marvellous, but the pacing is erratic. There are far too many scenes of vandalism -- probably an anachronistic term, come to think of it, but an anachronism or two helps the history go down -- and civil unrest; there aren't enough scenes showing the passage of time. Hypatia and other characters did visibly age over the decade or so of the film's action, though I doubt the real Hypatia at 45 looked anything like as well-preserved as Rachel Wiesz in her final scenes.
The depiction of Hypatia's scientific teaching, experimentation and thought is very well done. I especially liked the visualisation of her work on elliptical orbits. And I laughed out loud at the 'female rags' incident (described about ten lines down in the linked page), which is one of those small human actions that makes a historical figure into a person. Rachel Weisz carries the role well: she conveys an air of excitement, almost playfulness, that reminds me of several Celebrity Scientists.
Links concerning historical accuracy, et cetera:
* non-spoilery
* spoilery (part 1 of 3)
Note to film-makers: If you wish to provide background infodumps, you should not use white text on a (mostly) pale background.Idiots. Couldn't read it at all, though I suspect it might have been clearer on a cinema screen.
This film fails the Bechdel test in that Hypatia is the only female speaking role. But it passes in spirit, or so I profoundly hope, because she's that rare creature in film: a woman who is not defined, or even much affected, by her relationships with men. Despite the IMDB summary, which focuses on one of the male characters, Agora is very definitely Hypatia's story.
It's a very uneven film: the premise and the characterisation are marvellous, but the pacing is erratic. There are far too many scenes of vandalism -- probably an anachronistic term, come to think of it, but an anachronism or two helps the history go down -- and civil unrest; there aren't enough scenes showing the passage of time. Hypatia and other characters did visibly age over the decade or so of the film's action, though I doubt the real Hypatia at 45 looked anything like as well-preserved as Rachel Wiesz in her final scenes.
The depiction of Hypatia's scientific teaching, experimentation and thought is very well done. I especially liked the visualisation of her work on elliptical orbits. And I laughed out loud at the 'female rags' incident (described about ten lines down in the linked page), which is one of those small human actions that makes a historical figure into a person. Rachel Weisz carries the role well: she conveys an air of excitement, almost playfulness, that reminds me of several Celebrity Scientists.
Links concerning historical accuracy, et cetera:
* non-spoilery
* spoilery (part 1 of 3)
Note to film-makers: If you wish to provide background infodumps, you should not use white text on a (mostly) pale background.
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Date: Wednesday, November 9th, 2011 04:30 pm (UTC)