Something about a film dealing with an intellectual woman being undercut by religious and patriarchal forces in society feels incredibly relevant right now. Agora (2009) offers a fictionalized look at the life of Hypatia (played by Rachel Weisz), a Roman philosopher and mathematician who is just trying to do what a girl wants to do, namely scientific research, while living at the crumbling end of the Roman Empire in the 5th century C.E. As Christianity takes hold, intellectualism becomes outré, and Hypatia gets caught between the old way of pursuing free thought and the new way of trying to squash it. Plus she’s a woman, so obviously the Christians are extra uncool with her (the Romans were barely tolerant as it was).
With Oscar Isaac as Orestes, a student of Hypatia’s who becomes a Roman official, and Max Minghella as Davus, Hypatia’s loyal slave-turned-Christian-oppressor forming a love triangle with Hypatia (who soundly keeps both in their place because she’s got better things to do than sex with either of them), the tension between culture, religion, science, and gender roles is the main story here. Hypatia is framed as a brilliant teacher with a loyal following, she’s got beauty and brains, and like so many similar heroines before her, she just wants to be left in peace with her books. But of course, that’s not going to happen. Once Christianity takes hold and the Emperor himself converts to the newfangled monotheistic ways, there’s suddenly no room for scientific study that minimizes Christianity’s supremacy in all things, and definitely not for a woman scientist who thinks it’s 100% total bullshit.
Seriously, does this sound familiar at all? Like we could be living through more or less the same fucking thing right now?
Ahem.
The costuming in this film falls into the “ahistorical but pretty” category. Designed by Gabriella Pescucci, there’s a lot of Fortuny-esque pleated tunics which look fabulous on Ms. Weisz, but are not in any way historically accurate. I’m not complaining, don’t get me wrong. I love this look as a stand-in for the authentic draped garments of the era, Hollywood-ized though it is.
What did you think of the costumes in Agora (2009)? Tell us in the comments!
The costumes did seem slightly anachronistic, but I loved what Rachel Weitz wore. Honestly one of the most depressing films I’ve seen, and I don’t think I could bear a rewatch in these political times.
I’d like to point out that a key reason quite a lot of classical literature and scholarship survived to be printed was the work of Christian collectors, copyists and scholars – not a few of them directly employed by the Greek & Latin (What we nowadays would call the Orthodox & Roman Catholic) Churches, including monks and other clergy (Not to mention the traditions of Classical scholarship they preserved, not least by sponsoring the earliest universities in Europe).
The work of bigots and zealots is to be shunned in any century, but it seems only fair to balance the picture (Not least by pointing out that it was pagan Rome that stamped out the Druids and did it’s best to persecute other cults, such as those of Cybele).
On a less apologist note, I would dearly love to see Rachel Weisz play Cleopatra – the nose, the voice, the knack for playing the smartest person in the room, looks good in Hellenistic AND Pharaonic?
Ha! Perhaps ‘Mr Weisz’ can still play her Mark Anthony…
That is a wonderful idea.
Yes!
The costuming in this movie was BEAUTIFUL as was its cast. Like someone above said, it’s so depressing that I don’t think I could rewatch it, especially in these times.
The atheist hagiography of Hypatia uncritically dramatised in “Agora” is about as accurate as Middle Ages Catholic hagiography – see Tim O’Neil on History for Atheists for the actual story.
This is one of my favorite movies EVER. I adore its recreation of ancient Alexandria. I’m in love with the entire cast, especially Ms. Weiss. And the sacking of the library scene, with Dario Marianelli’s score swirling as scrolls are tossed in the air, gives me (horrified) goosebumps every time. We’ve lost SO much, including Hypatia’s entire output. Monks didn’t bother preserving that.
The afore-linked History for Atheists article is an excellent, detailed, eminently rational summary of why this movie is historical nonsense. I love Rachel Weisz and Hypatia (regardless of my religion- I’m an Orthodox Christian), but the film isn’t a historical narrative – it’s an attempt to map modern religious and intellectual narratives onto the history of Late Antiquity and individuals whose worldview was decidedly different than any of ours. I’d love to see a miniseries about Hypatia’s real story created by someone like Robert Eggers, who engages with the cultural belief systems of the time periods he’s attempting to portray.