Status: Out of Competition

While there is undoubtedly something to be said about the timely nature in Agora’s presentation of the dangers of fundamentalism and oppressive religions, the manner in which this is achieved leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Aside from the abysmal violence of the Christians (and the Jews on one occasion), certain images and character swerves feel somewhat self-consciously provocative and needlessly inflammatory. The appearance of a pile of the burning carcasses of Jewish victims of the Christians’ vengeful culling offer a stark and heavy-handed link with the most famous Holocaust iconography- which no doubt the filmmakers saw as an appropriate commentary on the current fundamentalist nature of so many world governments, but there has to have been a more subtle way of presenting it. Okay so the vision of the bodies lie in stark contrast to the beauty of the Alexandrian scenery around them, and are made profoundly more affecting for it, but this was a particularly crude moment in a film whose tone was otherwise not in sync with it.

A thought occurred to me during the screening which kept presenting itself- Agora acts like a Forrest Gump story for the origins of mass Christianity in the modern (post-Roman world), undoubtedly reflecting more allegorical issues while trying to base a large amount of historical progression upon a series of inter-locking personal stories. If only director Alejandro Amenabar had been more disciplined, and developed the personal stories better (and added in more emotional depth) this idea wouldnt have occurred to me so easily, and the objective may have remained more subtle and less contrived.

Agora seems to have an interesting, if slightly atypical message about love- Davus seems to represent the bridge that the audience are supposed to follow linking love and religion. Both, suggest the film, are governed by obsession and require a certain level of detachment from logic and reason (hence the attacks on Weisz’z Hypatia). With such a bold message embedded in the narrative, it is a massively missed opportunity that the film fails to capture any real emotional depth- there are an awful lot of furrowed brows, wearing the expression of unrequited love, but there is little in the way of actual passion.

Such is the pattern for the rest of the movie- where there are opportunities to develop emotional sequences, they are either unexplored- Theon’s death, Hypatia’s feelings for either of her potential suitors (apart from her initial rebuttal of Orestes)- or else remain painfully underdeveloped- Davus’ inner turmoil primarily. This is a far cry from the historical epics of old, and foloows the trend of the majority of the new epics (Alexander, Kingdom of Heaven to a lesser degree) that prefer the perfect presentation of sets and costumes over character substance.

The supposed love-triangle that the film seems to forefront is nothing of the sort, thanks to Hypatia’s apparent apathy and the fact that Davus and Orestes arent both aware of the other’s feelings towards her: there could have been enormous scope to develop added conflict in this element of the plot by making Hypatia’s feelings towards either more obvious. It would also have made Hypatia’s final scene all the more emotionally draining, which is what I would have expected from a film that so readily pins its epic colours to the mast.

The actors cope manfully with the material they are given- Max Minghella’s attempts to convey his character’s turmoil are a good start, and Oscar Isaac as Orestes is somewhat charismatic- but the film pins too much hope on a central character who isnt up to scratch. Rachel Weisz is usually pretty good, but something does not sit right when she becomes Hypatia- I don’t believe any of the philosophy she wrestles with, and in places she seems barely able to raise an eyebrow in response to her surroundings. She is of course marrie to her work, but I found it a far stretch to imagine why either Orestes or Davus would continue to harbour such strong feelings for her when they receive nothing in return.

For all of its epic sensibilities, Agora inherently feels like it’s missing a lot of substance- the characters and emotional heart of the film appear inadequately developed and the constant fundamentalist jibes are too much even for an atheist like me.