Review of Agora (2009) by Shelly W — 26 Jun 2010

"Agora" starts in 391 A.D. in Alexandria where the relative peace of the great learning center is being put to the test by the rise of Christianity whose representatives are coming into conflict with the pagans. At one such confrontation, Davus(Max Minghella), a slave, falls for the old walking-on-fire trick and under the sway of Cyril(Sami Samir). He should know better because he assists Hypatia(Rachel Weisz) in her lectures on natural science. It is not only her lessons that grab the students' attentions, as Orestes(Oscar Isaac) professes his love for her at the theater in front of her father(Michael Lonsdale), giving her the present of his flutes. The following day, she gives him a gift in return...

"Agora" is set in a fascinating time and place that is wonderfully recreated on the surface and Rachel Weisz is one of the wonders of the modern world. However, the movie is too busy trying to make connections to the world of today, especially concerning ignorance, religious conflict and the suppression of women, that it does not go very deep at all. All of the film's positions I agree with and they are important but they raise as many questions as they try to answer. What troubles me the most is that Hypatia is about the only woman who has any dialogue in the whole movie. Even all of the slaves are men.(Points to the film for not avoiding the thorny subject of slavery.) She walks freely in the city before the guacamole hits the fan. And she clearly has an exceptional intellect, but is it so much so, that there are no female students? Her father not wishing to marry her off is a clue to the role of women but there needs to be more.