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Far from Heaven - Alejandro Amenábar's Agora


Ágora (Agora - The Pillars of the Sky) - E 2009 - Director: Alejandro Amenábar - Book: Alejandro Amenábar, Mateo Gil - Production: Fernando Bovaira, Alvaro Augustin - Executive producers: Simon de Santiago, de Jaime Ortiz Artiñano - Camera: Xavi Giménez, AEC - Editor: Nacho Ruiz Capillas - Audio: Glenn Freemantle - Costumes: Gabriella Pescucci - Equipment: Guy Hendrix Dryas - Music: Dario Marianelli - actors / actresses: Rachel Weisz (Hypatia), Max Minghella (Davus), Oscar Isaac ( Orestes), Michael Lonsdale (Theon), Rupert Evans (Synosius), Homayoun Ershadi (Aspasius) Samir Sammy (Cyril), Richard Durden (Olympius), Omar Mostafa (Isidoru), Oshri Cohen (Medorus), Yousef Sweid (Peter), etc. - Certificate: 12 - Length: 126 min. - Spain premiere: 09.10.2009, German theatrical release: 11.03.2009

The Roman managed Alexandria in 391 AD. The philosopher's daughter Hypatia (Rachel Weisz) teaches at the famous library of the North African city of mathematics and astronomy. While they were exploring the solar system is dedicated to take the religious conflicts between the increasingly strong Christians and Jews and the followers of the Greco-Roman Polytheism of the city. Finally it comes to the bloody religious war, which can not escape the philosopher.

Alejandro Amenábar's Agora told under the facade of the conventional history of film, a grim parable about religious fanaticism and intolerance. And this is - mind derived from Catholic Spain, where highly successful - film surprisingly mercilessly into the early Christianity court. The brotherhood of Christians and their militant Parabolani from the outset than aggressors, where each agent is right off the competition. First, it goes with murder and manslaughter, Rape and arson, looting and stoning against the polytheistic faith and its priests. After that, the competition is monotheistic turn: Judaism. Intolerance and hatred are universal and particular embodiment of the monk Ammonius Ashraf Barhom makes the illusion almost physically tangible: the man is on fire! Those who are still reasonably clear in my head are pure Machiavellian, which it is to gain power just right when the Agora, the traditional meeting place in the city center, is sinking in the blood. Share with the poor and hungry the bread: a means to expand their own fan base and to increase the troop strength. Involuntary, regardless of whether subtle or with the sword grows in the hand, the main thing, Christianity. Text exegesis of Scripture: gifts, as long as you find passages that support your position. And if few followers refer to forgiveness and tolerance: Who can presume to want to act on a par with Jesus? Not even anti-Jewish pogroms and the genesis of the Christian anti-Semitism saves from Amenábar. At the end of the film has to believe even the main character to it. So far, so unforgiving.

aim is rare in antique works are a serious analysis of the portraits of their mythology or history. Georg Seeßlen has aptly described, as in the U.S. Antique films of the 1950s, the pre-Christian world as "a kingdom of the great stories and a happy overcome, but still fascinating unity of private and public, political and religious, cultural and mythical life" served. In these films, the discourse of subliminal admiration for the supposed "Darwinist-technocratic rule of ancient empires" (Seeßlen) and their own cultural identity with the Puritan Christianity was shaped treats. For more recent European epics like Ágora like, even if the coordinates have shifted. Although by the lavish antique movie a probably not too unrealistic picture of that time still young and aggressively expanding Christianity. On the other hand, the story of the rise of a new monotheistic religion obviously a parable intended to present Islam. This may explain in addition to the excellent facilities and exquisite buildings, why the film in Spain with more than three million viewers, was so successful. At the same time Ágora is a current European blockbuster - according to director implemented with a budget of 50 million € and as Luc Besson's production with international actors occupied and turned into English - very critical and pessimistic about the much vaunted "Western Christian" character of Europe. Resolves its contradictions Ágora not occur, and this is precisely what makes him a successful film.

The German lender can Tobis contrast in his press release announced on the following Amenábar's film:

"In their pupils is the confident scientist [Hypatia] very popular, their male colleagues, but they watch with suspicion. Not only because she is a woman but also because it represents extremely modern theories. With a growing passion is dedicated to Hypatia the fundamental issues of the solar system - and long before Copernicus and Galileo! With their knowledge, they reap not only respect and recognition, but also draws the wrath of the increasingly strong Christians themselves. As, in the ancient Egyptian metropolis between pagans and Christianity to the religious war comes, Hypatia is caught between the crossfire. And privately she go- torn between a slave and her [...] Davus noble Orestes students [...]. But instead of saving in the protective arms of love, Hypatia falls into their own personal religious war and fight for the only valid principle of their teaching: the ideal of truth "

This Brief Synopsis, which reads like a Historienschmonzette Eichinger'scher embossing, tries to hire his movie and cheer for the audience as something different than he is. It is striking that the press release tries their best to eliminate the political dimension of Amenábar's film quite complex and reinterpret it to the story of emancipation. But combat actually the Christian zealots in Ágora the young scientist less because of their femininity, but above all power calculations in order to indirectly meet another man, namely Hypatia protector Orestes (Oscar Isaac) (one could say: You are so very sexists that they are not even willing to recognize a female scientist as a threat). And if Amenábar as a concession to the general public also indicated Ménage-à-trois between Hypatia, the slave Davus met installs (Max Minghella) and the nobles Orestes in his story, and so the inevitable double-plot-convention of mainstream cinema, then this relationship is in the movie itself but rather in the background (it could Hypatia consider here as well as asexual). In the announcement of the loan will come of it but the one (bad) dime novel sprung choice between truth and love and the ancient Hypatia to modern career woman, a second Päpstin à la Sönke Wortmann even that fails, the love, the "personal religious war to choose. " In addition, the German subtitle "The pillars of heaven," the brash to Ken Follett's historical hearty rind The Pillars of the Earth is ajar.

Those who walk the face of such promises to the rental on the glue would probably be disappointed by Ágora pretty. Who from such a counter-advertising can not be misleading, expects a "very demanding European film history, who sets himself boldly between the chairs. A medieval history as soap Pope Joan us remains fortunately spared.