Agora

Agora is an ambitious, sumptuous film that is far more cerebral than most films you'll stumble upon. I was sorry, then, that I didn't like it more. It was interesting, but it wasn't moving.

Set in the 4th Century A.D. in an Alexandria that is ruled by a weakening Roman Empire, Agora is the story of Hypatia, a woman who calls herself a philosopher, though she teaches more than that. She's got a bead on theories that wouldn't be proved for more than a thousand years by the likes of Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton.

She's loved by two men. One is her student and an aristocrat who later becomes prefect (Oscar Isaac); the other is her slave (Max Minghella). But she will never marry--as her father (Michael Lonsdale) points out, if she marries she would have to give up her science.

While all this is going on a seismic shift is taking place. Christians, once outlawed, have gained the upper hand, due to the conversion of Constantine. They have the gumption to start toppling the statues of Roman gods, and eventually force everyone to convert. Hypatia won't, though, and is branded a witch for her heretical views, such as a heliocentric solar system.

All of this is interesting intellectually, but I just never got into the film. Everything looks right, and Rachel Weisz is terrific as Hypatia (who was a real person from history). How many actresses get to play a scene where they get excited figuring out the Earth travels around the sun in an ellipse? This film could be screened in history or astronomy classes, with a spirited discussion to follow, but as a straightforward cinematic entertainment I found it dragged and grew frequently impatient.

I note on Wikipedia that some Christian groups objected. I can see why--they are depicted almost entirely without benefit, and as nothing more than an ignorant, intolerant mob.