The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)

The biographical story of Michelangelo's troubles while painting the Sistine Chapel at the urging of Pope Julius II.

Director:

Carol Reed

Writers:

Irving Stone (novel), Philip Dunne (screen story and screenplay)

Stars:

Charlton Heston, Rex Harrison, Diane Cilento

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charlton Heston	...	Michelangelo
Rex Harrison	...	Pope Julius II
Diane Cilento	...	Contessina de'Medici
Harry Andrews	...	Bramante
Alberto Lupo	...	Duke of Urbino
Adolfo Celi	...	Giovanni de' Medici
Venantino Venantini	...	Paris De Grassis
John Stacy	...	Sangallo
Fausto Tozzi	...	Foreman
Maxine Audley	...	Woman
Tomas Milian	...	Raphael

Storyline

Pope Julius is eager to leave behind works by which he will be remembered. To this end he cajoles Michelangelo into painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. When not on the battlefield uniting Italy, the Pope nags Michelangelo to speed up his painful work on the frescoes.

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Plot Keywords:

michelangelo | pope | chapel | painting | sistine chapel | 

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Taglines:

A raging era of titans, popes and princes... of conspiracy and conflict... of turmoil and transgressions... of a man among men... of magnificence!

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA Italy

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

7 October 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Irving Stone's The Agony and the Ecstasy

Filming Locations:

Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, International Classics, Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints) Mono (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of Michaelangelo's sculptures was of the Biblical figure Moses. Charlton Heston's resemblance to that sculpture earned him the role of Moses as well.

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Goofs

Some believe Michelangelo might have been bisexual because he wrote love letters to at least one man and one woman-though some historians thinks this was simply an exercise in writing-yet in the movie he seems to be strictly heterosexual.

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Quotes

[repeated exchange]
Pope Julius II: When will you make an end?
Michelangelo: When I am finished!

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Connections

Referenced in Undergrunnen (1966)

User Reviews

Harrison steals the show in an overblown movie with terrific sets

The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)

Coming with the American rush to "love art" in the 1950s and 60s (including the famous visit of the real Mona Lisa to America by boat), "The Agony and the Ecstasy" is a touchstone of how to make a hero of an artist and make him or her human, too. That's the key, you know--the artist has to be ribald and earthy but also transcendent, almost beyond his knowing.

That's the flawed paradigm at work here. We learn nothing about how Michelangelo's art was made--how it was painted. Nor how it was devised or inspired--the image of God in the clouds doesn't cut it for me. And we actually learn nothing about the real man--Charlton Heston's interpretation is fair enough, I suppose, but it's really just the necessary cliché of a talented (handsome) man tossed around by forced bigger than him.

What is supposed to drive the movie, and in a way saves it as a piece of entertainment, is the presence of the penny-pinching Pope, played by Rex Harrison (of "My Fair Lady" and "Julius Caesar" fame). His haranguing about the ceiling is blithe and fun. And Heston's complaining as he creates his masterpiece (with plaster dripping on his face--actually pudding in the shoot) is a foil for the Pope more than anything. Oddly, the Pope is a stronger character than the artist, and if history is at all right, we get the sense it was the other way around.

What is terrific about the movie is the set--a replica of the Sistine Chapel in a nearby movie studio. They gave them freedom to shoot it in all different phases of the painting, with and without scaffolding, night and day, and it's pretty marvelous to see it unfold in a way not so far from what must have been the truth.

Another bit of truth snuck in during these last days of the Hays Code: when someone comes looking for Michelangelo in the whore house, the prostitute goes hysterical laughing because, of course, he would never be found there. The artist was gay, and the world knew it then and knows it now, and the filmmakers get a clever wink in.

Another highlight is the incredible marble quarry in Carrara, a real place with what really is the best (seamless, pure, easily sculpted) marble in the world. Lucky it was nearby ancient and Renaissance Rome, both.

Don't avoid this movie at all, but don't expect anything truly penetrating. It's aggrandizing, it's formulaic, it's well filmed, and Harrison is in great form. But director Carol Reed ("The Third Man") chickened out a bit in a chance to push the boundaries a little harder.