Agora (2009)

A historical drama set in Roman Egypt, concerning a slave who turns to the rising tide of Christianity in the hopes of pursuing freedom while also falling in love with his master, the famous female philosophy and mathematics professor Hypatia of Alexandria.

Director:

Alejandro Amenábar

Writers:

Alejandro Amenábar, Mateo Gil

Stars:

Rachel Weisz, Max Minghella, Oscar Isaac

11 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rachel Weisz	...	Hypatia
Max Minghella	...	Davus
Oscar Isaac	...	Orestes
Ashraf Barhom	...	Ammonius
Michael Lonsdale	...	Theon
Rupert Evans	...	Synesius
Homayoun Ershadi	...	Aspasius
Sami Samir	...	Cyril (as Sammy Samir)
Richard Durden	...	Olympius
Omar Mostafa	...	Isidorus
Manuel Cauchi	...	Theophilus
Oshri Cohen	...	Medorus
Charles Thake	...	Hesiquius
Harry Borg	...	Prefect Evragius
Yousef 'Joe' Sweid	...	Peter (as Yousef Sweid)

Storyline

Alexandria, 391 AD: Hypatia teaches astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy. Her student Orestes is in love with her, as is Davus, her personal slave. As the city's Christians, led by Ammonius and Cyril, gain political power, the institutions of learning may crumble along with the governance of slavery. Jump ahead 20 years: Orestes, the city's prefect, has an uneasy peace with Christians, led by Cyril. A group from the newly empowered Christians has now taken to enforce their cultural hegemony zealously; first they see the Jews as their obstacle, then nonbelievers. Hypatia has no interest in faith; she's concerned about the movement of celestial bodies and "the brotherhood of all". Although her former slave doesn't see it that way.

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Plot Keywords:

christian | slave | love | philosophy | prefect | 

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Taglines:

Alexandria, Egypt. 391 A.D. The World Changed Forever

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History | Romance

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Certificate:

14A

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Spain]

Country:

Spain

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 October 2009 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Alexandria

Filming Locations:

Delimara, Malta

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$44,313 (USA) (28 May 2010)

Gross:

$617,840 (USA) (15 October 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mod Producciones, Himenóptero, Telecinco Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min 141 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There were days when shooting had to delay for a few seconds. This was because of the nearby churches of Kalkara, Vittoriosa amongst others which have their bells obviously ringing at mid-noon. These bells have been in use for decades. The bells could be heard from the sets of Ricasoli.

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Goofs

In one of the movie scenes a quite large Opuntia (Prickly pear cactus) can be seen. These plants are not native to the old world and they were introduced to Africa after discovery of the Americas. In fact, Opuntia was introduced to Europe at the beginning of the 16th century by Spanish seamen. There is one cactus"shrub" that is shown several times, also the the juicy fruits are eaten by the locals. This makes one wonder, have the Spanish movie-makers deliberately done the cactus a "part of the plot" ?

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Quotes

Heladius Dignitary: The majority of us here... have accepted Christ. Why not the rest of you? It's only a matter of time and you know it.
Hypatia: Really? It is just a matter of time?... As far as I am aware, your God has not yet proved himself to be more just or more merciful than his predecessors. Is it really just a matter of time before I accept your faith?
Heladius Dignitary: Why should this assembly accept the council of someone who admittedly believes in absolutely nothing?
Hypatia: I believe in philosophy.

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #18.92 (2010)

User Reviews

Best film of 2009

This is arguably the best film of 2009, depending on whether or not you understand the filmmaker's perspective. I believe, in some ways, full appreciation of this film can only be achieved if you have watched a completely unrelated work: "Cosmos", by Carl Sagan.

Both the Library of Alexandria and Hypatia were terms that constantly came up in Cosmos; and although it is unclear if Sagan had any influence in the making of this film, it really embodied Sagan's philosophy. For example, there are a lot of aerial shots, looking at the Earth from afar - often during dramatic scenes of either love or violence that shows both how insignificant and how precious the human existence is. In spite of all our wars and hate and differences, we are all being carried on this lone blue vessel, journeying through the vast emptiness of space. Are we really that different? Or do more things unite us than divide us, like Hypatia says? In a moment of sheer ignorance, men can destroy their own proudest and most beautiful achievements and erase all of their accumulated knowledge. It's happened before, and it could happen again. This film delivered this message with beautiful precision - are we naive, like Orestes of Alexandria, to think we have finally changed? Or should we look at ourselves in the mirror and know that we still have a long road ahead to better ourselves? The choice is up to us.