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Crispina

Agora, the movie

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Just finished watching this on On Demand. Not a feel good movie at all is it? The sets and photography are outstanding but I come away with the same feeling I always do when a woman is portrayed in movies. Woman smart and strong? Woman die.

 

So according to this story, she was killed not for her beliefs really but because she influenced the prefect. Is it true she was helped to die before the stoning or was that part added for the movie?

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Before we go any further with this, no spoliers please. It's still sitting on top of my DVD player wrapped in the cellophane.

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Before we go any further with this, no spoliers please. It's still sitting on top of my DVD player wrapped in the cellophane.

 

Oops. ;)

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Oops. ;)

 

Sorry, Crispina, that wasn't aimed at you (I know enough to know that the lady in question was beaten to death by a mob or some such.) I was pre-empting others' replies.

 

Someone let the cat out of the bag the other day that the legions beat Spartacus in the end, and knowing the one-nil result at the start spoiled the whole film for me. . . . I'm joking.

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It was a big shock hearing about Spartacus - I mean, he walked through the qualifiers with ease, I really didn't think he'd go out in the knockout stages.

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Ghost of C,

The title is so apt. Let us know when you've finished seeing the film.

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Great movie, I enjoyed watching it (although I'm not sure if enjoyed is the right word). As for the ending (no spoilers), that did happen although the details of the event are incorrect.

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I asked my non-historically interested friend if he fancied watching Agora, and he asked if it was about goats!

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I asked my non-historically interested friend if he fancied watching Agora, and he asked if it was about goats!

 

There are some bearded and smelly characters there and also some horny ones.

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Just finished watching this on On Demand. Not a feel good movie at all is it? The sets and photography are outstanding but I come away with the same feeling I always do when a woman is portrayed in movies. Woman smart and strong? Woman die.

 

So according to this story, she was killed not for her beliefs really but because she influenced the prefect. Is it true she was helped to die before the stoning or was that part added for the movie?

 

 

I just saw the movie recently. I found it interesting even though it was not entirely correct historically. nevertheless, I believe that it captured the hostility that went on back then between the former establishment (pagans) and the fanatical side of Christianity. Some individuals have criticized the movie for being anti-christian, and i don't agree with that perspective. Christians are portrayed as a rather diverse group: a spectrum ranging from moderates such as Orestes to fanatical terrorists such as Ammonius.

 

Here's an example of a somewhat negative review of the film:

http://armariummagnus.blogspot.com/2010/05/hypatia-and-agora-redux.html

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Just finished watching this on On Demand. Not a feel good movie at all is it? The sets and photography are outstanding but I come away with the same feeling I always do when a woman is portrayed in movies. Woman smart and strong? Woman die.

 

So according to this story, she was killed not for her beliefs really but because she influenced the prefect. Is it true she was helped to die before the stoning or was that part added for the movie?

 

 

I just saw the movie recently. I found it interesting even though it was not entirely correct historically. nevertheless, I believe that it captured the hostility that went on back then between the former establishment (pagans) and the fanatical side of Christianity. Some individuals have criticized the movie for being anti-christian, and i don't agree with that perspective. Christians are portrayed as a rather diverse group: a spectrum ranging from moderates such as Orestes to fanatical terrorists such as Ammonius.

 

Here's an example of a somewhat negative review of the film:

http://armariummagnu...gora-redux.html

 

 

I agree. As a Christian, I am pleased that the movie shows what happens when Christianity assumes state power. It loses its soul. This is an apt lesson for present day USA, where so many politicians are using sacred texts to justify purely political goals.

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In the absence of "James May's Manlab", I decided to watch Agora yeaterday evening.

 

What a depressing, frustrating, bleak, demoralising . . . and totally wonderful film it is.

 

SPOILER ALERT !!!!!!

It has one of those endings, a little like The Wicker Man, where many viewers should, by rights, expect a happy ending, and it never comes. It leaves you empty at the horrors that religious mobs are capable of.

 

OK, there's the meer sliver of a slightly better outcome than might have been, but it's still something a potential suicide should steer well clear of.

 

I was surprised to see it only got 7.2/10 on Amazon. Anyone voting less than 9/10 for this film should be dragged away and stoned.

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Although I liked the movie (and my wife more than I did), I think it is interesting to watch the director's commentary on the bonus section of the DVD.

 

I enjoyed some of his historical perspectives.

 

I didn't enjoy some of his modern historical analogies, however.

 

I can accept that he is a former Christian who has become cynical of religion. I may even agree with him to some degree.

 

I am slightly defensive, however, when he equates the Parabalani (the Christian brotherhood portrayed in the movie as intolerant and fanatical) with us Americans. :shocking: He assures viewers that with the election of President Obama, however, we Americans will become more tolerant and rational thinking. Good to know. :huh:

 

guy also known as gaius

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I am slightly defensive, however, when he equates the Parabalani (the Christian brotherhood portrayed in the movie as intolerant and fanatical) with us Americans. :shocking: He assures viewers that with the election of President Obama, however, we Americans will become more tolerant and rational thinking. Good to know. :huh:

 

Thanks for the scoop. Even if I take a dim view of the Religious Right in America, I take an ever dimmer view of sweeping generalizations about my country, or assertions that the current president is a savior who will redeem us in the eyes of the world.

 

I'm not spending any money on this movie.

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