Powerful

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

As Good As It Gets

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Just brilliant - imo Agora rivals Gladiator, or at least plays in the same league. Superb setting, directing and acting, and on top one of the few movies which give us an idea how life in ancient Roman times (possibly) was. Rachel Weisz is imo one of the best contemporary actresses and one who can stand in very different movies and can play very different characters - from light comedies to avant-garde, and ofc she shines in Agora again with brilliance.Agora is a historical drama set in Roman Egypt. The movie got two main themes: the life of Hypatia of Alexandria, a (historical) woman dedicated to philosophy and mathematics, and the (bloody) rise of the Christian belief. These themes combined we get the eternal fight of humanity and rationality against superstition and religious fundamentalism. If you are interested in ancient times this movie is a must see.

This is one of the worst ( and I mean that - w o r s t) movies of all times. The merits are few, but it all is undermined by a blatant, loud, crude and crass agenda - it is all lies that try to depict early Christians as a mob of science-haters, wild fanatics and wanton murderers. Lies, and no acting, no props, no FXs and no efforts can save this mesh from a disaster. This is all lies, and I must say, I hated wasted time and the movie What is sad, with time, such films will become numerous and loud. This is a vivid example of how history is distorted and how truth is replaced with a pure lie. This movie can be seen once as an example of pseudo-accurate depiction of very dubious facts

As a Christian, I have liked this movie so much! It does not only reveal you some history about early christians, but it also teaches you so many things about faith.It does not matter that christians these days are not as combative as they are depicted in this movie, but there are so many other features, we should learn from them! Christians in this movie are depicted as brave, faithful, virtue, god-fearing people, who are steadfast in their faith and are ready to do anything to defend it.Parabalani always stand up for their brothers, they are one big family who are always ready to help the people around.The main character Davus has always liked and respected Hypatia, and at the end of the movie I really liked the scene where Davus knows that Hypatia is about to get killed by his brothers, but he does not renounce nor Hypatia nor his brothers in faith. He acts reasonably. He took care of Hypathia, so she wouldn't suffer much, and at the same time he does not rebel against his brothers to defend her because at some extent he agrees with his brothers that she IS guilty (that's what he believes, and faith is everything for him). He did a good act by supporting both sides at the same time, he got my respect for this decision.And the cast is amazing. The actors are not super famous, and that makes that movie even more interesting. I'm no expert in acting, but in this movie you can clearly see, that the acting is on the highest level. ALL actors were just amazing! I really liked Max Minghella (Davus) and Ashraf Barhom (Ammonius ), their characters were incredibly fascinating! I recommend this movie to all christians! Not sure if non christians will like it as well, but if you're interested in astronomy, history, or middle east, give it a shot ;) It's a great movie :)

May contain spoilersThe film Agora is a dramatization of a historical event, the destruction of the Serepaeum, the "library of Alexandria." Read that again: a dramatization of a historical event.It is no understatement to say that the loss of the knowledge in this greatest library and center of learning in the ancient world had catastrophic consequences. That this film has generated a lot of controversy is not surprising. Much of the negative press is based on some factual errors in the film. It seems to be conveniently forgotten that this is a drama, not a historical documentary. Agora actually deserves credit for how much it gets right. It convincingly recreates the era and the city of Alexandria during a turbulent time when several factions vied for power in the city, pagans, Jews and Christians. Although it may appear that the Christians come off looking the worst of the bunch, there are no angels here. One of the pagan leaders incites a massacre of Christians which backfires when they discover there are far more Christians in the city than them. The Jews lure some Christians into an ambush under the pretense of a fire which the well meaning Christians respond to with water buckets. And the Christians defile holy places of both rival groups. The film makes it quite clear however, that the Christian zealot Cyril (Samir) is driven more by desire for power than by faith and is merely using his followers for political ends. The movie is less an "attack" on Christianity than a warning about the dangers of fundamentalism of any stripe (even, dare I say, atheism), and of blindly following charismatic leaders.The central character is the famous pagan mathematician and astronomer Hypatia (Weisz). A story of a love triangle between her and the noble born Orestes (Isaac), a student of hers, and her personal slave Davus (Minghella) has been added more as a device to tell the larger story than as the main plot of the film. Hypatia has dedicated herself to philosophy, and has no care for the earthly pleasures of this world. The film suggests that she was virginal; that she was widely regarded as a symbol of virtue is chronicled in several contemporary written accounts. Although a love triangle, it is unrequited love on both sides. This is the vehicle used to bring us into this time and place, but the real story is the conflict between superstition and fear versus knowledge and open inquiry. In Hypatia's time, mathematics was essentially geometry, and we see this regularly as she uses geometrical methods to solve problems. The film expects at least some familiarity with the science and mathematics that is discussed in it, as we see Hypatia struggle to find a way to reconcile observations of the heavenly bodies (the "wanderers") with competing theories, the Ptolemaic system and a heliocentric system. Touches like these added to my enjoyment of the film. The CGI is excellent and rarely intrudes, and brings this ancient city to life. Weisz does a fine job portraying Hypatia, dedicated to her philosophy and pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. She certainly looks the part with her features, her dark curly hair, and proud bearing. The film's convincing recreation of the time and place is a large part of the appeal this film had for me, but the drama and action are also good and the visuals are often well above average. It is an enjoyable and thought provoking movie if one goes into it with an open mind. It almost begs you to ask yourself: how might history have been different if this knowledge had not been lost.