- I hadn’t even heard of this movie before last week but once I did I knew it starred Rachel Weisz and she seemed to be sporting a toga of some sort. Since that point I’ve been trying to think of movies set in ancient time that revolve around women and I’ve come up with absolutely nothing. I’m sure this is in part because ancient history usually means swords’n'sandals epics, which in turn usually means men in leather skirts and breastplates. Historical movies featuring women seem to be either a) about female monarchs, or b) Jane Austen (or Austin-esque) adaptations. How refreshing, I thought, to have a Greco-Roman lady film that doesn’t feature Cleopatra!
To this end, I wasn’t spectacularly impressed. Hypatia manages to be a background character in her own film, despite being an outspoken woman of mathematics and philosophy who quite literally does not back down in a fight. Throughout the film Hypatia is racking her brain trying to make sense of the orbits of the planets and her story ends up being just like the Ptolemaic system she’s fighting against: everyone in the story is affected by her gravitational pull and yet the story does not actually revolve around her as it should. Instead we get an allegorically clumsy narrative about the gross misdeeds perpetrated by religious zealots while Hypatia flits around obsessing about the stars, only sticking her head into the main story to declare that everyone is equally to blame for sucking so hard and can’t they all just be friends?
- Speaking of which, I want a Sandbox of Science™ to work out all my elliptical orbit theories. I also liked Davus’ model of the Ptolemaic solar system, which I think probably won him a blue ribbon at the Alexandria City Science Fair, Category: Slave. (Runner up: little Antonius and his baking soda and vinegar version of Vesuvius.)
- Oscar Isaac, who played Hypatia’s BFF and local Prefect Orestes, will eventually be cast as Rufus Sewell’s younger brother in something, of this I am certain. He brought some momentary bits of levity to an otherwise humourless movie.
- I loved how everyone just carried around purses full of stones should the moment arise when someone needed to be stoned to death. Pro-tip: pretty sure you guys are not understanding Jesus’ message.
- While evidently there’s no way to prove that Hypatia was the one who discovered elliptical orbits, I do think that it is at least representative of the frequent erasure of women’s accomplishments and contributions throughout history. ETA Speaking of which, a link to Sexism in Science, or Why There was no Alberta Einstein appeared in my RSS feeds this evening.
- Worst gift ever: a handkerchief soaked in menstrual blood.
- As far as “ladies in the desert” movies go this summer, you’re much better off seeing this over Sex and the City 2. At least there are no ridiculous camel toe jokes in this one.
Agora
Learned ladies leave lasting legacies!
IMDB Plot Synopsis 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 professor and atheist Hypatia of Alexandria.
I thought the movie would have been a lot better if Max Minghella’s character had disappeared entirely. Nothing new was learned about Christianity because of him.
“Oscar Isaac, who played Hypatia’s BFF and local Prefect Orestes, will eventually be cast as Rufus Sewell’s younger brother in something, of this I am certain.”
I knew I recognized aspects of his face.
It’s even in his voice, too; if you closed your eyes, it’s like they’re the same person.
A FUNNY review! The Christian response to the movie has been a bit hyperbolic, since Amenabar with his choice of costume and casting, is saying “black-shirted, bearded, middle-eastern fanatics are destroying civilization.” He also distorted some history in service to his art, but that’s what artists do. Don’t go to the movies for history. For people who want to know more about the historical Hypatia, I highly recommend a very readable biography “Hypatia of Alexandria” by Maria Dzielska (Harvard University Press, 1995). I also have a series of posts on the historical events and characters in the film at my blog (http://faithljustice.wordpress.com) – not a movie review, just a “reel vs. real” discussion.
I liked the part where the one soldier tore up one of the books and exclaimed, “Pagan filth!” I was seriously waiting the whole time for exactly that to happen.