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The Agony and the Ecstasy |
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Home: You are here: DVD : The Agony and the Ecstasy |
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The Agony and the Ecstasy  Rating: Rating:  - Great Historical FictionI kept seeing this movie on the shelf at my local video store, but -- although it starred two great actors, Rex Harrison and Charlton Heston -- as many times as I picked it up, I kept putting it back, not quite sure what the quality of the story might be. When I finally rented it, I wished I had watched it earlier! The Sistine Chapel set is fantastic, and the ceiling paintings are vibrant and look identical to the real ones. Impressive! I especially enjoyed the simple yet moving scene in which a discouraged Michelangelo -- who has run away from Rome and gone back to cutting marble in the mountains -- sees in the clouds what he must paint on the ceiling: God reaching out to Adam. Michelangelo stands in awe and quotes passages from Genesis. The conflict between Pope Julius and Michelangelo is both humorous and poignant. They anger one another yet they push one another to do the impossible. When the puzzled pope wants to know why Michelangelo left, he replies, "You beat me!" When the artist and the pope first interact on screen, the source of conflict is a sonnet Michelangelo wrote about Julius, quickly and simply setting up the push-pull nature of their relationship. There's a bit of reverse psychology that they pull on one another, too, which the pope employs better than the straight-forward Michelangelo, but the artist turns the tables on Julius, and rouses the pope from his deathbed with understated, serious humor (if there can be such a thing). It's historical fiction, so purists will have to take the FICTION into account when viewing this film. Don't sit down with a biography of Michelangelo or Pope Julius and search for facts. Just enjoy the story! However, the people and the main events of the story did exist, did know one another, did happen. I especially like the prologue to the film, an interesting and moving review of Michelangelo's architecture and sculpture. The DVD is enhanced, with the picture quality improved over the VHS version that I originally watched, so I definitely recommend the DVD. Enjoy! Rating:  - A classic Movie.Charlton Heston does it again...a great movie for all to watch and learn much about history. Rating:  - The Agony and the EcstasyI ordered this DVD for my husband who is teaching a World History class at a local high school. We love the movie itself, but the quality of the product was sub-par. There were several times during the movie when there was an annoying scratching sound that would continue for a while. I thought this was a new DVD and not a used one, but the annoying sound during parts of it causes me to wonder about that. The speed with which we received the DVD was right on! He did get it in time to use in his class. So that's a plus. Just wanted you to know about the quality of the video itself. Rating: - Enjoyable Historical FictionProduced in the era of the great 60's Christian epics (The Robe, Ben Hur, et al), this film is historically based and is a real eye treat. The cinematography in films of this genre was always top shelf. Engaging storyline (the painting of the Sistine Chapel), and Charlton Heston (Michelengelo)and Rex Harrison (Pope Julius II) deliver right on time, as they always did. Story involves Michelangelo's struggle to portray the art as he envisioned it. He was opposed by the differing opinions of others, including the direct attention of the Pope, and the monumental physical task. Interesting interpretation (accurate??) of the dynamic between Michelangelo and Raphael, which I never really understood before (but is alluded to in the contemporary bestseller, Dan Brown's Angels and Demons). Lengthy at 139 minutes, but worth the time. |
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