agora..

A few days ago, on the rooftop of a flat, I got drunk with my best friends, and we argued, fought, debated about religion, god, violence and the lot. I have never believed in religion, and have felt a deep sense of anger to the whole notion of religion and god, and the way its used today and in the past. Ironically, the next day I watched a film called AGORA, and without no sense of exaggeration and with honesty I want to say, that I will never be the same person I was before I saw it, and that i have found my god, Mr. Alejandro Amenabar, the maker/writer of the film.

I remember when I was a child and used to hear about religions and gods, churches and temples and mosques, my young mind used to imagine these gods sitting on different stars, which I used to gaze at, as I slept in the quiet garden of my society late in the night, and controlling the people who followed them on earth. I used to think that all gods are in competition of who will cause greatest good to their own followers, and harm to those who don’t follow them. Then one grows up, some start accepting, some become indifferent, and some keep questioning. This movie is not diplomatic. After watching the movie, if you are one of the believers then you will question, if you are those who question, your blood will boil. And for those who are indifferent, well, your indifference will be tested, to the core.

Set in Alexandria, Rome in 391 A.D, it recites the true story about Hypatia (Rachel weisz). She is an atheist and an astronomer, who teaches a young bunch of students astronomy, and constantly questions herself about the beliefs she has had about the universe and the solar system and the shape of the earth, and looses herself in the research in her library in the middle of the city, which is the symbol of logic and science and human development by rationale. She is loved by one of her students Orestes ( Oscar Isaac) and also her slave Davus (max minghella). But the story is set in the backdrop of the violent uprising of Christianity in the city, which was mostly inhabited by pegans and jews at the time who worshipped their own gods. But because of the sudden huge increase in number of Christians in the city, pegans and jews feel threatened, and attack Christians, which leads to a violent showdown midway through the movie, and Christians overthrow the pegans by invading and annihilating the library and everything humans had learned about the universe. And ultimately, how the Christian fundamentalists take over the city forms the core of the movie.

An excerpt from the movie-
CHRISTIAN: 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?
CHRISTIAN: Why should this assembly accept the council of someone who admittedly believes in absolutely nothing?
HYPATIA: I believe in philosophy.

Amongst all the madness, hypocrisy and violence in Alexandria, when people are fighting to prove whose god is the real ‘GOD’, where political vendetta and religious fundamentalism are the norm to rule, HYPATHIA is the only symbol of hope, logic and courage in the setting. She chooses to live a life full of difficulty, loneliness and as most people may put it in that time ‘absurdity’, to fight what she believes in, and to explore the truth about solar system, movement of the planets and so on while outside her house, fundamentalists are taking over the city, with wrongly interpreted scriptures, and spreading fear and hatred and term her as exercising ‘witch craft’. Its difficult to talk about the story, without giving away the important plot points. As hypatia’s former students become important figures in the political scene in the city over time, the lessons she taught them, are tested, faiths questioned, and though the lessons she taught about astronomy maybe forgotten, but the bonds of friendship, trust and love she formed between them last.

Max minghella as the silent slave, who loves Hypatia, but on not getting her, decides to follow the crowd and become an unwilling follower of religious bigotry, lets his body language and silence do the talking. Though he remains loyal to her till the end, in life or in death. Against the towering Hypatia, oscar as orestis looks weak and fragile, but maybe that was the character demand. Rachel weisz. Oh, Rachel weisz. What cannot be said about her performance. She breathes her very bloody soul into HYPATHIA. The passion with which she studies astronomy, is complimented by the optimistic grit with which she opposes religious violence. The frail vulnerability with which she makes life altering decisions which will commit her to lifelong loneliness is heartbreaking. But above all, she brings madness to her passion, which was probably the only way one could have done what she did in the era in which she lived. Its my favourite performance of an actress, who does not have any huge emotional ups and downs in the character, as to shine without those tools most characters have, is very very difficult. On being told to make a choice and accept, and not ask questions about religion and astronomy or else, she just looks down, blinks her eyes, looks up, and says with simple honesty,

‘you don't question what you believe, or cannot. I must’

Amenabar. The man who made the sea inside. I am sure most people would have doubted, he could surpass that everest. When I saw the trailer of agora, I was shocked as I have hardly ever seen a costume period drama, which I liked. Just the way, a great war movie is the one which is anti war in nature, I believe, a great historical is the one, which shows the state of mankind drawing parallels, between now and then, which transcends over time, and that is exactly what this does. When the races attack one another and blood is being spilled on the streets, amenabar uses these amazing over the top shots, and I don’t know why, all the humans in that shot looked like the ants I so often see in my bedroom, who look as if they are fighting over a piece of sweet. I wonder if there really is any god, he really looks down on us the same way..

Instead of focusing on all the un wanted things of big costumes or decorations, he concentrates on the blandness of human psychology of that time, and asks the viewers a question- ‘ARE WE ANY DIFFERENT TODAY??’ His use of music, like in the sea inside, is as disturbing and uplifting in this one.. Here is a director with balls, and who does not care to sugar cote what he wants to say. He pinches where it hurts. He punches at the most vulnerable place of humanity. The production design is breath taking, not necessarily because of it being ‘beautiful’, but because of it adding so much to the hopelessness of it all. There will be those who will accuse it for being anti- Christian, or being biased or inaccurate, but this movie is not about a particular religion or race, its about the bloody definition of being ‘humane’, and whether we have from 2000 yrs, under the pretexts of religion and race for power and greed have been raping that word, and living in a dream world, not accepting the reality.

Just like watching the sea inside, I went blank after this movie, and as I sat silently, I picked up one of the magazines infront of me, and as I blankly went through the pages, with my mind still in the movie, I came across an excerpt by a director whose hindi multi star cast movie is going to release soon and expected to be a big hit saying- ‘movies are only for fun entertainment. There is nothing big that can be said or changed by movies’. On the tv, there were reports about sania mirza marriage, suicide bomb in pakistan, and so on.

I came back to the movie again and watched it again. And I saw a scene, where osteres pleads with hypathia to convert to christanity and do what the fundamentalist Cyril says, or they wont be able to defeat him. At this hypathia smiles, and says ‘ oh osteres, Cyril has already won, when you asked me to do that.’ I wonder whether that’s irreversibly true then, today and from now. I don’t know. Maybe the fact that this movie did not get a major release in USA when tones of other not deserving did, and neither did it win anything at most places, where lots of others not deserving did, says something.

p.s – these are my personal views on the movie, and I am not sorry if they offend anybody.