A Review of a Christian-themed Film - Article Example

A review of the Christian-themed Film Religion and Theology The art of Film is one of the most popular in the world.It reveals the basic features of human existence and creates imaginary situations, which are rarely faced in real life. 1“The work of art is not simply an imitation or selective duplication of reality but a translation of observed characteristics into the forms of a given medium”. Religious films achieved their popularity among the audience due to the descriptive events, revealed in the plot. Nowadays, there are many religious films, which are based on real events. These films are created by means of applying the innovative technologies, which make the plot especially interesting. Of course, they contain the imaginary information as well, as it widens the human interest to the subject of the film, but the principle remains unchangeable. The aim of this work is to analyze the film “Agora” and identify its peculiarities in terms of religion. The paper provides a detailed description of the real events of 391 BC. "Agora" is a historical drama directed by Alejandro Amenabar and produced in 2009. The events of the film took place on the territory of the collapsing Roman Empire in the city of Alexandria at the end of IV - the beginning of V century BC. The IV century is the time of triumph of Christianity in the Roman Empire. During this century, Christians moved from the defense to attack and turned from the oppressed religious minority to a powerful government organization, which imposed its will to destroy the empire. Except the description of the historical events, the film tells the story of Hypatia of Alexandria, the first famous female scientists in the history, who was also a philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. Hypatia was very intelligent and famous, that is why the rulers of the empire listened to her words and were interested in her opinion. Among her pupils there were many prominent figures, for example Orestes - the prefect of the city of Alexandria. The year of 391 represents the religious clashes in Alexandria, which resulted in the destruction of one of the richest libraries in the world at that time by Christians . A former slave of Hypatia, Davus is secretly in love with her. He becomes a Christian and joins the organization movement. With the span of time, Christian church becomes more and more powerful. The bishop of Alexandria, Cyril, demanded that Orestes and others renounced Hypatia. She was forbidden to teach and do scientific researches. Hypatia could not stand such situation and rejected to accept Christianity. She was declared a witch and killed. The film is based on the real events, but many critics consider that it has much fiction scenes, which distort its main idea. 2“Film, as all other art forms, relies on certain conventions of form and content”. In the evaluation of the historical and factual correctness of the film the opinions of analytics strongly diverge. One of them state that Amenabar tried to make a movie in the exact coexistence with the historical perspective of "Agora". The historians recognize that Alexanderia of the IV century is recreated as accurately as possible, although they criticize sharp discrepancy age of the protagonist, which in fact should be about 50 years. The writer Faith L. Justice, the author of two historical researches dedicated to Hypatia, performed a critical review of the film. According to her analysis, the film along with historically correct details contains many significant errors and inaccuracies, starting with the fact that there is no historical evidence that Hypatia and Theon had any relation to the Serapeum. Also the writer points out that there is no historical evidence of destruction of books in the Serapeum. The researcher states that according to the historical facts, Hypatia was sentenced to death not because she was a pagan, or a scientist, but for the reason of her involvement in politics. In addition, Amenabar represents Hypatia as an atheist, while in reality she professed religious philosophy, particularly Neoplatonism, and was deeply religious woman. The film represents the idea of contradiction between the religion and science. The paradox is that the Christian faith in spite of what is covered by the peace-loving commandments, is actually quite a violent religion, which destroyed many nations. However, the film does not reveal the attitude of the producer to any religion or its absence. "Agora" aims to show that every religion in general is evil. Christians here are not just fanatics, but fascist extremists. They are represented as dirty, nasty and poor people, who hate everyone around them. The author shows them as the screaming mass, which had lost their human form. The film criticizes all sorts of human groups for "evoking hatred of Christianity". It is not surprising that in Italy, the film was prohibited for production. From the beginning, it was clear that this film is subjected to the obstruction in Christian circles and countries. "Agora" has become a distorting mirror, which reflects the negative sides of Christianity. As soon as the number of the followers of the new religion grows, it begins to cause discomfort to others more ancient faiths, depriving them of the flock. It causes the persecution and repression, often ending with the death of the mastermind of the new faith. At this stage, many beliefs die. Only the most viable of them manage to survive, acquiring an aura of martyrdom, eventually attracting more supporters. The theme of cruel Christian movements was endorsed by the historical data. Consequently, the religious contradictions in Alexendria is not just the fiction of the author, but a real history. The film communicated its message successfully. It managed to provide the audience with the idea that religion is not only the source, which brings people spiritual wealth and calmness. It is also a massive organization with its own laws, traditions and strict rules. Looking at the suffering of Hypatia, the audience perceived the cruelty, which came from people. This cruelty had nothing to do with spiritual wealth or humanity, but bore suffering and distraction to those who refused to accept it. The production values enhance the message by means of the variety of effects, applied for the strengthening of the motions of the film. The scenes of violence and massive disorders are so real, that they make the viewer experience these emotions together with the main characters of the movie. The feelings, which face the audience during the watch of the film are contradictory as well as its main plot. The questions of justice, love and hate are presented in the unusual way. The image of Hypatia is also enhanced by the producers. Hypatia is represented as reserved and silent person, but when it came to forcing her own personality, she shows the hardness of her character greater than the surrounding men by means of accepting the inevitable for the sake of her goals. “Agora” was received by the critics positively in general, but quite suspiciously as for the question of religion. Most of critics recognized its uniqueness and brilliant acting. The direction of the movie was perceived as gorgeous. Excellent general plans, city views and pictures of the cosmos became a real surprise for even the strictest critics. Every frame, angle and detail in this movie reflects the beauty of art without ignoring the feelings of its main characters. The film is greatly connected with the course of reading by its contradicting religious themes. It represents a constant struggle between pagans, Christians and Jews. Hypatia was subjected to her own beliefs. Abandoning from one faith, without taking another, she believed in the philosophy. That is why she acquired so great attention from political and religious leaders of Alexandria at the beginning of the V century. She is deprived of fanaticism and blind faith, because the scientist always doubts. During the bloody strife and turmoil, she thinks about the question of the motion of the Earth. Concluding this article, it is important to mention that the film does not represent the ordinary state of events. It impresses the viewer with the shocking actions of people and the attitude of religion to science. It is definitely one of the greatest historic dramas of the modern cinematography. Bibliography Boggs, J. The art of watching films. The USA: the Benjamine/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc., 1978 Read More