The Agony and the Ecstasy
by Carol Reed
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DVD details
Actor: Alberto Lupo, Charlton Heston, Diane Cilento, Harry Andrews, Rex HarrisonDirector: Carol Reed
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; Latin (Original Language); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 138 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-02-22
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of The Agony and the Ecstasy
DVD Review: I've waited for over 3 decades to read this again...
Summary: 5 Stars
I was in high school when this book first found it's way into my reach - not that I was reaching all that much for `books' in those days...
This work taught me a new appreciation for patience and for the joys of relaxation through reading.
To find a gently used copy of this story in such fine shape (while the shape of most things in my world have come to change quite a bit...) is truly a gift.
I will slide back in time once again, while taking up this great piece of literature - maybe all the way back to the painting the ceilings of the Sistine Chapel!
DVD Review: Clash of the Titans
Summary: 4 Stars
Michelangelo versus Pope Julius II is a clash of the titans! If it had Leonardo Da Vinci and his struggles with the Vatican and Michelangelo (the two sparred often,) as in the book, it would have been a Renaissance monster movie! The dialogue, cinematography, direction, writing, and of course the acting are all the best! I can't understand why this masterpiece lost money! It is a joy to watch over and over! The excellent score by Alex North is a symphonic poem equal to great classical masters like Bach, Brahms, Copland, Resphigi, and modern soundtrack composers like Ernest Gold and Jerry Goldsmith.
Also, did anyone besides me notice that some scenes in the movie looked like Renaissance paintings, with various people in different poses and others seemingly either running in or running out? I've seen some of Rafael's work which does exactly this. In fact the very painting the movie shows him working on is of such a scene.
For all the virtues of this dvd restoration - I only give it four stars instead of five because while the film has been re-worked as to bring out the beautiful colors and for greater clarity, the sound is horrible and should have been made loud.
Even so, while not as good and thorough as the book by Irving Stone, the movie is an artistic masterpiece.
All things considered, Michaelangelo was more secular than spiritual in his refusal to paint the apostles and wanting to paint nudes, of which Genesis gave him plently. Fact is, the artist was seemingly obsessed with the art of classical Greece. Pope Julius for all the pretty words of the Church keeping the ambitious kings of Europe in order, was plainly corrupt. Pope Julius should have remembered Christ's words: Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.
Of Note: The Papal States were allegedly a gift to the Church by Pepin, King of the Franks. The document on which the claim was based was found later to be a forgery.
Also, I read somewhere that Heston and Harrison did not get along, perhaps adding some reality to the conflict between Michelangelo and Pope Julius. The production must have been a sight to watch with Heston's earnest American common man against Harrison's regal British stature.
DVD Review: The Agony and the Ecstasy
Summary: 5 Stars
Want to know what Michelangelo went through to paint the Sistine Chapel, and all the history around it? This is a perfect, comedic, touching "must-see"!!!DVD Review: Agony and Ecstasy
Summary: 5 Stars
One of my fav movies.... love it... it's not the Ten Commandments, but Charlton Heston is great!! DVD Review: wonderful
Summary: 5 Stars
I wanted to know what this film was about. It was a very good review of Michanchloe. Not spelled right. I really enjoyed this film.
Description of The Agony and the Ecstasy
Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison portray two of the Renaissance's most colorful figures in this historical drama based on Irving Stone's best-seller set in the early 16th century. When Pope Julius ll (Harrison) commissions Michelangelo (Heston) to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the artist initially refuses. Virtually forced to do the job by Julius, he later destroys his own work and flees to Rome. Eventually resumed, the project becomes a battle of wills fueled by artistic and temperamental differences that form the core of this movie. Nominated for an Oscar? Cinematography and named one of the year's best films by the National Board of Review.Carol Reed (The Third Man) directed this 1965 portrait of the relationship between Michelangelo (Charlton Heston) and Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison), who commissioned the artist to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Based on a novel by Irving Stone, the script plods along, juggling the dynamics between the two men along with a somewhat perfunctory love story and distracting battle sequences. Reed seems more attuned to the nuances and great pains of the artistic process, as seen in sequences of Michelangelo working. But the overall focus of the film is unfortunately fuzzy. --Tom Keogh
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