Although centered on the proto-feminist historical figure of the mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher Hypatia (played by Rachel Weisz), Alejandro Amenábar’s Agora may well be read, too, as a film about the decline of classical antiquity. Set in Alexandria in the 4th century AD, the movie addresses the political and religious turmoil associated to the end of the pagan epoch, and the rise of a new order sanctioned by the primacy of Christianity in its alliance with Roman power under Theodosius I. In a combination of historical fact and fiction, Alexandria is reimagined as a cosmopolitan city where the architectural features of ancient Egyptian culture are still clearly visible against the backdrop of the clash between several religious factions (Jews, pagans, Christian sectors and sub-groups, and followers of vernacular cults). With the aim of staging the urban setting of Alexandria as an ancient port city, Agora was shot at Fort Ricasoli in Kalkara, Malta, where major examples of historical epic movies of the 21st century such as Gladiator (Ridley Scott, 2001), Troy (Wolfgang Petersen, 2004), and Napoleon (Ridley Scott, 2023) were also filmed. Production design by Guy Hendrix Days emphasized the reconstruction of the recognizable landmarks of Graeco-Roman Alexandria (the Pharos / Lighthouse, the pagan temples, the Serapeum, etc.), partly following the aesthetic templates of reinterpretations of the Egyptian and / or classical imaginary by artists of the likes of Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Charles William Mitchell.

By constantly broadening the scope of its thematic focus and focalization (“the view from above”) to encompass the tragic reverberations of global history, as well as the idea of Hypatia’s love for science and the cosmos, Amenábar delivered a cautionary tale about the rise of intolerance, fundamentalism, and misogyny in the context of the War on Terror.

Author: Samuel Fernández-Pichel