Topic: Agora
Just re-watched the Spanish film AGORA (2009) starring Rachel Weisz.
Seeing that many of you DiF dudes are science literate atheists and fans of Carl Sagan (Brian?), I think you might really like this one if you haven't already seen it.
It's one of the most expensive Spanish movies ever made ($70M!), but filmed in English. And it takes an unusually strong rationalist stance. It puts forward the premise that 4th century mathematician Hypatia worked out a heliocentric solar system where the planets orbit in ellipses over a thousand years before Kepler.
With Christians and Jews bickering with pagans & heathens as the Roman Empire is losing control over Alexandria, the famous library is burned - one of the infamous events that brings down a millennium-long Dark Age over western civilization.
It also stars the Indian guy from The Social Network in a powerful uncompromising role.
It had virtually no theatrical release in the USA (perhaps because it's a two-hour fuck-you to religion).
Agora's closest Hollywood equivalent would be Contact.
The trailer is here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbuEhwselE0
Last edited by avatar (2012-03-15 02:27:33)
