8/10
The most famous book-burning in history took place in Berlin in 1933, in the middle of a period of political and racial upheaval. Over 1500 years earlier, the contents of the greatest library in history were also burned - by Christians.
If you haven't heard of Hypatia, then you're not alone. I hadn't either until I saw this film. She was an astronomer/philosopher in Alexandria in the dying days of the Roman Empire. Christianity was on the rise, having been accepted as the official religion by Rome (or what was left of it) but there were still those who worshipped older gods (pagans in Christian terms), and these were the ruling elite. There was also a strong Jewish population, who were increasingly under threat from the fundamentalist Christians.
Make no mistake, this is a film that threatens to offend religions of all sorts. Christianity does not come out of it well, since they behave much as Islamic fundamentalists do today - intolerant, anti-science and reason, misogynistic and murderous. But the parallels with modern fundamentalism are so overt (religious enforcement squads patrolling the streets), statues being toppled, even the style of dress, that Muslims may well see it as an attack on them. In fact the film is an assault on all forms of religious intolerance and bigotry, which demand that science be ignored and that women should be subservient.
I'm not sure what the audience for this film will be outside Spain where it has been a huge hit (the film is Spanish though made in English). It's smart, thought-provoking, complex and extremely well-made, but is there a market for that kind of film in our contemporary moron culture? It's showing in a few multiplexes for a few days, probably to massed empty seats; I suspect American audiences will dislike the representation of early Christianity, while Muslim countries will hardly welcome it. But I strongly urge you to see it if you possibly can, since it is one of the best films I've seen this year, and - just a week or so after I complained about the low quality of films set in Classical times - undoubtedly the best such film I have ever seen.
Rachel Weisz stars in the role of Hypatia and brings a luminosity and grace to the character that i haven't seen from her before. The rest of the cast are relatively unknown, though director Alejandro Amenabar is better known for The Others. The production design is stupendous, recreating the ancient Egyptian city of Alexandria in a way which I found staggering on a non-Hollywood budget. Please try and see it.
