If you like films with some historical value to them, then you might like Agora. This is a Spanish-English historical drama which was released in 2009 and it was directed by Alejandro Amenàbar and it was written by Amenábar and Mateo Gil. Before reading on, be aware of the fact that this film was just made available on Netflix in the USA, and if you want to watch Netflix from abroad, you better read this article first.
The movie stars Rachel Weisz as Hypatia of Alexandria, Max Mingehella as Davus who is the salve of Hypatia’s father, he is secretly in love with Hypatia and in the end of the movie when Hypatia is about to be stoned to death he suffocate her because he did not want her to have pain, Oscar Isaac as Orestes who is a student of Hypatia and so on. The story of the movie follows a female mathematics and philosopher who questions the geocentric Ptolemaic system and she also has to struggle with the religious judgements. The movie takes place in 391 AD in Alexandria which is part of the Roman Empire. Hypatia is a Greek philosopher and she is a teacher at the Platonic school where she teaches the future leaders of the Empire. Hypatia who studies and investigates the heliocentric model of the solar system is not allowed to teach anymore at the school because of her beliefs which is against religion and the era’s ideology.
The movie Agora was nominated and won several awards, seven Goya Awards in Spain including for the Best Original Screenplay, and it was also awarded the Alfred P. Solan Foundation Feature Film Prize at the Hamptons International Film Festival.
You can also watch the film on Amazon Instant Video, but to do so you will need an American IP address, so it is much better value to watch it on Netflix.
