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Must Watch: Full-Length Trailer for Agora with Rachel Weisz

by Alex Billington
August 27, 2009
Source: Official Website

We just discovered the full-length trailer on the beautiful official website for Alejandro Amenábar's Agora (thanks to reader Emurion) that played at the Cannes Film Festival (read my review) and is also showing up in Toronto next month. I'm still amazed that this film hasn't been picked up by a distributor, as it's a shoo-in for a production design Oscar, or at least worthy of winning a few technical awards. If you have the chance to see it, I suggest you do, it's a fascinating story and absolutely amazing to watch, as there is so much detail in the design work. The writing is a little bit rough and it's a long, two-part story, but overall I enjoyed it.

Watch the full-length trailer for Alejandro Amenábar's Agora:

For more on Agora, head over to the wonderful official website: agorathemovie.com.

Agora is directed by Spanish-Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar, of Open Your Eyes, Butterfly Tongues, The Others, and The Sea Inside previously. The screenplay was co-written by Amenábar and his writing partner Mateo Gil of Open Your Eyes, Vanilla Sky, and The Sea Inside previously. Amenábar wants audiences "to see, feel and smell a remote civilization as if it were as real as today," that civilization being the Egyptians of 4th Century AD. Agora is still looking for a US distributor and doesn't have a release date.

Filed under Indies, To Watch, Trailers

From around the web:

Nate

I know nothing about the history of Agora. I'll need to read up about it before this looks more interesting to me.
Xerxex

looks pretty good.
FilmChaser

Looks very cool although very character driven. I probably wouldn't be as interested if the film weren't in such capable hands. Both the writer and director continue to create great films. And of course, Rachel Weisz has just become better and better as an actress. I'll be looking forward to watching this one.
Emurion

I forgot to tell Alex that Amenábar cut 20 minutes of Agora for its commercial release.
Trey

Yeah rachel Weisz really is getting better and better...she makes the same facial expressions in every movie...lol
Zac

This looks really good. I envision an Easter 2010 release.
pipo

Nice looking!
Antioch

'the courage of a woman', ' the fall of man'... sounds like it's gonna be a little to PC. Looks OK though
dougo162

Erin Brockovitch meets Troy. Afraid Rachel Weisz's political heroine won't appeal to the Spartacus crowd enough to make this any more than a worthy costume piece for the art houses history buff. grade C
Sancho

'the courage of a woman', ' the fall of man'… hahahahahahaha
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/2408/blackbabyjesus.gif Crapola

Fuck the Romans. Civilised haha. This looks shit.
Spajo

This is not about Egypt as you wrote. It's Rome.
votre

Good luck finding a US distributor! In this era of revived fundamentalism, anything perceived as criticizing Christianity (even if it was for something as vicious and evil as destroying the Library at Alexandria) isn't going to play well in the States. If some of the "faithful" got enraged about Mel Gibson's 'The Passion', imagine what the reaction will be to a film that dredges up this unpleasant chapter in history. Who knows? Maybe this time around they'll burn the movie theaters.
Nuika

looks quite good, although I know nothing of what the story is actually about I still look forward to this movie
DeviousBlack

#12, Rome?, i think i saw a recreation of the library of Alexandria, but i guess the romans ruled Egypt for a while.
Tim

Love Rachel Weisz, she's probably one of the best actresses of her generation and i can't wait for this film.
Sabes

It looks good. I look forward to it.
Yoni

I'm a big fan of both Rachel Weisz (Who is such a great actress) and Alejandro Amenábar ( Who is such a great director) and this movie can't get here any sooner for me.
jasonmd2020

@12 "This is not about Egypt as you wrote. It's Rome." It's set in Alexandria. An Egyptian city, but part of the Roman Empire at the time. So it's kinda both.
DoomCanoe

looks good
Cody

Yeah really doesnt look that good...but the cinematography looks freakin amazing.
Sam

Looks great in my opinion and i just adore Rachel Weisz as an actress.
frantzy

yes this is not a movie that everyone would be interested in, but it is a movie i will be watching. I like period movies, and actors transforming themselves into these historical almost mythical people. The ones who greatly impacted civilization and even the ones who we doubt ever existing.
http://www.iamroberto.com iamroberto

Alex, "Butterfly Tonges" is not a film by Alejando Amenábar but by José Luis Cuerda. Amenábar only composed the music for that film.
http://www.recoverybull.com Mathew Campbell

I am really a big fan of Rachel Weisz and Alejandro Amenábar, It is a great movie! Must to watch.
Collin

All great except for the quote, "You don't question what you believe."
?????

love the whole historical epic thing, i love epics like these... also whats the song playing in the trailer?
http://www.digipendence.com Tari Akpodiete

'the courage of a woman', ' the fall of man' - actually, it's not 'pc' (aka 'politcally correct') at all. check the grammar again. it's not 'the fall of A man'. by 'man', they're talking about civilization, not an individual man being somehow lorded over by a woman - something some really insecure men seem to fear even when it's really about equality and not superiority. and in this case, for those familiar with history, it's pretty easy to understand the premise since most women didn't get and weren't allowed to get the sort of education this one did. she was unusual for her time, not just for her determination not to be held back by her gender, but for the fact that she was afforded an education rivalling that of male scholars: astronomy, math and other sciences. plus, she had 'the courage' to not keep silent in a time when women weren't supposed to be 'meddling' in the politics and the affairs of men.
Syphous

Yawn.
S

As I recall, Alexander the Great was a rather arrogant ruler, and apparantly not that creative, as there were several cities that he conquered and then named Alexandria all over his empire. I didn't really get anything from this trailer. IMHO the acting looks REALLY bad in this movie. Rachel Weisz doesn't seem to have much emotion or passion in her character. Very wooden. The costumes and scenery look very good, though.
MCab

Looks like an anti-Christian screed. There are other reasons why the library might have burned down, by Caesar or the Muslim Conquest (signs point to the former). It's a good idea not to learn history from Hollywood.
Scott

wow…WHAT IS THISS? It looks like Gladiator, 300 and Troy…like the Roman stuff. I LOVE THESE MOVIES. Im so glad I found this! something to look forward! *googles* I love the Roman soldier uniforms and stuff. :3 like the funky helmest with the red Mohawk typle thing and man-skirts. lol with with gold ripped armor.
Scott

helmets* type* things* ....sorry. lol
Nemo

Wow. You some of you really need to read a history book, or at least a book without pictures of Curious George in it once in a while. @30 Alexander the Great was Greek...and dead for about 600 years at this point. @31 Besides the fact that Caeser was ROMAN and why you think he would burn his own library is a mystery to me, he had been dead for 350 years. And muslim conquest? Islam wasn't even invented for another 250-300 years, completley aside from that is the question of why you would think the center of technology and science in the ancient world burn a library? It's not a good idea to learn history from FoxNews or random posters on Firstshowing. Anywho, movie has potential.
.9ab

34 Nice generalization. I don't watch foxnews. From what I read caesar didn't mean to birn it down but it was due to him torching the port when he was conquering ptolemaic rome. The fire spread to the library by accident. Collateral damage.
Lando

The burning of the library of Alexandria has been a mystery to this day, it wasnt an "accident" or "Caeser" ("this version of events is not confirmed in contemporary accounts of Caesar's visit") and marked a great loss of ancient texts and most of the information of the known world of that time.. you kids arguing about christianity and pc need to crack open a book and learn before you come here spewing your defensive ignorance and assumptions. Im with #34 on this one. PS I QUESTION WHAT YOU BELIEVE
ellen

@nemo - thanks for your comment. i too am amazed at some of the comments i'm seeing on this film. it's pretty obvious some people really don't have a clue about history. @.9ab - you really need to find out what a film is about before you comment. you're not even in the ballpark. FYI: The historic event this film is based on concerns how the library was burned by a christian mob led by a fanatical early bishop of the church. The burning in this film has nothing to do with Caesar's military conquests. It has everything to do with people who believe they have found the truth and who commit violence in the name of what they believe is holy while those in power stand by. Collateral damage? Hardly. More like kristallnacht.
Nate

Congratulations Ellen (@37), Lando (@36), and Nemo (@34) for showing utmost ignorance on that of a highest level. Sadly, I remember reading this comments in this forum earlier this week and there was a great link that apparently was removed. So I'll provide it again so you all can stfu and go back to sticking your COEXIST stickers up your butt, hating any opinion on any matter whether that be Fox News or any news media organization that doesn't share the news in the same view point or opinion that you all share. So while you all read your history books (without pictures of curious George I might add), you should probably focus on a history book with some reliable sources and not written by particular party with an agenda. The problem with the world today is we look at everything complicated as though a simple explanation could answer all our questions. Blame the Christians, blame the Muslims, blame the extremists, blame everyone with an opinion that differs. Instead, why don't we focus on the greed, corruption, power hungry leaders to find where all of histories most tragic events started that led to the deaths of many. Personal interest... everyone has one. Anyway, I'm tired of calling you all stupid because like a group of high schoolers, you might not actually educate yourselves and continue to believe what the majority consider "popular". Educate yourselves - http://armariummagnus.blogspot.com/2009/05/agora-and-hypatia-hollywood-strikes.html
dramaticartchld

Fact: The Library of Alexandria was damaged by the Alexandrian war of 48-47 BC, when Julius Caesar and his soldiers fought to reinstall Cleopatra VII as joint ruler of Egypt with her brother, Ptolemy 13th. During naval fighting between Caesar's and Ptolemy's troops, a spark from one of the ships ignited the roof of one of the warehouses by the dockside. The fire then spread into the city, burning a large chunk of the library. Cleopatra, like Hypatia centuries later, was rumored to have been scholar (although her interests are said to have been linguistics and obscure religion, as opposed to astronomy), and was still smarting from the loss years later when her next lover, Marc Antony, donated the entire library of the city of Pergamum to her to help replace the damaged library. However, the sources clearly attest that the library, though greatly affected by the fire, was still there. Fact: In 391, Emperor Theodosius I, a fanatical convert to newly militarized Christianity, ordered the closure of all pagan temples in the Empire, effectively criminalizing any belief which was not orthodox Christianity (this included the myriad other versions of Christianity which were not accepted at the council of Nicaea). An ancient Mythraic temple in Alexandria had recently been "converted" into a church, and the christians are said to have paraded the sacred cult objects of Mithras through the public places of Alexandria, heaping abuse on them. This incited retaliation from a pagan mob, which killed several Christians in the procession. However, the pagans underestimated the Christian's numbers, and fled into the temple of Serapis, the patron god of Alexandria. Crucially, the library was annexed to the temple. A siege situation ensued, but finally, an edict from the Emperor ordered that the doors to the temple be opened, and the Christian mob rushed in, tore down the classical statue, killed the remaining pagans, and set fire to the whole complex. Since most pagan temples doubled as houses of learning, libraries and research institutes carried the taint of "paganism" with them, thus ensuring their eventual destruction. No source after this date mentions the library. We must assume that the fire spread into the annex, and engulfed it. The Hellenistic world was hardly rational. . .any study of the private beliefs of otherwise brilliant scientists like Galen, Euclid, or Ptolemy will tell you that. However, the sea-change that occurred in this period, where it suddenly became rational to brutally dismember a scientist simply because she was not a Christian and still had the respect of much of the city council is simply staggering. I look forward to a film rendering of how Orthodox Christianity betrayed its fundamental principles . . not a pleasant story, but one that needed to be told eventually. PS. Sorry for the length. . .just needed to clarify
scriptrx

@nate oncomment #38: Thank you for your hysterical burst of jingoism. And also for the link to that blog written by somebody that doesn't seem to have much in the way of academic credentials - although it's great to see his full-time job is as an HR Recruitment Manager. Talk about credibility! Sound like just the guy to go to when I want to clear up any misunderstandings I may have about history, science, or religion. A real find! Thank you for bringing this valuable resource to our attention. Suggestion: Do yourself a big favor and get some help? The first step towards recovery is acknowledging you have a problem.
Nate

scriptrx @ 40 - jingoism? When you have finished vocabulary class, come back and use words properly or just try and use words that you correctly know the meaning of and there usage. dramaticartchld @ 39 - The problem with the facts you provided is that state a piece of fact followed by heavy interpreptation. Also the problem is our sources and what period of time our sources come from. Any account of a time period loses its accuracy when the amount of time in between grows larger. Imagine our great, great grandchildren writing about 911 but no history books, newspapers, video, internet references exist between 9/11/2001 and the year 2300 when are grandchildren are alive. All accounts at that point in time will be assumptions and it will then be difficult to really know what happened on 9/11/2001. What is happening here is that we have the occasional written works of a few scholars that don't go into much detail, and our sources 1600 years later interpret such sources and build stories that we read and end up believing. Such is the case here To this day, there are 4 possible time periods in which the Library of Alexandria may have been burned down that have accounts written during those time periods. (If you need sources, do your research. Hopefully, people still know how to use the library.) 1) The fire created during the Alexandrian War in 48 BC which is considered by most (even those who wrote accounts during their day/age) to be the fault of Julius Caesar and his war. NOTE: Scholars here clearly state by using words like the library, books, scrolls, ect being burned in the fire. These are found in their accounts of their time period. 2) The attack of Emperor Aurelian in AD 270 to suppress revolts. - Haven't found too many sources on this event although it is regarded as one of the 4 events that led to the Library of Alexandria being burned down (or at least any remaining libraries). 3) The decree of Theophilus in AD 391 which was carried out by Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria in which he destroyed all pagan temples, artifacts, ect. NOTE: In all recorded accounts this event, no mention is ever made about a library, books, or even scrolls. Only reference to pagan temples and pagan artifacts. So why would scholars of Ceasar's time (48 BC) specifically mention a library, books, etc but scholars during Theophilus time (AD 391) not mention library, books, scrolls or any written work at all? Were they just really dumb scholars, or were they just scholars who didn't care for written work? You tell me? This is where a lot of modern day assumptions are made. You have accounts as early as AD 440 (although events transpired in AD 391 - 49 years ealier) and then the next set of information we have is written by an English author in 1929 - WHAT!?!?! thats almost 1600 years later where they claim the Library was burned down in AD 391. Not reliable or accurate at all, but sadly it is what we accept as the truth today as is event by everyones need to prove themselves. Finally, we have the Muslim conquest that took place around AD 642 which again seems to be based on a lot of myth created by the Muslim people during that time. Why the Muslim people would create a myth about their hero destroying whatever remained of the Library of Alexandria is good question? So what can we learn from all of this? We simply learn that movies such as this one are interpretations of events as they possibly may have taken place. Of course, if we are going to make a Hollywood movie successful, then include beautiful people (Rachel Weisz) to play a character that at her death was probably 65 years old, include a love interest, some evil characters, a battle, and hope for success!
ellen

@nate: being knowledgeable; having a large vocabulary; or even being most correct, is no excuse for the overall tone in your comments. if people didn't know you better, they could easily get the wrong impression. so I would like to make a modest proposal: if we will all agree that you are the "smartest person" in the room, could you please give it a rest? -thx
votre

Please don't feed the trolls.
rachel

nate, Dont you have some queers to bash while you bump your bible elsewhere?
Nate

ellen @ 42 - I'm sorry. Did I not sign up somewhere on this site that allows you, nemo, scriptrx, and Lando priviledges to bash/insult/put down and take whatever tone you wish with anyone in the comments? I will admit I lost respect for the 4 of you (and add @43 votre and @ 44 rachel) because it seems none of you know how to comment without respecting others and knowing how to debate. For example - dramaticartchld @ 39 - at least he provided his view points without getting insulting. We don't have to agree - we just need to have patience, listen and discuss. @43 - votre - Really? How are you going to post your opinion @13 and then come back and say "Don't feed the trolls" - I guess I could only understand it if you didn't understand what "Don't fee the trolls" means. Otherwise, your no different than a Christian, you know, the ones that are "hypocrites" aka fundamental extremists. @44 rachel - Stop being a troll - go and join your Christian hate group and battle it out with some Gay rights hate group. Make sure to include an Islamic Extremist hate group to really get some action. FYI - People still exist who seek knowledge and understanding very much like Hypatia of her day and enjoy discussing it. I'm very sure you would have probably made up a member of the mob that this movie is very much about.
Nate

@ 46 rachel - ? Are you confusing me with someone or are just spouting off words to insult? Stop being a troll and lets focus on the top please As someone said earlier, the cinematography in this movie looks gorgeous. Curious how they recreated that century time period and how its going to look when it comes out.
rachel

wait, I thought you were the one in the christian hate group!!! Coexist? not with white power pricks like you around. "Knowledge and understanding" like that in your favorite book "Mein Kampf"?
rachel

wrong site, dont you belong on stormfront or I love skrewdriver or something? I know who you are White is Right "Nate" ! but yes, the cinematography looks great..however I wonder how accurate the design is as most of these period pieces tend to take their liberties and manage to accomodate for current trends in fashion and design..
Lando

Hello Nate, How did I "bash/insult/put down and take whatever tone you wish with anyone " by stating my opinion? Did I insult you? call you an insane neo-con or any other name? Insult your intelligence? Please, Id love to know how I earned your insults. Thank You Lando
votre

@ellen @rachel @Lando @scriptrx Please revise my former comment "Please don't feed the trolls" to read: Please don't feed the troll. (singular)
Nate

@49 - Lando - Very sorry! Thank you for pointing that out.
Philippe

HAHAHA Ok, A film about Rome, and everyone in the film only speak English? Only a Spanish director's stupid to want to make a film about Rome where all the actors are Americans, and do not look nothing like the Romans of that time. Should be a good movie to watch on Sunday afternoon, when the surf is mad
neonblue120

looks good
Martin

I saw it at the TIFF. It was a good film. I wish Amenabar kept t he 20 minutes that he cut out, they certainly would have added to the character development of the movie. I guess I'll have to wait for the extended dvd release in order to see that. Overall though, I definitely recommend this film to people interested in the subject. It's definitely full of subtleties and complexities which not everyone will be able to understand and appreciate.
jules4020

I am eagerly awaiting the release of Agor in the U.S. Not to be paranoid but...the way this country is getting I wouldn't be suprised if fundamentalist Xian groups get all hot and bothered and will vent about the negative image on the likes of FOX news hate talk shows like O'Reilly & Beck...UG...will hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Can hardly wait to see it tho!!!