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Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Asia Pacific World Search Search: Spain's Amenabar brings Cannes toga-clad philosophy flick AFP - Monday, May 18 CANNES, France (AFP) - - Spanish film-maker Alejandro Amenabar took Cannes back to Egypt 400 AD on Sunday with a toga-clad parable on religious extremism starring Rachel Weisz as a martyred philosopher. ADVERTISEMENT Set in Alexandria during the dying days of the Roman Empire, the big-budget movie "Agora" charts the bloody struggles that pitted pagans and Jews against the early Christians seizing power across the Mediterranean region. The 37-year-old director focuses on the little-known story of Hypatia, a philosopher and astronomer from Alexandria whose work on the solar system pitted her against the Church, a thousand years before Galileo. Played by Oscar-winning British actress Weisz, Hypatia is persecuted in the film for her science that challenges the Christians' faith, as much as for her status as an influential woman. From bloody clashes to public stonings and massacres, the city descends into inter-religious strife, and the victorious Christians turn their back on the rich scientific legacy of antiquity, defended by Hypatia. Amenabar said in an interview that he wanted the 50-million-euro Spanish production, shot in a recreated Alexandria on the island of Malta, to carry a message against intolerance and extremism. "Every time someone defends his ideas by using violence, that is what the movie is denouncing," he told AFP. "I would hate it for the whole world to think exactly like me. There have to be people who are progressive, other more conservative, people with religious ideas, atheists, agnostics. "We all need to live to gather in this 'Agora'," as the city's public gathering place was known in antiquity. Amenabar's Alexandria is stalked by thuggish gangs of hooded religious militia called the "Parabalani", who veer into fanaticism as the film progresses, stoning unbelievers and terrorising the population. "At first the Parabalani represented something appealing in the Church: compassion or help to really needing people in their city. And then they became an army for the Church. They shifted to the dark side of the force." "Agora" opens with the destruction of the second library of Alexandria by the Christians and Jews -- after the first, famous library which was destroyed by Julius Caesar. The director also said he saw the film worked as a parable on the crisis of Western civilisation. "Let's say the Roman Empire is the United States nowadays, and Alexandria is what Europe means now -- the old civilisation, the old cultural background. "And the empire is in crisis, which affects all the provinces. We are talking about social crisis, economic of course, this year, and cultural. "Something is not quite fitting in our society. We know that something is going to change -- we don't know exactly what or how, but we know that something is coming to an end." Screening out of competition in the Riviera festival's official selection, the film marks a radical break from Amenabar's last work, the Oscar-winning right-to-die movie "Mar Adentro" released in 2004. Amenabar said he usually preferred to be in competition, but told AFP the film didn't fit the "box" for the Palme d'Or race. Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Sign in to recommend this article » 0 users recommend Related Articles: Entertainment & Lifestyle Mussolini's mistress, love-child seen in CannesAFP - Monday, May 18 Spain's Amenabar brings Cannes toga-clad philosophy flickAFP - Monday, May 18 Frenzied welcome home for Norwegian Eurovision winnerAFP - Monday, May 18 Box-office heaven for 'Angels and Demons'AFP - Monday, May 18 "The Producers" wins rave reviews on German debutAFP - Monday, May 18 Enlarge Photo British actress Rachel Weisz arrives for the screening of the movie "Agora" by director Alejandro Amenabar, presented out of competition at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. Spanish film-maker Alejandro Amenabar took Cannes back to Egypt 400 AD on Sunday with a toga-clad parable on religious extremism starring Weisz as a martyred philosopher. Most Popular – Entertainment Viewed Popular cereal is a drug, US food watchdog says Tough 4th spacewalk underway to repair Hubble Coral Triangle could die by century's end: WWF British store admits it boobed in bra row Australian zoo evacuated after orangutan escape View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - Community - Intellectual Property Rights Policy - Help

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