One film that seemed to turn off the print media during the Toronto International Film Festival as being an overblown and bombastic (as in Cecil B. Demille with way more computer generated crowds) was Alejandro Amenabar’s Agora. My reaction was quite the contrary, it is fascinating balance of faith in science to deliver the answers by questioning everything (and the freedom to do so) contrasted with faith in religion (take you pick here, there is Judaism, the Roman Gods and Christianity – the latter of which gets the harshest treatment more likely due to its infancy than an anti-Christian slant, although it remains to be seen how an American ‘fly-over-state’ audience will take it) and all the political baggage associated with the unquestioning mob. It is a love letter to both the library of Alexandria and the mathematical construct of the ellipse (it uses the ellipse to illustrate ‘out of the box (…er, out of the circle)’ thinking, something that should be applied to religion as much as science). The film is quite easily accessible (hence the ‘blunt’ label) but still asks questions that are not often asked in big blockbuster films. Agora is gorgeous to look at and well acted with a solid Rachel Weisz, here convincingly portraying an intense spinster-philosopher who becomes the heart of the politics and philosophy of crumbling Rome.

The news is that on its first weekend in its Spanish release (Amenabar’s home turf), it is already the biggest weekend opener the country has ever seen. If it maintains this momentum, distributors from countries that passed on the film at Cannes and Toronto (Notably American and Canadian) may sit up and take notice (bonus: The film is English Language, so wide audience subtitle-fear is not an issue). Here is hoping, the film should easily be able find a mainstream adult audience and god forbid, challenge it a bit. (Heck, it beats the pants off of The Passion of the Christ, often at its own game…)

The previously released trailer for the film is tucked under the seat.