The Agony and the Ecstasy

A historical film set in Rome. The year is 1508. Michelangelo is a sculptor. Pope Julius II wants a job from him. The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is to be painted. Michelangelo does not want it. He does not consider himself a painter and wants to work in marble. He accepts. The first design is the twelve apostles. He works, finishes, and hates the result. He scrapes it off. Then he flees Rome. From there the film is a story of return. The pope looks for him. Michelangelo goes into the mountains. Looking at the sky one night he sees something. The new design is the Creation. He goes back and starts again. The second part is a story of work. Scaffolding, plaster, paint, light and months spent high up. He works on his back. Paint drips on his face and his eyes fail. The pope keeps coming. He asks the same question: when will it be finished. He gets the same answer: when it is done. What the narrative is interested in is not art but conflict: all its tension is that these two men can neither leave each other nor agree. The pope is a soldier as well. He goes to war, commands an army, and is wounded. Both are stubborn and both want the same thing. There is a woman in it. A contessa supports Michelangelo and the narrative does not develop the line. The film opens with a documentary section. The first ten minutes show his sculptures in real locations with a voiceover. The production is large. The chapel was rebuilt full size in a studio. The source is Irving Stone's novel. Carol Reed directed. Charlton Heston, Rex Harrison, Diane Cilento and Harry Andrews are in the cast. Who it is for: anyone who likes classic historical production and biographies of artists. Who it is not for: anyone looking for pace; the narrative consists of two characters arguing and the tempo is slow.