Reviews and Discussions of Cinema from Astoria, NYC

Rachel Weisz is an incredible presence, and completely believable as the philosopher and mathematician Hypatia, the lone intellectual woman and non-believer in 4^th century Alexandria. An amazing film about religion, and the conflict between religions that is still so prominent. It does somewhat vilify Christians, but nor does it sanctify the pagans and the Jews; the thing that it sheds in the best light is intellect and knowledge. It balances– or rather director Alejandro Amenabar balances– the epic scope with individual and extremely personal stories, experiences and interactions. The camera contrasts close shots of characters with the overhead long shots of the mob with amazing beauty, and shows great reverence for  the grandeur of the ancient city of Alexandria and its amazing buildings– especially the library. The visual style also encapsulates the vision of Hypatia—the idea of the circle as the perfect shape is reflected in many shots, and her search for the truth about the planets and sun is explored with shots of the earth in space.

The love story (a love diamond– three men are in love with Hypatia) comes to represent and reflect the conflict for people between religious faiths– one of them a growing power– and an even larger conflict between faith and knowledge.