 | | 고통과 환희 (2002, The Agony and the Ecstasy) | | 미국 /
영어 / 드라마 / 138분
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Irving Stone's book The Agony and the Ecstasy (766 pages in paper back) from which came this screen play would probably provide enough material for 2 or 3 unique screen plays. One could probably generate a dozen unique screen plays from the life of Michelangelo. The success of this fine film comes from focusing on one aspect of the story out the many different aspects available. It is a terrible temptation and the common pitfall of many films to bight off far more story than can be digested reasonably in one film (my main complaint with Force 10 from Navarone (1978), Great Expectations (1998), and The Accidental Tourist (1988) as explained in my comments on those films). As hard as this must be, judging by the sheer number of dismal failures that have been produced, this group of filmmakers bit the bullet and came up with a winner for their effort.
The result is that we are presented with a portion of the story that most directly juxtaposes the personalities of ruling Pope Julius II, played by Rex Harrison, and a mature Michelangelo, played by Charlton Heston. Trimming the story to this degree allowed a plot that could be honored well within the limitations of a single film. The Plot is not simple, but it is compact and fairly straight forward. The film is anchored by the primary thread of the plot which is quite simply to win the war to reclaim lost papal property and in so doing save the world. This thread opens the film and takes it almost to its conclusion. As this thread matures, we are presented with the secondary thread, to get Michelangelo to not only paint but also finish painting the Sistine Chapel and, in so doing, bring both he and the Pope immortality. As this second thread matures we are presented with the third thread which intertwines the first two and, in so doing, holds the story together, very well together in my opinion. This thread is simply; to subordinate those achievements that glorify the "men", in favor of achievements that glorify God (and of course the Roman Catholic Church). It is this third thread that takes us to the film's end.
Breaking the plot into three simple threads affords the filmmakers the opportunity to direct resources to building scenes with great power and strong feeling. This power and feeling luxuriates in the "context" provided by the third intertwining thread. These scenes and their context flesh out the characters letting them touch us, affect us, and give us time to get know them and the great joy of developing a personal opinion about them. We value these men by the end of the film and feel that we have come to know them personally.
To this extent, the film unfolds with a skirmish, a turf war, as this sword wielding Pope leads campaign after camping to reclaim Papal lands on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church. The ongoing war nicely parallels the inner struggle that keeps Michelangelo from devoting his, by then famous genius to painting. "I'm a sculptor not a painter", he pleads ineffectively to the Pope who reminds Michelangelo each time that he is an "artist" who will do what he is commanded to do.
Pope Julius II and Michelangelo suffer from an abundance of pride, that nearly brings them both to an early end. The Pope's pride is that which comes from power and victory, where as Michelangelo's pride stems from his success and fame. Their personal struggles to contain their egos are conveyed to the viewer through their verbal fights with each other, and we are shown that these personal struggles are battles to match the ongoing battles to complete the separate tasks that both have undertaken. Although Michelangelo's task is the later assigned, it becomes as difficult as the Pope's, and both come to value the other's struggle, and eventually intervene to ensure the other's success, because, as we and they slowly discover, with the failure of one comes the failure of the other. They are the source of each other's frustration, because they are source of each other's learning; one teaches the other patience and humility, each in turn, crisis after crisis, until ultimately they may save each other's lives.
Michelangelo has loved before we meet him (Contessina de Medici, played Diane Cilento), but his love for her has not survived the years where her love for him is still intact. It is the Medici family that sponsored Michelangelo and brought him to Florence where he grew up with the Contessina. Over time he comes to know Pope Julius II and comes into his sponsorship. By the time we meet her, the Contessina has been married for several to someone else by arrangement as was the custom in those days.
As well as loves and allies, Michelangelo has enemies and detractors against whom he must be defended, and who he must refrain from antagonizing. Among the many who would benefit from his failure or death are the Pope's Architect, the Cardinals, the politicians, and the other artists hungering for the commissions given to him. His allies and detractors are the core of the third thread in the plot, and there is much to keep one engaged throughout the length of the film.
It is a tangled web of ambition and greed, nicely broken up into scenes of action, love, drama, and art. The more technically minded will enjoy seeing the processes they used to get the images onto the ceilings and cut marble out of the quarry and bring the large stone into Florence for the sculptors to work on. This film is suitable for family viewing and should make for some great conversations with your friends children or spouses. |
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(7/10)
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