The Agony and the ecstasy

Based on Irving Stone’s mammoth bestseller, “The Agony and the Ecstasy” is the dynamic retelling of one of the fiercest and most productive collaborations in art history, that of artist and painter Michelangelo, and the man who commissioned him to paint the Sistine Chapel, Pope Julius II. As played by Charlton Heston (as the painter) and Rex Harrison (as the Pope), the men are both titanic egoists determined to leave eternity a unique vision of their love and faith for God. Though “the Agony and the Ecstasy” betrays an earlier era’s reluctance to deal with either Michelangelo’s ambivalent sexuality, or the Pope’s lustful material excesses, the emotionally violent duels between the men betray the deep extremes of hatred, jealousy and love which dominated their relationship. For a contemporary viewer it is the richly colourful cinematography and the epic reconstruction of Renaissance Rome which is the film’s long-lasting legacy. If the melodrama of the clashes between the tortured artist and the meglomaniac Pope now seem almost camp, the recreation of the feat of painting the vast Chapel still seems wondrous. Cast also includes Diane Cilento, Harry Andrews and Alberto Lupo.