During the 16th century, many artists arrived in Rome to fulfill their dreams of earning a place in the "Book of Florence." Among the top five, two stand out with little or no further introduction, other than their names. Names which today personify the epitome of the Renaissance artists. The first is Leonardo de Vinci and the second is Michelangelo Buonarroti, (Charlton Heston). This film, "The Agony and The Extesy" is the story of the latter. Based on a novel by Irving Stone, it relates the clash of tempers between Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison) and the artist who claimed he was first and foremost a sculpturer. Through the turbulent years of Julius's reign, during which time he tried to unify the Papal States by force, he gave a most difficult, nay, nearly impossible commission to Buonarroti, to fresco the ceiling with some "Appropriate Design" for the Cistine Chappel, on his back, on a curved surface 70 feet in the air. The film illustrates the great suffering the artist endured for a commission he never asked for. During the same time, the pope did his best to make a bid for immortality, by forcing the painter to do the impossible. The fact we are given Harry Andrews to play Bramante, who is the pope's architect and Adolfo Celi as Giovanni de Medici, adds to the film becomes history in the making. The movie itself is classic in nature and it's effect is breathtaking in it's climatic rendering. Excellance is the final gift. ****
Review of The Agony and the Ecstasy
