The Agony and the Ecstasy( 1965)

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From the age of magnificence comes a new magnificence in motion pictures.

Overview

During the Italian Renaissance, Pope Julius II contracts the influential artist Michelangelo to sculpt 40 statues for his tomb. When the pope changes his mind and asks the sculptor to paint a mural in the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo doubts his painting skills and abandons the project. Divine inspiration returns Michelangelo to the mural, but his artistic vision clashes with the pope's demanding personality and threatens the success of the historic painting.

Top Billed Cast

Charlton Heston
Michelangelo
Rex Harrison
Papa Giulio II
Diane Cilento
Contessina de'Medici
Harry Andrews
Bramante
Alberto Lupo
Duca di Urbino
Adolfo Celi
Giovanni de' Medici
Venantino Venantini
Paride de Grassis
Tomas Milian
Raffaello Sanzio
John Stacy
Giuliano da Sangallo
Fausto Tozzi
uomo
Maxine Audley
Woman
Andrea Giordana
aiutante di Michelangelo
Furio Meniconi
contadino
Adolfo Pezzini
uomo alla cava
Paolo Magalotti
guardia svizzera
Alec McCowen
Cardinal
Richard Pearson
Cardinal
Rosalba Neri
Seductive Woman (uncredited)
Marvin Miller
Narrator (uncredited)
Tomas Milian
Raphael
Fausto Tozzi
Foreman
Venantino Venantini
Paris De Grassis

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Review 2Discussion

A review by John Chard

8.5

Written by John Chard on Thu Sep 18 2014

When will you make an end? When I am finished! And so it be that that is the often repeated exchange between Rex Harrison's Pope Julius II & Charlton Heston's Michelangelo, and thus we have the basis for the film version of Irving Stone's novel The Agony & The Ectasy. This is a fictionalised account of how Michelango came to paint his masterpiece on the roof of the Sistine chapel, focusing solely on the two main characters of the piece, The Agony & The Ectasy is a character and dialogue driven piece of work. I'm not here to give you a history lesson on the Renaisssance painters or the ...