The dubious decision to also deliver an art history lesson does not help.Īnd so the film rides ups and downs for 140 minutes, good intentions and a committed attitude often prevailing. With studio 20th Century Fox aiming for a spectacularly-scaled production, director Carol Reed is sometimes lost attempting to capture the intimate process of artistic genius creativity under widescreen, vivid colour, big-set requirements. The strain impacts the artist's health, while the Pope's wars take a turn for the worse and his supremacy is challenged.Ī grand adaptation of one chapter in Irving Stone's book with a script by Philip Dunne, The Agony And The Ecstasy does not hold back on conveying a sense of art history in the making. The Pope is impressed, but the work takes a long time, again creating tension between the two men. After starting the work he defaces the early images and abandons the commission.Īfter a period of seclusion Michelangelo returns with a new premise to transform the chapel's ceiling with imagery related to the creation of humanity.

Michelangelo is hesitant and uninspired, insisting he is a sculptor and not a painter. He switches Michelangelo's attention to the Sistine Chapel, requesting ceiling paintings of the twelve apostles. The Pope is leading his armies in battles to unify various restless regions under the papal flag. The story then starts in Rome of the early 1500s, with Michelangelo ( Charlton Heston) working on a commission for Pope Julius II ( Rex Harrison) to create 40 sculptures for the Pope's future mausoleum. The film opens with a 12 minute documentary about Michelangelo's rise from humble beginnings in Florence to celebrated status as the leading sculptor of the Renaissance era. A historical drama about the creation of one of the world's most famous artefacts, The Agony And The Ecstasy lacks subtlety but overflows with admirable passion.

Juilius michelangelo agony and ecstasy