The Agony and the Ecstasy (film)

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The Agony and the Ecstasy is a 1965 film directed by Carol Reed, starring Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II.

The film was shot in Todd-AO and Cinemascope versions. The Todd-AO version was used for the DVD release because of its superior picture quality.

The movie is centered around Michelangelo's painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling for Julius II. In that respect it differs from the book, which covered the grand scope of Michelangelo's life.

The film shows Michelangelo arguing often with the Pope, as well as with Bramante, the Pope's architect. It also depicts the painter Raphael painting the School of Athens fresco, and the film features many classic exchanges between Michelangelo and Julius II. At one point the Pope has to pretend to hire Raphael to finish working on the ceiling to get Michelangelo to finish it when he has become ill. Michelangelo makes a similar gesture to the Pope when enemy armies are approaching Rome; the Pope is in bed, having given up, when Michelangelo tells the Pope that he won't complete the Sistine chapel ceiling because the Pope has not completed his work.

Michelangelo is shown painting the original commission of the 12 Apostles for the Sistine Chapel, but then destroys the work he has done after seeing a barman throw away sour wine saying, "If the wine is sour, throw it out!" Michelangelo then goes into hiding at Carrara. During this time, Michelangelo has a divine vision of The Creation of Adam, which inspires him to finish the work, and he returns to see the Pope with his new ideas for the ceiling.