The Agony and the Ecstasy

1965138 min★ 7.1Drama, History

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.

Reviews

“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…”

— John Chard

★8.5Read more

“Depending on the version you see, this film starts with a gorgeously scored trip around some of the museums of Italy and of the Vatican allowing us to put the sheer magnificence of the talent of…”

— CinemaSerf

★7Read more