Reluctant artist for the Pope, Michelangelo gripes and whines and plagues his benefactor (who consistently neglects to pay him) to the point where he receives a beating with a stick - you don't talk to the Warrior Pope, Mike, you listen to him. But given those limits, Philip Dunne's script makes the story of the famous painting into a satisfying drama. It does remold the character of Michelangelo into the rugged hero required by a Charlton Heston film, and Pope Julius does come off a bit like Henry Higgins Builds His Dream House. The good thing about The Agony and the Ecstasy is that its script is not The Rennaissance for Dummies. Their arguments may become irrelevant anyway - the enemies of Rome may take the city and put an end to Michelangelo's work before he finishes. But Pope Julius can spare little time to deal with a tempermental artist while fighting wars for the Holy Roman Empire. While a fugitive from the Pope's wrath he finds the inspiration he's looking for and comes back with an elaborate plan. When Michelangelo realizes his first pictures of saints is second-rate, he vandalizes his work and steals away to labor in a marble quarry while sorting things out. Michelangelo drags his feet while architect Donato Bramante (Harry Andrews) tries to have the commission shifted to his favorite, Raphael (Tomas Milian). Michelangelo hates painting and does everything he can to dodge the assignment, but stays on thanks to the counsel of the Contessina di Medici (Diane Cilento), a married woman who can't understand why the artist prefers his work to her company. Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison) pulls Michelangelo (Charlton Heston) from his life's work making sculptures to instead throw a frescoe up on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, a dreary building the Church can't afford to tear down. You don't have to be a blind-faith type to enjoy the philosophical content herein there are some nice surprises among the cliché and predictable material. A gigantic Todd A-O 70mm Road Show extravaganza and one of the last big successess of that dying breed, its intelligent script does an excellent job of making the story of the painting of a ceiling into interesting fare. All quasi-religious movies are not created alike and The Agony and the Ecstasy is really quite good. It seems kind of strange to have Return to Peyton Place released on DVD as a Studio Classics offering while this prestigious Fox picture comes out for a price one would expect to see in a bargain bin.
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