The Agony and the Ecstasy

Biography, Drama

Charlton Heston	Michelangelo
Rex Harrison	Pope Julius II
Diane Cilento	Contessina de Medici
Harry Andrews	Donato Bramante
Alberto Lupo	Duke of Urbino
Adolfo Celi	Cardinal Giovanni de Medici
Venantino Venantini	Paris De Grassis
John Stacy	Sangallo
Fausto Tozzi	Foreman
Maxine Audley	Woman

Director	Carol Reed
Producer	Carol Reed
Writer	Irving Stone; Philip Dunne

The biographical story of Michelangelo's troubles while painting the Sistine Chapel at the urging of Pope Julius II.

Carol Reed (The Third Man) directed this 1965 portrait of the relationship between Michelangelo (Charlton Heston) and Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison), who commissioned the artist to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Based on a novel by Irving Stone, the script plods along, juggling the dynamics between the two men along with a somewhat perfunctory love story and distracting battle sequences. Reed seems more attuned to the nuances and great pains of the artistic process, as seen in sequences of Michelangelo working. But the overall focus of the film is unfortunately fuzzy. --Tom Keogh