A historical drama with some stunning CGI effects to recreate the ancient city of Alexandria, this film is an absolute must-see. Weisz gives a breathtaking performance as Hypatia, first female mathemetician, and Mingella as Davus, her slave, touchingly portrays the life-changing choice he must make between his mistress, whom he loves, and the rising surge of Christianity, which seems to be just what he's been looking for. The tragic consequences result in an exquisite end scene, with an amazing, riveting atmosphere.
Strange mix of infatuation by 2 men for the lovely Hypatia (Weisz); big epic with huge crowd scenes in ancient Alexandria, and some interesting historical parallels between the rise of Christianity and (some might say but I couldn't possibly comment) on the current heady mix of Islam in the modern world.
Trouble is, just as you get drawn into whatever turns you on in the movie it suddenly switches to some facile explanation of ancient philosophy, which would have been better left to Monty Python's Life of Brian.
**WARNING! SPOILER ALERT - Ed.**
I like the end though, nice touch of blasphemy? Hypatia is betrayed by 2 of her disciples and meets her end at the hands of the Christians! (The film had started with Hypatia surrounded by her fawning "disciples" lapping up her every word)
Overall it's something a bit different. Don't get fooled by the film's spanish connection. In essence it's Hollywood style funded by spanish euros. Ole!