The Agony and the Ecstasy Page #4

Synopsis: Pope Julius is eager to leave behind works by which he will be remembered. To this end he cajoles Michelangelo into painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. When not on the battlefield uniting Italy, the Pope nags Michelangelo to speed up his painful work on the frescoes.
Director(s): Carol Reed
Production: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
  Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.2
Rotten Tomatoes:
86%
APPROVED
Year:
1965
138 min
1,368 Views


- They haven't seen him since.

- Search the city!

Search the ships in every port.

Let it be known that I will put

any city or country...

that gives him refuge under

a papal ban.

Florence in particular.

It is a pity this task has proved

too much for Michelangelo.

I would suggest another painter.

Such as Raphael de Santi of Urbino...

...who happens to be...

- Who happens by merest coincidence...

to be in my court today.

I have seen your work.

It shows promise.

You are no Florentine,

another point in your favor.

I'll have a commission for you, when

I return. An important commission.

But not the Ceiling.

Michelangelo will paint the Ceiling!

He will paint it or he will hang!

Game's over. Off to bed.

I'll come up later.

They have turned

the city upside down.

I know. They questioned

the servants this afternoon.

Julius says he'll hang him.

And if he doesn't, I will.

I've been ill all day.

Artists! They're all alike.

Conceited. Ungrateful. Faithless.

Michelangelo's vice

is too much faith.

He hasn't merely destroyed the fresco.

He's humiliated the Pope. Why?

He hated the idea of the fresco,

the lack of an idea.

- So he's gone to Constantinople.

- I don't believe he's gone there.

He... he is a fool.

His conceit is without limit.

But he's not a coward.

He's...

he's a strange man.

My dear sister,

don't let your regard for him...

...make a fool of you.

- My regard?

I'm not blind, Tessina.

You don't keep your secrets

as well as you think.

Whatever Michelangelo is doing,

he has his own reasons.

When Julius finds him, he is finished.

Whatever his reasons.

Have you seen Michelangelo

Buonarroti?

- No. No, I haven't seen him.

- Are you sure?

Of course I'm sure. He wouldn't

come around here, anyway.

Who is it?

- What do you want?

- Michelangelo, the Florentine.

- Is he here?

- Michelangelo?

We are informed that

you once knew him.

Yes, I knew him once, long ago.

When he first came to Bologna.

- He has not been here recently?

- Not for many years.

You are a fool, soldier,

to look for him here.

You can search the whole world,

you will never find Michelangelo...

in a house like this.

Michelangelo here.

Doesn't he ever stop worrying?

No. Not until he finds

what he's looking for.

- Look it!

- Look who's coming!

- Look!

- The Pope's men.

Here they come!

You there!

Have you seen Michelangelo?

Have you seen Michelangelo,

the Florentine?

You know he is here in Carrara.

Any of you?

Get away!

What are you waiting for?

Into the mountains. Go on! Go on!

You there! Above!

Have you seen Michelangelo,

the Florentine?

- Don't understand!

- Stupid peasants.

Come on!

Stop. Wait. Wait.

Let it go! Let it go!

Michelangelo!

Here take this!

Quickly! Hurry up! Hurry up!

Go on!

Follow me. Come on!

So God created man...

in His own image.

In the image of God

He created him.

Male and female.

And God said:
"Let the waters

bring forth abundantly...

moving creatures that have life.

And fowl that may

fly above the Earth...

in the open firmament of heaven."

The envoy is returning.

Your Holiness,

the enemy has refused to talk.

Very well. If they want more

bloodshed be it on their heads.

- Prepare to attack.

- Yes, Your Holiness.

Prepare to attack!

Lancers to the westward!

Your Holiness.

- Where did you find him?

- Behind the lines, Your Holiness.

- He was trying to get through. I...

- He dragged me here like a criminal!

- Silence!

- I tell you, I was coming to see you.

- Where were you?

- Carrara, at the quarries.

- Doing what?

- Thinking.

All this time in Carrara, thinking!

I decided that your ideas

for the Sistine are unworthy.

In Carrara, at the quarries,

you've been thinking...

my ideas are unworthy

of your talent!

And of your chapel, Holiness.

I completed one panel.

- Part of another.

- I saw!

- You saw they were poor.

- Not in my judgment!

- Then your judgment is not mine.

- Yours is superior to mine?

- My son?

- In matters of art, yes, Holy Father.

The wine was sour.

I threw it out.

Let me show Your Holiness.

Holiness, the enemy

has found our range.

Will you give the order

to open fire?

- What is this?

- The Sacrifice of Noah.

- And this is the Flood.

- Yes.

And this?

That's the Expulsion from the

the Garden of Eden, the...

the Creation of Adam,

the Sun and the Moon.

Genesis.

Covering the entire ceiling, not

just the side panels as you planned.

You see, this is my plan

for the whole work.

Now, spacing the central panels

will be the...

pagan Sibyls and the Hebrew Prophets

who foresaw the coming of Christ.

- And below, the ancestors of Christ.

- And appropriate designs.

No. No appropriate designs.

I am not a decorator, Holiness.

With your permission, I'll cover

the entire vault with glory.

Your Holiness,

the men are in position to attack.

We must move now.

- How much time?

- Several months. Perhaps a year.

- There's five times as much work.

- And cost I suppose?

It won't be cheap.

Well, I'm in a mood to be

generous, Buonarroti.

I will double your grant.

Four thousand ducats.

- For five times the work?

- It's all I can afford!

It costs me more to paint a ceiling

than lay siege to a city!

I should have at least ten

thousand, Holiness.

- I'll give you five.

- Eight.

Six! Six thousand ducats.

My last word.

Would you bargain

with your pontiff?

- As you wish, Holy Father.

- Six thousand ducats then.

Less the rent of your house,

of course.

You will recall your assistants

from Florence?

No. I'll work alone.

It's the only way.

- And you will complete the work.

- I will complete it.

- Are you sure you can?

- I am sure.

Even though painting

is not your trade?

- I will make it my trade.

- Good.

To work, my son.

Give him an escort to Rome!

Your own Swiss Guards.

- I want him there alive.

- Very good, Your Holiness.

You see, I couldn't give you

something mediocre.

- Even if it's all you asked for.

- It's not what your Holiness planned.

No. I planned a ceiling.

He plans a miracle.

What are you waiting for? Attack!

Attack!

Open fire!

Come on.

- Master.

- What is it?

From the Vatican treasury.

It's my pay. At last.

It's a bill!

Two months' rent!

His Holiness sent me a bill

for two months' rent!

He hasn't even paid me for

six months! Six months!

When will you make an end?

When I am finished.

When will you make an end?

When I am finished.

I am sorry, Tessina.

I am truly sorry.

Why be sorry?

It was a great success!

I spent a delightful evening making

conversation with an empty chair.

- Slipped my mind, that.

- Three hundred guests.

It's taken me six months to collect

artists from France and Spain.

Scholars from Germany

and England.

All anxious to meet

the great Michelangelo.

I forgot!

I was working and I forgot!

I suppose I should

apologize to your brother.

Why? Why should anyone expect

the slightest courtesy from you.

Now I understand my brother,

Rate this script:3.4 / 8 votes

Irving Stone

To be distinguished from Irving I. Stone, philanthropistIrving Stone (born Tennenbaum, July 14, 1903, San Francisco, California – August 26, 1989, Los Angeles) was an American writer, chiefly known for his biographical novels of noted artists, politicians and intellectuals; among the best known are Lust for Life (1934), about the life of Vincent van Gogh, and The Agony and the Ecstasy (1961), about Michelangelo. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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