The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)
Charlton Heston: Michelangelo
Photos
Quotes
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Raphael : For what is an artist in this world but a servant, a lackey for the rich and powerful? Before we even begin to work, to feed this craving of ours, we must find a patron, a rich man of affairs, or a merchant, or a prince or... a Pope. We must bow, fawn, kiss hands to be able to do the things we must do or die.
[chuckles]
Raphael : We are harlots always peddling beauty at the doorsteps of the mighty.
Michelangelo : If it comes to that, I won't be an artist.
Raphael : [scoffs] You'll always be an artist. You have no choice.
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Pope Julius II : And this is how you see man? Noble, beautiful, unafraid?
Michelangelo : How else should I see him?
Pope Julius II : As he is - corrupt and evil, his hands dripping with blood, destined for damnation. Your painting's beautiful, but false.
Michelangelo : I cannot change my conception.
Pope Julius II : You've taught me not to waste my time trying to change your conception. How did you arrive at this?
Michelangelo : Well, I thought my idea for the panel was that man's evil he learned for himself, not from God.
Pope Julius II : Yes.
Michelangelo : I wanted to paint man as he was first created - innocent, still free of sin, grateful for the... the gift of life.
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Michelangelo : I'm a Florentine and a Christian... painting in this century. They were Greeks and pagans living in theirs. Pagans? Christians? An artist should be above such distinction. And a cardinal, especially one who pretends to understand art... should be above such foolishness. I'll tell you what stands between us and the Greeks. Two thousand years of human suffering stands between us! Christ on His Cross stands between us. And this difference is what I will express in my paintings. Just as I'll paint the truth in spite of all the bigots... and hypocrites in Rome! Why do you bring fools to judge my work?
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Pope Julius II : What you have painted here, my son, is not a portrait of God. It's a proof of faith.
Michelangelo : I hadn't thought that faith needed proof.
Pope Julius II : Not if you're a saint, or an artist. I am merely a pope.
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Michelangelo : If the wine is sour, throw it out!
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[last lines]
Michelangelo : It's only painted plaster, Holy Father.
Pope Julius II : No, my son - it is more than that... much more. What has it taught you, Michelangelo?
Michelangelo : That I am... not alone.
Pope Julius II : And it has taught me that the world is not alone. When I stand before the throne, I shall throw your ceiling into the balance against my sins. Perhaps it will shorten my time in purgatory.
Pope Julius II : [Michelangelo kneels and kisses the pope's ring] ... To work, my son.
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Contessina de Medici : Is it a crime that he wants the world to see it and share in his pride this... this fresco that he's forced you to paint, came day and night to watch, defended against its critics... this work of art, which to him has become a work of love.
Michelangelo : Of love?
Contessina de Medici : Yes, love. We always come back to that, don't we, Michelangelo? This one emotion which you seem unable to comprehend.
Michelangelo : Was it love that made him break his stick across my back?
Contessina de Medici : Love takes us in strange ways. It's the language of the blood. It's neither cold nor indifferent. Its either agony or ecstasy - sometimes, both at once.
