The Agony and the Ecstasy poster

The Agony and the Ecstasy

From the age of magnificence comes a new magnificence in motion pictures.

7.0(159)19652h 18m3

During the Italian Renaissance, Pope Julius II contracts the influential artist Michelangelo to sculpt 40 statues for his tomb. When the pope changes his mind and asks the sculptor to paint a mural in the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo doubts his painting skills and abandons the project. Divine inspiration returns Michelangelo to the mural, but his artistic vision clashes with the pope's demanding personality and threatens the success of the historic painting.

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Status
Released
Budget
$10M
Box office
$4M
Language
English
  • based on novel or book
  • vatican (holy see)
  • pope
  • artist
  • painter
  • biography
  • michelangelo
  • 16th century
  • italian renaissance
  • sistine chapel

Top billed cast

Behind the camera

Director

Carol Reed

Produced in

United States of America

Gallery

Still from The Agony and the EcstasyStill from The Agony and the EcstasyStill from The Agony and the EcstasyStill from The Agony and the EcstasyStill from The Agony and the Ecstasy

Videos

Release dates

  • United StatesUS

    • Theatrical7 Oct 1965
  • United KingdomGB

    • TheatricalU27 Oct 1965
  • AustraliaAU

    • Theatrical17 Nov 1966
  • ArgentinaAR

    • Theatrical1 Jun 1966
  • BrazilBR

    • Theatrical25 Dec 1965
  • DenmarkDK

    • Theatrical9 May 1966
  • FinlandFI

    • Theatrical24 Sept 1965
  • FranceFR

    • TheatricalU12 Apr 1966
  • GermanyDE

    • TheatricalWest Germany16 Sept 1965
  • IcelandIS

    • Theatrical17 Jan 1970
  • JapanJP

    • Theatrical12 Feb 1966
  • MexicoMX

    • Theatrical18 May 1967

Frequently asked questions

The Agony and the Ecstasy was released on 16 September 1965.

Audience reviews

2
  • J

    John Chard

    9/18/2014

    8.5/10

    When will you make an end? When I am finished! And so it be that that is the often repeated exchange between Rex Harrison's Pope Julius II & Charlton Heston's Michelangelo, and thus we have the basis for the film version of Irving Stone's novel The Agony & The Ectasy. This is a fictionalised account of how Michelango came to paint his masterpiece on the roof of the Sistine chapel, focusing solely on the two mai…

  • C

    CinemaSerf

    1/7/2023

    7/10

    Depending on the version you see, this film starts with a gorgeously scored trip around some of the museums of Italy and of the Vatican allowing us to put the sheer magnificence of the talent of Michelangelo Buonarroti into context - and the volume and quality of that body of work, condensed into ten minutes or so, makes this worth watching just as a lesson in the history of art! The story is set during the Papacy of…

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