Film Reviews by None

I loved this film: a beautifully-crafted story based on fact and set in an Alexandria that was convincingly reconstructed. I was very impressed how the script writers not only included Hypatia's intellectual life but also made it work metaphorically. The closing scene of the ellipse in the roof was brilliant. As well as that we had a story of the unrequited love of Orestes, and the muddied love of Davus, a wonderfully complex character, the slave who ultimately sets his mistress free. And then there was the story of 4th century Christianity and the terrible truth of at least two 'saints' of the early church. Gripping, rewarding, satisfying. I shall be watching this again and again.

This is a flawed gem. It's too long, has a slow start and tips perilously close to sentimentality, but somehow it works. Khan is set a Herculean labour before his very beautiful lady will accept him. He has to show her somewhere in San Francisco she hasn't seen before, and he does. Later there is another labour to perform: he has to meet the president and tell him that Khan is not a terrorist.

The story is threaded through historical events from 9/11 to the election of Obama. What is most powerful is the wisdom given to Khan by his mother, that there are people who hold flowers and people who hold guns, and he must learn to distinguish.

That Khan has Aspergers Syndrome gives him an innocence to win hearts. In many ways, this storyline is following that of Wolfram von Eschenbach's story of Parzival finding the Grail.

Without those flaws of pace, this would be a five star film. Highly recommended.