The biographical story of Michelangelo's troubles while painting the Sistine Chapel at the urging of Pope Julius II.
During the Italian Renaissance, Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison) contracts the influential artist Michelangelo (Charlton Heston) 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. Viewers will find it fascinating to see how frescoes were painted using fresh plaster and paper guides, and to see how the marble slabs for large statues were mined in the Tuscan quarries. Others will revel in the pomp and ceremony of the age, or the contentious relationship of two very stubborn men.
USA 1965 Carol Reed 138m
