Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison portray two of the Renaissance's most colourful figures in this historical drama, based on Irving Stone's best-seller. When Pope Julius II (Harrison) commissions Michelango (Heston) to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the artist initially refuses. The project becomes a battle of wills fuelled by artistic and temperamental differences that form the core of this movie. Nominated for five Oscars, The Agony And The Ecstasy is a rich dramatisation of the struggle behind one of the world's artistic masterpieces. It is a story - and a film - that is both moving and fascinating.