The Agony of Byzantium
About The Agony of Byzantium
In 1453 Constantine XI posts his men on the walls of Constantinople. Outside, the Ottoman guns include the great cannon built by the Hungarian engineer Urban. Mehmed II and his council set the last assault. Inside the city, processions ask for help that does not come. A party of Ottomans gets in by a small gate. Constantine is killed in the fight. The city is looted. Mehmed enters, looks at the prisoners, and has Constantine's body found in a pile of dead and beheaded. The film ends with Mehmed in Hagia Sophia.
Cast & crew
More about The Agony of Byzantium
Louis Feuillade wrote and directed it for Gaumont in 1913. Robert-Jules Garnier designed the sets. A listing times it at 29 minutes. The French title is L'Agonie de Byzance.
Themes
Background
The picture is the fall of Constantinople in 1453, from Urban's cannon to Mehmed standing in Hagia Sophia.
Making
Feuillade staged the 1453 siege at Gaumont with Garnier's sets and a crowd large enough for the wall and the sack.
Preservation
A print survives.
Notes
- The small-gate entry follows the story of the Kerkoporta.
- Luitz-Morat, Georges Melchior, Laurent Morléas, Renée Carl, and Edmund Breon are billed. Albert Reusy is also on one cast list.
- Feuillade filled the assault scenes with a large number of extras.
- The last shot is Mehmed's triumph inside Hagia Sophia, after the beheading.
Scenes
- Constantine places his troops on the wall.
- Ottomans come in by the small gate.
- Constantine's body is found among the dead and beheaded.
- Mehmed stands in Hagia Sophia.
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-lagonie-de-byzance)
