Having just seen Roberto Rossellini's "Francesco, giullare di Dio" (called "The Flowers of St. Francis" in English), I was surprised to find out that October 4 is his Feast Day. While I'll say that a lot of good work clearly went into the movie, I also have to say that it comes across as a little bit silly at times.
First, there's the entire sequence where they deal with tyrant Nicolaio. Nicolaio's followers - all looking like cavemen - basically play Keep The Brother Off Of The Ground when our protagonist arrives. But when we meet Nicolaio himself...it looks as if Yosemite Sam's head is sticking out of a mass of armor. Did Rossellini really intend for any scenes to look like that?! And the whole part about cutting off the pig's foot. I don't know what led the guy to believe that any pig would willingly give up one of its feet. Couldn't he have figured out that a pig probably wouldn't understand why a human would want its foot?! If anything, the friar was the real pig in that chapter.
OK, so many people will very likely take offense at my not taking this movie as seriously as Rossellini intended. Maybe the recent revelations that Mother Teresa had doubts about her own faith have made it seem less likely that St. Francis was that obsessed with his life as a friar. I should identify that I would recommend this movie, but would add that I interpreted some scenes as kind of silly (due in part to the overacting). Worth seeing, but just know what you're getting into.
First, there's the entire sequence where they deal with tyrant Nicolaio. Nicolaio's followers - all looking like cavemen - basically play Keep The Brother Off Of The Ground when our protagonist arrives. But when we meet Nicolaio himself...it looks as if Yosemite Sam's head is sticking out of a mass of armor. Did Rossellini really intend for any scenes to look like that?! And the whole part about cutting off the pig's foot. I don't know what led the guy to believe that any pig would willingly give up one of its feet. Couldn't he have figured out that a pig probably wouldn't understand why a human would want its foot?! If anything, the friar was the real pig in that chapter.
OK, so many people will very likely take offense at my not taking this movie as seriously as Rossellini intended. Maybe the recent revelations that Mother Teresa had doubts about her own faith have made it seem less likely that St. Francis was that obsessed with his life as a friar. I should identify that I would recommend this movie, but would add that I interpreted some scenes as kind of silly (due in part to the overacting). Worth seeing, but just know what you're getting into.