DSpeed this Monday, April 21 on the age of 88, Pope Francis, whose actual identify is Jorge Bergoglio, has directed the Holy See since 2013. The man leaves this world, however the operate will quickly discover a new face and, in mirror in actuality, fiction has recurrently crunched or honored the fascinating determine of the sovereign pontiff and his establishments.
The very cinephile John Paul II had additionally declared in 1994: “The Church considers cinema as an authentic, positive art form of hope. It makes it possible to confront the soul with challenges whose ethical and spiritual depth can lead to a certain form of elevation. »»
Impossible to draw up here an exhaustive list of the appearances of the pope on the screen, small or large. What works to advise you as a priority to better understand the greatness, tumult and shadow shares linked to the overwhelming Mission of Guide to the Catholic Church? They are so numerous and heterogeneous, of Ecstasy and agony (1965) by Carol Reed (who traces the conflicting relationships between Pope Jules II and the sculptor Michelangelo) at Souliers de Saint Peter (1968) by Michael Anderson (with Anthony Quinn in Slavic bishop that has become cardinal), passing by Lisztomania (1975) by Ken Russell and his Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr, in the cassock of a Barbu – Pie IX pope!
Closer to us, Removal (2023) by Marco Bellocchio told the true story of a 7 -year -old Jewish child, forcibly removed from his family in 1858 in Bologna, to be raised as a Christian with Pope Pius IX in the city of the Vatican. Our selection focuses on five other popular films as well as a essential recent series, which seem to us to form the ideal base to approach the figure of the Pope on the screen. Fictions on which the church has sometimes thrown anathema …
Conclave (2024)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Adapted from the bestseller of the British Robert Harris (The Ghost Writer, I accuse…), This ecclesiastical thriller immerses us in the heart of the influence struggles surrounding the closed -door election of a new pope. When his holiness brutally dies of a heart attack, Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) finds himself responsible for organizing the best guarded election in the world. The one who will designate the successor of the Sovereign Pontiff. But the dean Lawrence will gradually discover that the deceased had hidden a secret to them that he must discover before a new pope was chosen. This clerical suspense against a background of power struggles shows the game of alliances between cardinals.
Secrets, unsaid and lies are at the heart of this well-tied story that discloses the Arcana of the Vatican. The German director Edward Berger details the various currents of the church (in this case, the progressives against the ultraconservatives) and has reconstructed the Sainte-Marthe residence in the studios of Cinecitta. The final revelation of the film is surprising. Conclave has also won the Oscar, the Golden Globe and the Bafta for the best suitable scenario. But also the Bafta for the best film.
Conclave. Available on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray special edition Fnac. M6 Video.
Habemus Papam (2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcr0yk0siua
Just elected Pope, a cardinal (extraordinary Michel Piccoli) turns out to be incapable of assuming the charge that falls to him. Indeed, the sovereign pontiff does not feel a size to endorse the supreme habit and to bear the weight of such responsibility. He even refuses to go to the balcony to send a speech to thousands of faithful who met in Place Saint-Pierre to wait for white smoke. Paniced, the Holy Father fled from the Vatican and Flâne, anonymous, in the streets of Rome to overcome its anxiety while the Holy See is looking for solutions to overcome the crisis …
Nanni Moretti recounts this fugue in this fable on the crisis of faith of an old man in the grip of doubt. Despite a few lengths, Habemus Papam (“We have the pope!” In Latin) delivers moments of an attractive melancholy. A dramatic comedy caught up in actuality, when Benoît XVI introduced in 2013 that he was giving up his features.
Habemus Papam. DVD and Blu-ray obtainable at France Télévisions Distribution.
Angels & Demons (2009)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYGZBR-2MUQ
Three years later Da Vinci Code (2006), the difference of Dan Brown’s bestseller, offered greater than 90 million copies worldwide, Ron Howard has attacked his prequel with Angels & Demons. More profitable than the primary half, this second episode begins with the announcement of the Pope’s loss of life. A priori, the vicar of Christ was poisoned and 4 cardinals who might apply for the pontifical throne (“preferiti”) have been kidnapped in stride within the Vatican. A Camerlingue priest (Ewan McGregor) then calls an knowledgeable in non secular symbols at Harvard University, Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks, Aminci), to help a commander of the Swiss Guard (Stellan Stellan Skarsgård) in his investigation. Langdon discovers that Illuminati, a secret society against the Catholic Church for hundreds of years, have been blended with a sequence of assassinations and put together a bomb assault!
Quite rhythmic, this theological thriller is a treasure hunt that leads us from crypts in catacombs stuffed with traps, passing by many Roman cathedrals. The Vatican authorities have been so hit by the situation that they refused to help their manufacturing. Which should have resolved to construct a life-size duplicate of Saint-Pierre Place within the studio and in artificial photographs! The movie additionally pleads for a conciliation between science and religion. And look with out displeasure. Which just isn’t the case with the final a part of the trilogy turned by the identical staff, the disappointing Inferno (2016).
Angels & Demons. DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD obtainable at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE).
Amen (2002)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB65DUB2FYQ
During the Second World War, a chemist (Ulrich Tukur), helped by a younger Jesuit (Mathieu Kassovitz), tries to alert Pope Pius XII and the allies of the truth of the genocide of the Jews by the Nazis. But their initiatives to attempt to interrupt the Shoah won’t discover an echo with excessive non secular authorities … by adapting The vicara play created in Germany in 1963, Costa-Gavras denounced the silence of the Vatican and the passive complicity of the Catholic church within the face of Nazi atrocities. Criticizing the inaction of Pius XII in passing with regard to the Jews.
A movie in opposition to indifference, lulled by the incessant parade of loss of life trains, whose load isn’t seen … After the imaginative and prescient of the movie, a query hassle us: “What if everything could have been prevented?” What if, even immediately, we have been the silent accomplices of different barbarities? »An obligation of reminiscence of an ideal sobriety – in contrast to the provocative poster of the movie designed on the time by the Italian photographer and graphic designer Oliviero Tuscani, which confirmed a picture deemed blasphemous: that of a Catholic cross prolonged by a swastika. Which didn’t fail to set off an attractive controversy.
Amen. DVD and Blu-ray obtainable at Arte Éditions.
The godfather3e Part (1990)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwxDWVLHKDW
New York, 1979. After constructing an empire based mostly on crime, the scary godfather of the Mafia Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) is in search of respectability and redemption. At virtually 60, he renounces his unlawful actions. He offered his casinos, the whole lot associated to the sport, and now not has no pursuits or investments in unlawful circumstances. Seeking forgiveness, he turns to the church. This has accrued an enormous deficit of $ 769 million. Corleone then proposed to deposit $ 600 million on the Vatican financial institution to mop again. In change for which he requested to turn out to be the bulk shareholder of a big actual property firm belonging to the church (Immobiliare). By taking management of this firm, its previous, that of its household and its youngsters, will likely be bleached …
Later within the movie, Michael goes to Sicily. He meets a cardinal (Raf Vallona) who, on the loss of life of Pope Paul VI at 80, will himself turn out to be the Sovereign Pontiff underneath the identify of Jean-Paul Ier. The latter will ask the gangster to admit and make his mea culpa. This one replied: “I am beyond any redemption. What good is it to confess if I ignore repentance? However, Michael, plagued by guilt, admits to the future pope that he ordered the assassination of his brother Fredo. An overwhelming sequence.
Worthy of a Greek tragedy, this final chapter of the loop trilogy, with emotion, the saga of Francis Ford Coppola. Andy Garcia stands out here as the worthy successor of Pacino, whose cry of pain, on the steps of the Palermo Opera during the final, is still as heartbreaking. Mixing reality and fiction, the scenario of the film co-written by Mario Puzo includes two events having really taken place: the death of Pope Jean-Paul Ier And the Banco Ambrosiano scandal in 1981-1982.
The godfather, part 3. DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD available from Paramount.
The Young Pope (2016) and The New Pope (2020)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odcxigscp_W
Signed by Paolo Sorrentino, this minister was an event during its broadcast on television. With a comfortable budget, the transalpine filmmaker has given himself the means of his ambitions with this international co -production (Canal+, HBO, Wild Side Italy, high and short, Sky). Here he paints the portrait of a fictitious pope confronted with power and solitude: Lenny Belardo (the very ironic Jude Law), a cardinal induced under the name of Pius XIII. At 47, he is the youngest pontiff in history and the first American to endorse this charge. Invested in the mission to become the spiritual guide of a billion people, this servant of God lived a trauma during his childhood.
This orphan never knew what his parents had become and he is continuously tormented by his abandonment. He was also raised in a convent by Mary (Diane Keaton), a anti -conformist good sister who will become his personal secretary. He will prove to be an elusive pope. An authoritarian man who is not inclined to be commanded. To establish his authority, this Machiavelli in cassock will multiply the low blows …
To uncover
The kangaroo of the day
Answer
Sorrentino multiplies twists and turns on this fable tinged with black humor. In The New Popethe direct suite of The Young PopePius XIII is plunged right into a coma whereas ready for a cardiac transplantation. It has been stored alive artificially for 9 months. While ready for his awakening (his resurrection?), His successor John Paul III (embodied with phlegm by John Malkovich) tries to impose a radically totally different model of hold forth … Less profitable, this second season is a bit more languid. The shock impact has disappeared. But the intrigue addresses the query of terrorism by evoking non secular fanaticism and fundamentalism. In the top, the sacred character of this diptych on the papacy is absolutely definitely worth the detour.
The Young Pope and The New Pope. Available in DVD or Blu-ray containers at Studio Canal.
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