Fresh and Exciting

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

it is a great adaptation. with its good points and sins. he is the film of a precise political, religious and cultural context. but, against inaccuracy, against the idealism of Morris West, against, maybe, the great cast and the status of prediction for John Paul II,against the noble and idealistic solution for solve a delicate crisis, it is a film who remains actual. like the book. because it explores profound themes. and desires of everyone. because it is a support for remember, poetry with taste with fairy tale and reflection of contemporary world. sure, at the status of sketch. but enough to see again. so, touching. in a real special way.

Kiril Lakota is a Soviet Catholic Archbishop which is elevated to cardinal after years in a Siberian penal colony, managing to be elected pope shortly after. Consumed by his own insecurity, he will have to deal with a divided church and a changing world. Directed by Michael Anderson, this epic film has a screenplay by John Patrick and James Kennaway. The cast is headed by Anthony Quinn, Vittorio De Sica and Laurence Olivier.For the most inattentive viewer, this film will seem just a tour through the ancient Catholic liturgy, prior to the Second Vatican Council. Masses in Latin, priests back to the community, a huge imperial solemnity and majestic surrounding the Pope... But this film can be much more than that. Its a journey across the soul of a man who chose to be true to his faith and his ideas, supporting the price of that and not letting down by loneliness, hunger or the whip.The script is excellent and it was done carefully, as well as the dialogues, which have something philosophical and profound. However, the film elongates too much in Catholic liturgical ceremonies, making it too overwhelmed, as if the audience had gone to attend a Mass and not a movie. I think this part of the film is important and needs to be displayed and explained, but could have been shortened, even though that time was then wisely spent in an attempt to deepen the plot around the Chinese crisis or the sub-plot surrounding George Faber's marital life. This plot was so sadly inserted that ends up clashing the movie, as if it had been fitted to the hammer. The editing of the film could also have been better, seeming illogical and disorderly at several times.The actors met very well with their roles, but there are two that deserve all the highlight: Oskar Werner shone in the role of Father Telemond, a philosopher priest, freethinker, contrarian and almost subversive, portraying very well the divisions within the Church that had led to the Second Vatican Council (closed a few years before this film was shot); and of course, Anthony Quinn, an actor who achieved in this film, perhaps, one of the most remembered works of his career.The soundtrack, by Alex North, was excellent and is worthy of being remembered. The costumes fulfilled their role correctly and without errors.A very curious fact: this film was inspired by Morris West's novel, with the same name, written in 1963. As this film, the novel spoke about the election of a Soviet pope. Coincidence or not, in 1978, was elected John Paul II, Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow, a Polish city integrated in the Soviet Union at that time.

Some reviewers here find it remarkable that "Shoes" predicts a Slavic Pope, and then, lo and behold, John Paul II is elected just ten years later. He was a Slav; and that's about the end of the similarities. John Paul II was from a good, middle-class background and no crazy Socialist like Pope Quinn; he was never in a gulag or Commie prison, either.If this was supposed to be the Church in the late '80's, I can only say: I wish! It seems like the biggest change at the Vatican, according to this goofy movie, was the papal apartment: John Gielgud seems to be hanging out in a Vegas hotel. And no one seems sad when he dies: all the Cardinals wear their festive lace rochets during the mourning period when traditionally lace was set aside. Oh well, the budget was probably fairly limited after the expenditure on the look-alike Sistine chapel.There were, however, a couple of things where art imitated life: the ridiculous subplot with David Janssen was meant to reflect West himself, always angry at "the Church" because of his adultery and failed marriage. So, there has to be a "sympathetic" philanderer/adulterer to let West grind his personal ax a little. Likewise, the weirdo priest played by Werner needs to be there to spout all the silly ideas from the 50's and 60's that West and his pals thought were going to change the Church and the world.One curious but unverified footnote: like Pope Kiril, Paul VI supposedly ordered a white business suit made; but when he tried it on (in the words of a friend), he realized he looked like a bald, little Italian man in a white suit, and that was the end of it.Some beautiful scenes of Catholic ceremonies, nice views of Rome; otherwise, tedious, dated, and preposterous.

Almost semi-documentary like in its telling of the processes of electing a new pope, "The Shoes of the Fisherman" is more of a message to the wealthy Catholic church than an actual movie. Told in just over 2 1/2 hours, the film starts with Russian Bishop Anthony Quinn being released from captivity in Siberia after 20 years, and his appointment to a cardinal-ship in Rome by Pope Sir John Gielgud. No sooner has Quinn stepped into his cardinal robes than the Pope has passed away, and the viewer gets an in-depth look at the process of replacing him. It soon becomes clear that the cardinals are not in agreement of who should be pope, and when Quinn simply expresses his simple values of world peace and solving hunger issues in Communist China (which has the world on the verge of another war), he suddenly finds himself getting votes from supportive Cardinals. Elected pope against his will, Quinn soon learns some harsh secrets about being in such a position of power, especially that it is a very lonely life. Like Zorba the Greek, Quinn's Russian Pope wants to see as much of the world as he can to understand it, and he disguises himself (like Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday") as a common man to see it. He runs into the troubled wife of an American reporter (whose infidelity had earlier been revealed), and helps her solve her crisis while she takes care of a Jewish patient. Back in the Vatican, the Pope finds out about resentments from Cardinal Leo McKern (giving a bravo performance) over Quinn's liking for a troubled young priest, and learns of what he must do to survive this lonely life. What comes at the end is very touching, and even quite important in the current state of affairs.Quinn, as usual, gives an honest performance that reveals this character's humanity. He is quite likable from the start, and it is very apparent that such a pope (wearing civilian clothes when he goes off on Vatican business) could never exist, even in post Vatican II society. The problem is that this is a 2 1/2 hour character drama with no real conflict, just a series of situations revealed he must face when chosen pope. If there was more development in the story of a possible third World War which needed the church's interference, I could give this a much higher rating. It is beautifully filmed, and features a nice supporting performance by Sir Laurence Olivier as the Russian official who has Quinn released, and later meets with him to discuss the possibility of war and the resolution of world wide famine. I highly recommend it, but not without reiterating that it feels somewhat incomplete. In spite of its long running time, the film is not boring at all, and actually seems to move quite fast in spite of the lack of a story.