Francisco, juglar de Dios

The film dramatizes about a dozen vignettes from the life of St. Francis and his early followers - starting with their return in the rain to Rivotorlo from Rome when the Pope blessed their Rule and ending with their dispersal to preach.

Rossellini had a strong interest in Christian values in the contemporary world. Though he was not a practicing Catholic, Rossellini loved the Church's ethical teaching, and was enchanted by religious sentiment —- things which he felt were neglected in the materialistic world. I can appreciate this. While I am also not a practicing Catholic, I was raised in the tradition and love the rich history of the Church. Though the tenets are not for me, the values are universal and it is interesting to see how they have been carried out, in this case by creating an entire Order of priests.

The look of this film is beautiful, the black and white as stark and striking as the best Scandinavian films. In the era of the neo-realist Italian film, this really has the perfected look, and can be enjoyed both for its great storytelling and just its glorious imagery.

"The Flowers of St. Francis" is a very unusual film. Instead of telling the life of St. Francis of Assisi in any traditional sense, the film is made up of several parables about him and his followers--stories that are most likely fictional. They are all meant to illustrate various lessons--such as humility, service and kindness. This makes the plot very episodic and somewhat disjoint. The film is also unusual, at least when seen today, because almost all the people in the film are non-actors. However, at the time, the Italian Neo-Realist movement (led by the likes of Rossellini and De Sica) stressed the extensive use of non-actors in natural settings--mostly because the country was bankrupt following WWII and had little other choice! But, what sets this apart is that the monks in the film are actually real monks! That is pretty amazing.

My enjoyment of this film was impaired, somewhat, by my having seen a recent documentary, "My Voyage to Italy". In it, Martin Scorsese discusses many of his favorite films. However, instead of just explaining what he likes in them or how they influenced him as a director, Scorsese goes on to explain the plots as well as the endings of many of these films! So, because he provided so many spoilers for "The Flowers of St. Francis", I didn't get nearly as much out of the film as I might have.

So is it worth your seeing it? Of course. The biggest reason is that these non-actors gave some amazing performances and the film is very artistic. It also is far less heavy-handed than most religious films. While I still would have preferred seeing the life story of St. Francis, I still did appreciate the work that went into making this lovely film. Additionally, its message of spirituality over religiosity is timeless and inspiring.

The film consists of several short vignettes depicting various encounters and occurrences involving the 13th century monk Francis of Assisi, as well as his small group of followers who would go on to become the Franciscan Order. Dedicated to lives of poverty and piety, they struggle to survive while searching for the good in all things. As well as focusing on Francis (Nazario Gerardi), much time is spent on Brother Juniper/Ginapro (Severino Pisacane), known as the "Jester of God", a good-hearted but simple-minded follower of Francis.

Rossellini's Neo-Realist sensibilities continue with his casting of real Franciscan monks to play Francis and his followers. In fact, the only professional actor involved was Fabrizi, playing a vicious warlord. The script, co-written by Rossellini and Federico Fellini with some later input by a pair of Catholic priests, contains a lot of humor. The movie is both pious and light-hearted, and it rarely if ever feels like it is preaching. It's also not a traditional biopic of St. Francis, as one might expect, but rather it seeks to illuminate the man through his works and interactions with others. The film also evokes its time period well, with none of the Hollywood glamorization one usually finds with historical pieces.

The film is a series of vignettes depicting the monks in various encounters with each other and locals in the surrounding countryside. Each scene has a point, but the "lessons" are imparted with grace, subtlety and tranquil ease. Watching this film is a very calming, quiet experience. Other than the dialogue of the brothers (in Italian), what one hears most of the time in the soundtrack is the sound of chirping birds and falling water. Not a film that everyone will enjoy but if the idea of following humble, simple monks around the medieval countryside appeals to you at all, I recommend this DVD highly. Considering that this movie was released just five years after the end of WWII, perhaps it was an attempt to remind Italians and Europeans in general of this long-departed but timeless advocate of peace and non-violence.

Unfortunately, this is not an easy film to see. It is not available on video, and it is rarely if ever shown in commercial theaters, not even art houses. I was fortunate enough to see it at a local museum's Italian film series.

This film is exquisitely photographed and beautifully acted, mostly by non-professionals. It's depiction of Francis and his followers make the practice of Christianity seem almost zenlike; that is spirituality consists in being totally involved in whatever one is doing at the moment, in doing, not talking. This is such a relief from much of the pap that passes as religious film these days. See it if you can.