St Francis of Assisi inspired a lot of films : in Hollywood ,Curtiz 'version ,starring Bradford Dillmann , showed the whole story ,including the turbulent life of the young man ; Franco Zephirelli's "fratello sole, sorella luna ",with splendid pictures and a hippie side with folk music by Donovan ; and Rosselini's "giullare di dio" .
This new version ,with an impeccable cinematography , is bald, bressonesque ,and may be off- putting to some ; his racy youth is thoroughly passed over in silence and the film is divided into chapters ,which was not necessary ; the essential being Francis's devoutness, his care of the sick and the poor ,and his style of life which came against a dogmatic religion ,long before Calvin and Luther denounced the religious hiercharchy ,their luxury ,the notorious indulgences , and a return to the Bible, to Christ's words .
Francis ' rules which were too ahead of their time ,had to be corrected,and when they were eventually approved ,the saint noticed that some of his most important sentences had disappeared.
Jérémie Rénier ,one of the best European actors ,is ideally cast as Francis .And what a good idea to cast his
peer Olivier Gourmet -both men have often worked together ,notably in the Dardenne bro's movies - as Cardinal Ugolini ,his protector, who would become pope Gregory the Ninth and who had his protégé canonized two years after his death ,a record .
Not very accessible, but rewarding.
