The Flowers of St. Francis (“Francesco, giullare di Dio”)
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
Written by Federico Fellini, Roberto Rossellini, Antonio Lisandrini, et al
1950/Italy
Cineriz/Rizzoli Film
First viewing/Hulu Plus
[box] For it is in giving that we receive. — Francis of Assisi [/box]
I still don’t know quite where I stand on this one. It is beautiful to look at but decidedly odd.
The spirtual life and teachings of St. Francis are told by Rossellini through a series of short vignettes. We begin with Francis and a group of his followers joyously travelling through the pouring rain in search of shelter.
They finally reach their destined location and build a rudimentary chapel and shelter. Although all is tiny and ramshackle they pronounce it beautiful. The men glory in their natural surroundings, thank God for everything that comes to them, and follow Francis as their spiritual father.
Along with Francis, who retains his dignity at all times, we focus on a simple old man who joins the order and parrots whatever Francis does. We also spend a lot of time with one of the monks who has to be restrained from giving away his clothing to any passing beggar. This man is asked to stay home and cook, which he does in company with the simpleton to various degrees of success. When he is finally allowed to go out to preach, he stumbles upon a tyrant who has laid a village under siege and is almost hung for his pains. Finally, Francis sends all the brothers out in different directions to spread the gospel and the community is dissolved.
I don’t know what I was expecting but it wasn’t exactly this. You can feel Fellini’s influence over much of it. Francis radiates holiness but his disciples come off as really goofy. They are pure in their simplicity, however. The story is filmed in a stunningly elevating neorealistic style. One thing that can be said for this is that it is not saccharine in its Christianity. Worth seeing at least once.
All the roles were played by actual monks. I love this piece of IMDb trivia: “The filmmakers wanted to donate something to the monks who acted in the film since they refused payment. According to Rossellini’s daughter, he expected them to ask that the donation be something charitable – setting up a soup kitchen or the like. Instead, the monks surprised everyone by asking for fireworks. Rossellini saw to it that the town had an enormous, elaborate fireworks display that was the talk of the region for years.”
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