By John Mulderig
From the moment of his election in early 2013, Pope Francis naturally became one of the world’s most newsworthy individuals.
But it was especially in the latter half of his pontificate that he proved an intriguing figure for moviemakers. Both documentarians and the creators of feature films were drawn to him over that time.
As the first pontiff from the Americas, the first Jesuit successor of St Peter and as an innovator in other respects, he seems to have struck many in the world of visual media as a breath of fresh air. Add to that his informality and his often-lively turns of phrase and it’s understandable that those behind the camera were avid to focus on him.
Celebrated German director Wim Wenders was just one example. In 2018, he mostly allowed the pontiff to speak for himself in the well-received profile Pope Francis: A Man of His Word.
As a result of this strategy, audiences were not only treated to Francis’ views on a wide range of subjects — including problems often neglected by other world leaders – but witnessed his interaction with those seeking his guidance and care. Francis’ global travels, the significance of his choice of a papal name and his vision for the future of the church were also highlighted.
Eighteen months after the release of Wenders’ more-or-less straightforward documentary came Netflix’s tangled drama The Two Popes. Exaggerating a tendency that was already discernible, to a lesser extent, in the earlier film, screenwriter Anthony McCarten and director Fernando Meirelles attempted to laud Francis by deprecating his predecessor, Benedict XVI.
Yet it was not all clear sailing for Francis himself. Instead, the movie’s creators reenacted what they imagined to be then-Father Bergoglio’s insufficiently courageous interaction with the military regime that ruled his homeland of Argentina from 1976 to 1983. They thereby rashly asserted a certainty about the nature of the future pontiff’s actions that has eluded more serious students of the topic.
Such distortions were only rendered more convincing – and, therefore, pernicious – by the redoubtable acting ability of the movie’s two leads, Jonathan Pryce (Francis) and Anthony Hopkins (Benedict). The upmarket production does close on a warm and amusing note. Yet, overall, it remains a highly conjectural and rather jaundiced chronicle requiring caution and careful discernment.
In 2021 came award-winning documentarian Evgeny Afineevsky’s film Francesco. While providing some biographical background, the movie served primarily as a vehicle for showcasing Pope Francis’ stance on a variety of contemporary issues. Along with other questions, it dealt with migration, the environment and the need to break down self-imposed social divisions in favor of human solidarity.
Afineevsky grabbed headlines but also caused widespread confusion by his treatment of Francis’ views on homosexuality. Yet his analysis of the pope’s outlook on other subjects – including the role of women in the governance of the church – is generally accurate and therefore helpful to viewers.
As its title suggests, 2023’s In Viaggio: The Travels of Pope Francis was intended to highlight only a single aspect of the pontificate just passed, albeit a significant one. In surveying the 37 journeys to 53 different countries Francis undertook during the first nine years of his reign, filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi struck a careful balance between challenging material and an even-keeled tone.
Thus his production did not shy away from the grave global difficulties Pope Francis confronted on his varied voyages. Yet, by emphasising the pontiff’s encouraging attitude in the face of such problems – as typified by his exhortation, “Do not be afraid to dream” – Rosi’s movie came across as a calm narrative of distressing events.
While the treatment of the late pontiff on film varied from the well-grounded to the tendentious, both his outlook and his activities proved unusually compelling to some who might otherwise have ignored the Vatican altogether. How the visual media will depict Pope Francis’ legacy going forward, of course, remains an open question.
John Mulderig is media reviewer for OSV News. Follow him on X @JohnMulderig1.