Daniele Luchetti and Paolo Sorrentino bring us the Pope, one real, one imaginary.
Good news for the faithful: coming to the US in 2016, two Pope stories, one, a HBO mini-series of an imaginary young pontiff played by Jude Law, and the other, a biopic of the actual Pope Francis.
Daniele Luchetti’s biopic,’Chiamatemi Francesco, Call Me Francis’ will hit Italian theaters on December 3 and is being sold to 40 countries in March 2016.
Luchetti says, “Bergoglio is an extraordinary figure, with a wealth of interpretations, that has really fascinated me, the film ends the day that he is elected Pope, “Call me Francesco” depicts his human and spiritual adventure from his vocation to the years of training in the Jesuits, from the harsh experience of the dictatorship up until his pastoral mission amongst the poorest people of Buenos Aires, before being called to the Papal throne. The enthralling story of the Pope who chose to be called as the most humble of saints in order to bring the Church back to its true mission.”
The Young Pope was created by Paolo Sorrentino and stars Jude Law, Diane Keaton, and Silvio Orlando. The miniseries will consist of eight episodes, all to be directed by Sorrentino.
Sorrentino says, “The clear signs of God’s existence. The clear signs of God’s absence. How faith can be searched for and lost. The greatness of holiness, so great as to be unbearable when you are fighting temptations and when all you can do is to yield to them. The inner struggle between the huge responsibility of the Head of the Catholic Church and the miseries of the simple man who fate (or the Holy Spirit) chose as Pontiff. Finally, how to handle and manipulate power in a state whose dogma and moral imperative is the renunciation of power and selfless love towards one’s neighbour. That is what ‘The Young Pope’ is about.”
We haven’t heard what the Vatican has to say about Sorrentino’s project, but church insiders have called Call Me Francis “truthful”.
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