Pope Leo XIV hasn't been in office very long, but he's already making news in the entertainment industry.
The American-born pontiff, a Chicago native, recently named his four favorite movies of all time: Life Is Beautiful (1997, Italian with subtitles), The Sound of Music (1965), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), and Ordinary People (1980).
The announcement of the favorite films came as part of a Nov. 15 event in which a who’s who of filmmaking celebrities had an audience with the pope ... after the Vatican convinced their agents that the invite was real.
From the U.K.'s Sky News:
The Vatican's culture ministry organised the occasion as part of its efforts to reach out to the secular world. ...
Archbishop Paul Tighe, the deputy at the Vatican's culture ministry, said the guest list was put together over the last three months with the help of a handful of Hollywood contacts, including Martin Scorsese. ...
Mr Tighe admitted that the Vatican had to convince Hollywood agents that the invitation to come meet Leo wasn't a hoax.
"It's an industry where people have their commitments months in advance and years in advance, so obviously it was a little hit and miss, but we're very pleased and very proud" by the turnout, he said.
First, the Movies
Here’s a brief commentary of the four films he favored.
“Good cinema does not exploit pain; it recognizes and explores it,” said Pope Leo in the audience with filmmakers. You could apply this theme throughout the four films: engaging the pain and suffering in the world and exploring it, and in each instance, offering hope.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
This Christmastime classic is one of the most perfect movies in a technical sense. Pacing is on. Characters are richly drawn and memorable. And director Frank Capra pulls off one of the most difficult genre feats, making realistic the fantastical premise of an angel descending to Earth to intervene in human affairs.
We used to make a half-joke in seminary, that you can always trust the character of someone who loves It’s a Wonderful Life and maybe have doubts about those who don’t. At least when considering cinematic taste, you can trust Pope Leo.
The Sound of Music (1965)
This musical whimsically tells the real-life story of a postulant, Maria (played by Julie Andrews) assigned to govern the seven children of widower Captain von Trapp (played by Christopher Plummer). Maria’s singing brings joy to the household, and she gradually falls in love with the Captain.
With the rise of Nazism in the run-up to World War II, the family makes a daring escape from Austria.
I found the film accurate to the joys and sorrows of both lay and religious life. Director Robert Wise puts the more permanent state of being of joy to the test: easy to do when dancing through the panoramic of the Alps, much more difficult when mourning the death of a parent or fleeing one’s country of origin.
Ordinary People (1980)
Catholics thought Robert Redford’s Ordinary People to be the one outlier of the four films mentioned by the pope. I would beg to differ, especially in the context of the pope’s previous quote.
Set in the posh Chicago suburb of Lake Forest, Calvin and Beth Jarrett (Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore) mourn the loss of their eldest son, who died in a boating accident.
As someone who grew up in the less affluent suburb of Naperville, Lake Forest was one of the suburbs that I envied to some extent. The film peeks behind the shiny veneer and uncovers the mystery that everyone deals with their own moments of suffering, irrespective of how much money they have.
Life Is Beautiful (1997)
The only foreign language film on the list, Roberto Benigni directs this Holocaust tale where he plays the father of a boy, and both interned in a concentration camp.
To protect his young son from the horrors of the camp, he acts as though their imprisonment is a prolonged game.
Not given to tears very often, I admit this was the one film that led me to openly weep in a public movie theater. It led me to tears of sorrow, for sure, but a greater sense of glory knowing amidst the belly of wickedness and evil, people are still capable of sacrifice and love.
And Now, the Stars
Apparently, the pope's goal wasn't to meet with celebrities just because they shared his faith or because they made movies about faith. The celebs invited come from a wide variety of backgrounds and have worked on all sorts of projects.
Let's take a look at some of them and the work they've done.
Cate Blanchett
Scrolling through her IMBD credits, Australian actor Blanchett quietly compiled one of the more impressive bodies of work among the actors of her generation. The number of critically acclaimed films is staggering and too long to list here.
I’ve made the case before that a “catholic” film is one that simply tells the truth about the subject matter it takes up, regardless of whether said subject matter is overtly religious or not.
I found this to be the case of Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley. A bottom-feeder carny (Bradley Cooper) turns con artist, magician. The more respectable psychologist (Blanchett) plots to expose him.
She also co-starred with the next actor on the list, playing elf Galdriel in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Viggo Mortensen
The Danish actor played the lead role of Aragorn The Lord of the Rings films, based on novels by Catholic author J.R.R. Tolkien. Arguably one of the most Catholic-themed literary works of all-time, the Peter Jackson adaptation stayed true to the source material and impressed fanatics (yours truly) and casual fans alike.
In another adaptation from modern literature, he played a strong father guiding and sacrificing for his son in the post-apocalyptic Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.
Monica Bellucci
She followed a typical Italian path to stardom: town beauty-contest winner signed by a modeling agency, who later proved her acting chops. She made her international breakthrough playing the lead title role in Giuseppe Tornatore’s Malena.
The tragic WWII era coming-of-age film includes a measure of hope and forgiveness as Bellucci’s character walks off into the sunset.
Bellucci later played Mary Magdalene in Mel Gibson’s blockbuster Gospel film, The Passion of the Christ.
Spike Lee
The actor/filmmaker gifted Pope Leo a New York Knicks jersey. Outside of New York sports super fandom, he’s better known for directing the provocative drama, Do the Right Thing.
Another of my favorite movies of his was Highest to Lowest, an adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low. Denzel Washington plays a music mogul negotiating the ransom of his kidnapped son.
The story reminded me of the medieval wheel, where a king rides the fortunes and misfortunes of his realm on the edge of the wheel, but is reminded to stay focused on an icon of Jesus depicted in the center.
Chris Pine
The Los Angeles native, the son of CHiPs star Robert Pine, played opposite Israeli Gal Gadot in the Wonder Woman. The first movie (avoid the sequel) was set in WWI, and I found Gadot’s embodying of this superheroine to be very Marian.
She shows off her physical strength early in the story, but it’s her use of restraint and not force that ultimately wins the day.
Pine also played the part of U.S.S. Enterprise Captain James T. Kirk three times, starting with the 2009 big-screen reinterpretation of Star Trek, directed by J.J. Abrams.
Gus Van Sant
The Kentucky-born filmmaker and photographer directed many of the music videos from my well-spent youth. He’s best known for one of his earliest films, Good Will Hunting.
Matt Damon played the title character, a generational boy genius with a difficult backstory, having grown up an orphan in South Boston. We watched this film as part of our “better angels” season at the parish. It’s as good as when I watched it first run in college at a time in my life when I was searching for my own vocational path.
Image: Canva
Click here to visit Father Vince Kuna’s IMDB page.
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