The Flowers of St. Francis
(1950)
★ 7.1 IMDb · 101 votes
Year: 1950
Runtime: 87 мин
Country: Italy
Director: Roberto Rossellini
Cast: Aldo Fabrizi, Gianfranco Bellini, Peparuolo, Severino Pisacane, Roberto Sorrentino, Nazario Gerardi, Arabella Lemaitre, Renzo Rossellini
Plot
In a series of simple and joyous vignettes, director Roberto Rossellini and co-writer Federico Fellini lovingly convey the universal teachings of the People’s Saint: humility, compassion, faith, and sacrifice. Gorgeously photographed to evoke the medieval paintings of Saint Francis’s time, and cast with monks from the Nocera Inferiore Monastery, The Flowers of St. Francis is a timeless and moving portrait of the search for spiritual enlightenment.
The film dramatizes about a dozen vignettes from the life of St. Francis and his early followers, starting with their return in the rain to Rivotorlo from Rome when the Pope blessed their Rule, and ending with their dispersal to preach. The unconnected chapters are like parables, some with a moral. The slight, comic Ginepro returns naked to St. Mary's of the Angels, having given away his tunic but not his ricotta. The aged Giovanni shouts and holds onto his cape; the beatific St. Clair pays a visit. Humble Francis doubts his leadership, hugs a leper, and sends his brothers spinning, dizzy, and smiling into the world. This brotherhood is infused with whimsy as well as belief.