Brother Sun, Sister Moon

A film about Francis of Assisi. Francesco is the son of a wealthy cloth merchant. He goes to war, falls ill, and on his return cannot fit back into his old life. The change comes slowly. He throws the cloth from his father's store out of the window, then takes off his clothes and leaves the town. From there the film is about a community forming. Francesco repairs a ruined church stone by stone; a few people join him, then a few more. Nobody owns anything, they work, and they live by begging. The town does not take it well. Families want their sons back, the church does not know what this community is, and the matter is carried to Rome. The last section takes place before the pope: a barefoot group in a hall full of ornament. What the narrative is interested in is not theology but poverty: the film shows Francesco's thinking not as a doctrine but as a way of living. The photography is soft and turned toward nature; fields, sun and long walks fill most of it. The songs are by Donovan, and the film's nod to the youth movement of the late 1960s is plain; it tells Francesco in something like the language of that moment. Graham Faulkner plays Francesco and Judi Bowker plays Chiara. Franco Zeffirelli directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes religious stories told visually and Italian productions of the 1970s. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a critical view; the film does not question its hero and its tone exalts him throughout.