It didn’t really strike me until I was sitting in my seat in the theatre, but I’ve only seen three popes during my lifetime: a Pole by the name of Karol Wojtyła, who would choose the name John Paul II; a German, Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, who chose the name Benedict XVI; and, currently, the Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who became the first pontiff to adopt the name of Francis of Assisi. There have been 266 popes over the centuries, but I’ve only seen three. Wild. This has nothing to do with anything, really, just an observation I had. Another observation, this one made during the film: of those three popes I’ve personally seen, two have been relatively beloved, and I can’t exactly explain why Benny is the odd man out. Regardless, it’s Francis that has my attention now, and, boy, can that man hold it!
Aside from the very nice double meaning of the title, Pope Francis: A Man of His Word is quite the documentary, my first of the year (the old me would be furious at that fact, and I’m gonna try to assuage him in the coming weeks). It follows the pope as he travels the world over the course of the early years of his, um, reign? no, papacy, papacy, there we go, and shows him conversing not only with the camera, but also various peoples across the globe.
The film is directed and written by German director Wim Wenders, who not only helped write the narration and guide the interviews, but also had final say on the editing of the archival footage used. I was introduced to Wenders in high school, when I watched Wings of Desire AKA Der Himmel über Berlin in German class (“Als das Kind Kind war…” will never leave my brain, believe you me), and though I haven’t seen anything else in his filmography, his reputation is well known to me, and he lives up to it here. Pope Francis guides the conversation throughout, allowing his natural charisma and likability to seep from the screen and into the hearts of the audience members, including non-believers like myself. He speaks on a variety of subjects, from poverty to the environment to family to social inclusiveness (specifically women, gays, and other historically excluded groups) to abuse in the church to refugees and beyond, always relying on a message of brotherly love overcoming society’s ills. Wenders’s own narration gives additional structuring to the piece, adding some commentary to the pope’s words, commentary that I feel Francis would likely approve of.
As the words flow forth, Wenders’s camera, Lisa Rinzler’s cinematography (you might remember her work from Pollock and Menace II Society), and Maxine Goedicke’s editing make sure our eyes are never bored. Not only do we get plenty of speeches and conversations featuring the Bishop of Rome, but we’re also gifted some moments of quiet contemplation, like the pope flying by Rio’s Christ the Redeemer in a helicopter, transfixed on the sculpture, and some fun quick travel shots, often within the Pope-Mobile (if it has an official name, I don’t wanna know it!). During the environmental portion, we’re shown a piece that was projected onto St. Peter’s a while back, a sort of modern-day Koyaanisqatsi without the unnerving Philip Glass score, all done up in spectacular definition. A refugee boat overturns in the Mediterranean, the victims even grasping toward the camera, all while Francis watches the footage on his own boat in silent compassion. Shots of him praying at the Wailing Wall are juxtaposed with shots of him praying at a wall holding back Palestinians. There are even reenactments of events in the life of St. Francis, whose beliefs and works are compared with those of the pope, who has seemingly taken up his mantle; these I could have done without, as they’re sorta cheap-looking and don’t really provide much in the way of visuals. We also see the pope interact with the leaders of the rest of the world’s faiths and several heads of state.
This bit is important, because there is no lack of politics in the film, mostly because there is no lack of politics coming from the pope’s own mouth. He sees the stewardship of the environment as every individual’s responsibility, that we need to do what it takes to reverse the damage we’ve caused the planet; he calls for an end to exclusionary policies that further endanger the lives of emigrants and refugees; he calls for an end to global conflict and the sale of arms; and he decries the massive inequality of global wealth and the manic economics of greed that lead thereto. There are not-to-subtle jabs at hypocritical politicians, especially during a speech he gave before Congress a couple years ago: During the speech, he decries anti-immigration policies and the constant traffic of guns, all while shot of tearing-up politicians are shown. If I may be frank: This portion is necessary these days, pointing out the hypocrisy of people like Senator Marco Rubio, who wipes away tears during the speech and yet consistently follows the lead of jingoistic lunatics looking to build a literal wall between the US and Mexico (something else the pope flat out lambasts in his speech) and does nothing to curb the spread of firearm violence. This isn’t to pick on only Rubio, but his tears are shown early on, and I was unable to hold back my disdain for the man very long; believe me, plenty of others in Congress that day, on both sides of the aisle, deserve all sorts of rebuke for their actions these past few years (and even further back).
And, yet, the pope cautions us against acting harshly. Though we should speak out against injustice and fight the evils of our world, we ought not to do so with a mindset of hate, but rather one of love, inclusion, cooperation. Most tellingly for me, he tells us to never go into things with a proselytizing attitude, regardless of your audience (he even reaches out to atheists, something I haven’t seen many clergymen do very often), and to listen more than you speak. These are wise words from a good man, words we’d be better off for following. This film is a solid communication of Francis’s worldview, and there’s nary a better vehicle than his lips, which do most of the work here. I’d recommend this to pretty much everyone, regardless of faith or political leaning, as we’ve all something to learn.
I never thought I’d be this behind a Catholic pope, but here we are. Bless.
Allusions of Grandeur 