Pope Francis: A Man of His Word
Pope Francis: A Man of His Word is a 2018 documentary film produced, co-written and directed by Wim Wenders, focusing on the life and goals of Pope Francis, the 266th and current Pope and sovereign of the Vatican City State. A Swiss-Italian-French-German co-production, the film premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and was released in the United States on May 18, 2018.
| Pope Francis: A Man of His Word | |
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| Directed by | Wim Wenders |
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| Music by | Laurent Petitgand |
| Cinematography | Lisa Rinzler |
| Edited by | Maxine Goedicke |
Production company |
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| Distributed by | Focus Features |
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Running time | 96 minutes |
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| Box office | $8.5 million[1] |
Premise
Following Pope Francis as he tries to spread his words of peace in modern times.
Cast
- Pope Francis
- Joe Biden
- Paul Ryan
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan
- John Kerry
- Angela Merkel
- Barack Obama
- Shimon Peres
- Vladimir Putin
- Donald J. Trump
- Melania Trump
- Wim Wenders
Production
Wenders said the project originated when the Vatican sent him a letter in 2014 asking him to lead a project about Pope Francis. While Wenders shot the interview sessions with Francis, as well as the re-enactments and everything around the city of Assisi, much of the rest of the film was stock footage from TV stations and the Vatican archives; he received final cut privilege on the project.[2]
Reception
Box office
Pope Francis: A Man of His Word grossed $2 million in the United States and Canada, and $6.5 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $8.5 million.[1]
The film began its limited release on May 18, 2018 and over its opening weekend grossed $507,870 from 346 theaters, finishing 16th at the box office.[3]
The film was released on August 10, 2018 in the UK.[4]
Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 83% based on 75 reviews, and an average rating of 6.87/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Pope Francis - A Man of His Word offers a compelling look at the pontiff's ideas and message, even if its distance from the man means it won't win many new converts."[5] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6] Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film a 92% overall positive score and an 82% "definite recommend".[3]
Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com wrote that the film is like "a non-denominational sermon, under the cinematic care of an artist first, Pope Francis fanboy second." Comparing it to previous documentaries about global warming, he also wrote that it is "a food-for-thought doc that wholly justifies its existence."[7]
References
- "Pope Francis - A Man of His Word (2018)". The Numbers. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
- Heaton, Michael (May 19, 2018). "Wim Wenders on his documentary 'Pope Francis: A Man of His Word'". Cleveland.com. Advance Local Media. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
- D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 20, 2018). "'Deadpool 2' Swinging In As Second-Best Opening For R-Rated Pic With $125M". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
- "How Pope Francis became a movie star". Retrieved August 7, 2018.
- "Pope Francis - A Man of His Word (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
- "Pope Francis - A Man of His Word Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
- Allen, Nick (May 18, 2018). "Pope Francis: A Man of His Word". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
