Francesco giullare di Dio DVD 1950 Ferenc, Isten lantosa (The Flowers of St. Francis) / Directed by Roberto Rosselini / Starring: Brother Nazario Gerardi, Brother Severino Pisacane, Esposito Bonaventura

UPC 5999885039296

REGION 2 PAL DVD BLACK & WHITE

MADE IN HUNGARY

AUDIO: Hungarian 2.0, Italian 2.0

SUBTITLES: Hungarian

Runtime: 83 minutes

Italian Summary:

Francesco, giullare di Dio è un film del 1950 diretto da Roberto Rossellini che mette in scena alcuni episodi tratti da I fioretti di San Francesco e dalla Vita di fra' Ginepro (uno dei discepoli del santo di Assisi). Per mettere in luce aspetti inconsueti della vita francescana si avvalse anche della conoscenza in materia dello storico francescano Arnaldo Fortini. Si tratta di episodi slegati tra loro, se non per il fatto che i frati fanno capo alla Porziuncola di Santa Maria degli Angeli.

Rossellini, senza preoccuparsi troppo della verosimiglianza storica della messinscena filma gli episodi tradizionalmente narrati a proposito della vita di San Francesco e dei suoi discepoli qui interpretati da veri frati del convento di Maiori. Si potrebbe anzi dire che Francesco non è nemmeno il protagonista del "suo" film, soverchiato com'è dalla presenza dell'ingenuo Frate Ginepro che, con l'anziano Giovanni il Semplice, forma una coppia che non stona con l'assunto del film.

English Summary:

The Flowers of St. Francis (in Italian, Francesco, giullare di Dio, or "Francis, God's Jester") is a 1950 film directed by Roberto Rossellini and co-written by Federico Fellini. The film is based on two books, the 14th-century novel Fioretti Di San Francesco Little Flowers of St. Francis and La Vita di Frate Ginepro (The Life of Brother Juniper), both of which relate the life and work of St. Francis and the early Franciscans. I Fioretti is composed of 78 small chapters. The novel as a whole is less biographical and is instead more focused on relating tales of the life of St. Francis and his followers. The movie follows the same premise, though rather than relating all 78 chapters, it focuses instead on nine of them. Each chapter is composed in the style of a parable, and, like parables, contains a moral theme. Every new scene transitions with a chapter marker, a device that directly relates the film to the novel. When the movie initially debuted in America, where the novel was much less known, on October 6, 1952, the chapter markers were removed.

Included in the acting cast is Gianfranco Bellini as the narrator, who has voice-dubbed several American films for the Italian cinema. Monks from the Nocere Inferiore Monastery played the roles of St. Francis and the friars. Playing the role of St Francis is a Franciscan brother who is not credited, Brother Nazario Gerardi. The only professional actor in the film is the prominent Aldo Fabrizi, who had worked with Rossellini before, notably in the neorealistic film Rome, Open City. The film garnered international acclaim for Fabrizi. He began his film career scene in 1942, and is noted for both writing and directing his own vehicles. In this film, Fabrizi plays the role of Nicolaio, the tyrant of Viterbo.

Rossellini had a strong interest in Christian values in the contemporary world.Though he was not a practicing Catholic, Rossellini loved the Church's ethical teaching, and was enchanted by religious sentiment—things which were neglected in the materialistic world. This interest helped to inspire the making of the film.  He also employed two priests to work on it with him, Félix A. Morlion O.P., and Antonio Lisandri O.F.M. Though the priests contributed little to the script, their presence within the movie gave a feel of respectability in regards to theology. Morlion vigorously defended Catholic foundations within Italian neorealism, and felt that Rossellini's work, and eventually scriptwriter Fellini's, best captured this foundation

Hungarian Summary:

A 14. századi toszkániai író "Szent Ferenc virágai" című művéből tizenegy rész mutatja be Szent Ferenc és az őt követő szerzetesek életét, akik azon fáradoztak, hogy az összes apró földi dolog iránti szeretetet hirdessék, és elviseljenek minden megaláztatást. Rossellini filmje az emberi tökéletlenségről és a lélek belső harcáról szól. A korszak végén készült film a neorealista filmművészet egy darabja, melyben Aldo Fabrizi kivételével nem játszanak hivatásos színészek, ő viszont itt egy számára szokatlan szerepben tűnik fel.

Cast / Szereplők / Interpreti e personaggi

• Brother Nazario Gerardi as Saint Francis of Assisi
• Brother Severino Pisacane as Brother Ginepro
• Esposito Bonaventura as Giovanni
• Aldo Fabrizi as Nicolaio, the tyrant
• Arabella Lemaître as Saint Clare of Assisi
• Brother Nazareno, Brother Raffaele and Brother Robert Sorrentino as Franciscans
• Gianfranco Bellini as the narrator