Monday, December 29, 2008

Chiara e Francesco

This video clip is from the Italian made-for-television movie Chiara e Francesco. Now through Ignatius Press, this movie is in English or Italian language and distributed under the title of Clare and Francis. This marvelous movie brings the most accurate and profound glimpse into the lives of these 2 great, popular and often times overly romanticized saints.

From Ignatius Press:
Produced under the sponsorship of the Franciscan Order, Clare and Francis was shot on location in Italy by Italian film company Lux Vide—the producers of Saint Rita, Pope John Paul II, and St. John Bosco. It is unique among films on Francis because of its historical accuracy and its authentic spirit of joy and piety that Francis was known for, as well as the major role played by Clare, who is given equal stature with Francis.
One aspect of a great movie is the music. My wife and I enjoy the music of Monseñor Marco Frisina and I had stumbled on to his working with this movie and ordered the soundtrack a few months ago. Monseñor Marco "has been the chapel-master of the Musical Lateran Chapel since 1985. In those years, more precisely in 1984, he thought of creating a choir to animate the liturgies. The Rome Diocese's choir was born exactly in this way, spontaneously, as it is a group of no professional young people, who wants to follow together a spiritual and cultural path. The Rome Diocese’s Orchestra was then born to accompany the choir's musical activity... He was also the responsible for the Jubilean events during the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, such as the International Eucharistic Convention, the Youth World Day and the Jubilee of the Families."

An added bonus is the interview and review of the movie by Father Raniero Cantalamessa, ofmcap, the preacher to the Papal Household. This video clip in Italian is suppose to be included in the DVD and with English subtitles. The DVD that I purchased did not come with the correct video clip, instead it was a clip of Fr Cantalamessa talking about Mt. Tabor. (I am inquiring to Ignatius Press about returning the one I was sent and getting one with the correct video clip.)

My wife and I, both professed members of the Secular Franciscan Order and who have seen many movies on Francis, rate this movie the best - giving it 2 thumbs up.

1 comment:

David Nybakke said...

Update from Ignatius Press: "Unfortunately, the Italian film company sent our lab the wrong clip of Fr. Cantalamessa. We did not know until it was too late and the DVD jackets were already printed. This is the only Fr. Cantalamessa clip that we can get now."

This explanation seems a bit lame. The correct Fr. Cantalamessa is all over the internet and You Tube so I don't know why they cannot get the correct clip.

We still give the film and its depiction of Francis and Clare good marks.