Pope Joan
There's a post at US Catholic by Bryan Cones on the movie about a legendary past female pope ...
Hollywood on His, um, I mean, Her Holiness
[...] The UK Guardian headline suggests that the film will "spark a Vatican row" (Oh, the British--I love how they use "row" for fight). Belietnet blogger John Kennedy says the film is "stir[ring] Catholic controversy." Oh for God's sake.
Really? Anyone who gets their papal undergarments in a twist over this film should have their heads checked. In the first place, it's based on a legend so old that no one could ever establish its veracity. Second, the book by Donna Woolfolk Cross is as much a romance as a work of historical fiction. If you like either genre, you should read it because it's perfect light summer reading. And third, it's just silly to get all worked up over a movie ....
- part of the movie takes place at the Benedictine Fulda monastery
Wikipedia has an interesting page on the Pope Joan of history. Here's just the first paragraph ....
Pope Joan is a legendary female Pope who supposedly reigned for a few years some time during the Middle Ages. The story first appeared in the writings of 13th-century chroniclers, and subsequently spread through Europe. It was widely believed for centuries, though modern historians and religious scholars consider it fictitious ...
And here's a little about the film from Wikipedia ...
Pope Joan is a German, British, Italian, Spanish medieval epic film produced by Bernd Eichinger, based on American novelist Donna Woolfolk Cross's book of the same name. Directed by Sönke Wortmann, it stars Johanna Wokalek as Pope Joan, David Wenham as Gerold, her lover, and John Goodman as Pope Sergius .....
The movie has Joan disguise herself as John and casts her in the role of the real life Antipope John VIII (844), mixing up a bit the papa; line of succession involving Pope Sergius II (844-847), Pope Leo IV (847-855), Antipope Anastasius Bibliothecarius (855), and Pope Benedict III (855-858).
Here's a trailer for the film ...
The story sounds interesting enough, regardless of its adherence or lack thereof to actual historical fact, and hey, Faramir is in the movie :)
posted by crystal | 2:37 PM
3 Comments:
It looks fun but very silly. John Goodman as a medieval pope makes any movie worth watching.
The Guardian article is typical of the way church issues are reported in the press. The newspaper of the Italian bishops, to its discredit, complained about the movie while the Vatican Observer (which journalists tend to treat as if every word were written by the pope himself and pronounced ex cathedra) said nothing -- yet the headline talks about a "Vatican Row."
There are so few medieval movies that I guess I'm more acepting than I should be :)
Yeah, it almost seems like controversy is hoped for - probably helps sell more tickets.
Somebody's jealous!!
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