Pope Francis: A Man of His Word
| Pope Francis: A Man of His Word | |
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| Directed by | Wim Wenders |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Lisa Rinzler |
| Edited by | Maxine Goedicke |
| Music by | Laurent Petitgand |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Focus Features |
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Running time | 96 minutes |
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| Box office | $1.8 million[1] |
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.
Premise
Following Pope Francis as he tries to spread his words of peace in modern times.
Cast
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 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]
Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 56 reviews, and an average rating of 7.1/10. 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."[4] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[5] 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."[6]
References
- ^ "Pope Francis - A Man of His Word (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 11, 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.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ "Pope Francis - A Man of His Word (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
- ^ "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 Digtal LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
