Pope John Paul II
by John Kent Harrison
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DVD details
Actor: Jon Voight; Cary Elwes; Ben Gazzara; Christopher Lee and James CromwellDirector: John Kent Harrison
Brand: RELIGIOSA
Production Company: Lux Vide
Production Company: Raitrade
Production Company: Grupo Intereconomia
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
Running Time: 180 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-10-16
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Ignatius Press
DVD Reviews of Pope John Paul II
DVD Review: Karol Wojtyla, Meet Jon Voigt
Summary: 3 Stars
This interesting and admittedly riveting film--with a few big yawns in the middle--is incredibly moving with Jon Voigt (AN AMERICAN CAROL, NATIONAL TREASURE 2) taking over the lead role from Carey Elwes. It was a strong, Vatican-approved biopic and of course another pathetic biopic was stupidly pitted against this one at the time it was televised.
Elwes gives a pretty smashing performance as a youthful His Holiness, but in fact he strains as he tries so hard to show us a young Father Wojtyla age into a senior bishop. None of the other performers in this film show that immense unprofessional strain. Elwes annoys all the more because he's more than a good half of the nearly 3-hour film.
Passing to the other actors and storyline: this purports to be a film based on the life of Pope John Paul II, yet what is refuses to show the viewer is as telling as the film. Did you know the Pope's mother came from a converted Jewish family? Did you know he was raised in Jewish neighborhoods, had only Jewish friends as a kid and may have had secretly practicing Jewish relatives?
Did you know he was roundly and loudly booed on his trip to Columbia in the 1980s? He actually banged his fist and shouted at the crowd to shut up...he was a man with a temper on him. I know. I was there.
Aside from a sort of rambling mess of a story, which on other occasions I might have said was smooth streamlining, we have the spectacular performances of James Cromwell as Prince Adam Cardinal Sapieha (who was also a prince), and Christopher Lee as Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski. The great Ben Gazzara, here obviously recovered from a stroke, plays a stunning Augustino Cardinal Cassaroli.
For some odd reason, everyone else in this film consists of EuroUnknowns. That's perfectly OK with me, but I hate all the voice dubbing. There are some famous but not easily recognizable voices dubbed over never-before-seen faces. And I guess my point is that it's too much to have to wade through all this to enjoy the film.
Anything with cooperation of the Vatican will have been meddled with by same...and this film shows it. Ben Gazzara has done these kinds of things before, but the movie bears the unbearable stamp of people who know nothing about good film.
This thing could have been SO much better.
Description of Pope John Paul II
This powerful film follows Karol Wojtyla s journey from his youth in Poland through his late days on the Chair of St. Peter. It explores his life behind the scenes: how he touched millions of people and changed the face of the Church and the world how he defended the dignity of mankind. Rejoice in a story about the Pope who successfully related to people of all ages. Stars Cary Elwes and Academy Award winner Jon Voight. Spanish subtitles. Run Time: 180 minutesRating: Not RatedPublisher: Ignatius PressISBN: 1-58617-193-3Bestsellers in DVD
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