Las sandalias del pescador

Gulag worker Kiril Lakota is soldering pieces of metal together in a Soviet prison camp when he hears his number over a loudspeaker. He is summoned to the office of the premiere of the Soviet Union -- the same man who had imprisoned him 20 years earlier. The premiere asks the man, a bishop in the Ukrainian Catholic Church, if he is ready to go back into the world. The next thing he knows, Kiril is on a flight to the Vatican, where he is greeted and lauded by the pope. Later, the pope dies and through a complicated system, Kiril is elected pope and uses his own name as the name he will use during his papacy. Before being elected, Kiril has befriended Fr. David Telemond, a brilliant but controversial priest who is suffering from a terminal blood disorder and whose works are suspect. Later, as Pope Kiril I, he names Fr. Telemond as his personal secretary, over the advice of a well-meaning but jealous older cardinal. The petty squabbles of the cardinals, the love affair of a television journalist who covers the Vatican, the distress of the man's wife and the sharp differences between the rich and the poor of the Vatican soon pale, however, when World War III looms because the Chinese people are starving and no one has come forward to help. When Pope Kiril I comes up with a solution that will feed the Chinese people and avert a 3rd World War, the church is shocked and the people laud his actions. What does he decide to do? Watch the movie to find out ... it's well worth it.

The performance of Anthony Quinn as Kiril I is truly outstanding -- his Ukrainian accent, his almost mystical yet practical manner and his eloquent speeches make this an Oscar-worthy performance (why he wasn't nominated, I'll never know). Oskar Werner as Fr. Telemond was equally touching. Flattered at being chosen to be the pope's friend, secretary and confidant, he comes to realize he has taught the pope many things while learning a few things himself. Thinly based on the life of Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Oskar Werner gives a moving performance as the terminally ill, brilliant but troubled priest-philosopher-thinker. This is by no means a perfect movie --- some of the clothes are dated and the music at the party where the reporter meets up with his mistress is annoying. But minor flaws aside, this is a wonderful movie that gives tremendous insight into the workings of the Vatican, the papacy and even the human heart.

Set in a futuristic vision of the late 1980's, Ukrainian Archbishop Kiril Lakota (Anthony Quinn , though Rex Harrison was originally considered to play the role) is set free after spending several years as a political prisoner in Siberia where carries out forced works . Although it is never mentioned or indicated at any point in the film, the story is actually set 20 years in the future . The Ukrainian man is brought to Rome by Fr. David Telemond (Oscar Werner) , a troubled young priest who is under scrutiny for his beliefs and befriends him and he contends adversities until rising to cardinal and lately Pope . Once at the Vatican, he is immediately given an audience with the Pope (John Gielgud , he subsequently played Pope Pius XII, in The Scarlet and the Black (1983) and Elizabeth (1998), where he played Pope Pius V) , who elevates him to Cardinal Priest . The priest turned Pope singlehandedly attempts to stop bigotry , strife , famine , world conflict , his own personal conflicts and many other difficulties . As the world is on the brink of war due to a Chinese-Soviet feud made worse by a famine caused by trade restrictions brought against China by the U.S. When the Pontiff suddenly dies , Lakota's genuine character and unique life experience move the College of Cardinals to elect him as the new Pope But as a good pacifier , he has to find a solution to Chinese starvation , plus the crisis between China (Burt Kwouk as Chinese leader) and Russia (Laurence Olivier, as one of the Russian Premiers) . Meanwhile , a correspondent (David Janssen) attempts to patch his petty marital troubles at a loving triangle between wife (Barbara Jefford) and young lover (Rosemary Dexter) .

This is a moving but overlong film and in some moments results to be dull ; based on Morris L. West's best seller that contains drama , interesting world policy , emotion and historical events . Good film with thought-provoking issues and dealing with an Ukrainian's rise from a simple imprisoned priest to the college of Cardinals until becoming Pope . The film is pretty well but being wasted by a loving triangular drama between a reporter , spouse and girlfriend . Very good acting by Anthony Quinn as Pope Kiril I who must now deal with a lot of problems as his own self-doubt , the struggle of his friend priest and tries to fend off atomic war ; this type of treatment was a big turning point for Quinn . Reference is made to Kiril being the first non-Italian pope to be elected since Adrian VI 400 years earlier . In real life, this happened 10 years after this film was released with the election of Pope John Paul II .

The footage showing the arrival of the Cardinals and the crowds gathering in St. Peter's Square is taken from news reels and other archive films that documented the events between the death of Pope John XXIII and the election of Pope Paul VI in 1963 . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Erwin Hillier , filmed in Panavison . Rousing score by Alex North , though he reused the opening fanfare he wrote for 2001 (1968) but which had been rejected by Stanley Kubrick, as one of the main themes in his soundtrack . This epic point of view of a rise of an obstinate locked priest from a Siberian prison until Cardinal and Pope was well directed directed by Michael Anderson though emerge some flaws , being alternately compelling and uneven .

Technically, this is not a great film, but I'm still a sucker for Shoes of the Fisherman. I love its idealism. As a Catholic, I love the vision of courage that this film holds out for the Church -- it is the way I wish it really were. This film has an epic quality to it, with expansive, lavish settings and a rich texture. This is one of the few films I can watch again and again and enjoy every time.

This movie is not without its flaws. The editing is awkward and the film could have been tightened a bit (okay, a lot!). One of the things that bugs me is how the character of Cardinal Rinaldi (the Vatican Secretary of State played by Vittorio De Sica, who is pivotal in the early part of the movie) disappears in the second half without any explanation.

Also, the sub-plot with David Janssen as a philandering television reporter is annoying and superfluous. His only redeeming contribution is in how, during his reports, he provides good exposition about the traditions involved in burying one pope and electing the next.

But these things pale next to Oskar Werner's wonderful, understated perfomance as a philosopher/archeologist/priest who becomes friends with the soon-to-be Pope Kiril. (This character, Fr. David Telemond, is clearly based on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.) The relationship of suspicion and affection between these two men is very engaging.

Werner has one of the best lines in the film when, after his character is censored by a pontifical commission, he says, "The Church. I hate her, still I cannot leave her. I love her, still I cannot live in her in peace." I think that line is beautiful and sums up the way many Catholics feel!

Finally, I have to say that I am not a big Anthony Quinn fan. I usually found him to be hammy. (I think he got a little too much mileage out of his Zorba schtick!) But in this film, he is wonderfully restrained. He gives a soulful performance as a reluctant hero who has suffered much and now only wants to be left in peace, but who also feels the call of his God and his fellow human beings. In my opinion, even though it is largely ignored by the critics, Quinn gave his best performance in Shoes of the Fisherman.

I think this film is absolutely wonderful and a very noble piece of film. The film shows the details of the Catholic conclave with an accuracy rarely seen in novels let alone films. The ceremonial elements are very well observed and very nicely shot, the transfer on the DVD is also very good. Apart from that the story is also very intelligent and touching. I like the fact that the faith of Father Tallymond and Pope Kiryl are discussed in such detail and I finished the film feeling very moved. However I would give the film 8 out of 10 because of two caveats. Firstly the story of the American TV reporter's love triangle which is already a bit underdeveloped in the book is rendered completely pointless here as he has virtually no impact on the rest of the story. This might be excusable if it were well done but it is very stilted and in my opinion is the only bit that seriously dates the film. Also the film is a little long and could probably be pruned of this storyline without much difficulty. My only other caveat is that if you aren't interested in religion, theology or philosophy there isn't really a lot going on in the film. this is not a criticism for me but just a warning.

The film adaption of Morris West's best selling novel Shoes of the Fisherman gives the viewer a rare insight into the workings of the Catholic Church. Even the most dogged of unbelievers have always conceded that in this form of the Christian faith there has always been a grand pageantry at work.

It also a great example of life imitating art. Anthony Quinn is the former Archbishop of Lvov who was sent away for many years by the Communists to time in the Gulag. As a gesture of goodwill the Soviet Premier played Laurence Olivier gives him his release. Quinn and Olivier also have a history of their own, Olivier was the KGB official who interrogated Quinn back in the day and we know what their interrogation methods were like.

Upon reaching the Vatican, the Pope played by John Gielgud makes him a Cardinal. A few months later Gielgud dies and in the conclave to elect a new Pope, it's decided that Cardinal Quinn has some insight into an unbelieving part of the word that no one else possesses. So Quinn steps into The Shoes of the Fisherman.

So we have the first non-Italian Pope in 400 years as we shortly did in real life. Quinn inherits a world in crisis with China suffering from famine and threatening war against its neighbors to obtain food.

I can't reveal what Quinn actually did in the film, but it seems as though he took his cue from Pope Benedict XV who also tried to use his good office to end World War I and also organized relief efforts. In any event, he put it all on the line and I do mean all.

Tony Quinn and Laurence Olivier had a history of their own. They co-starred on Broadway in Becket with Olivier as Becket and Quinn as Henry II. Though there sure wasn't anything wrong with the film adaption that Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole did, it might have been nice to see the original cast perform this.

In fact my favorite in this film is Olivier. With the Soviet Union now broken up we can look back now and see the problems confronting each Soviet premier as they tried to hold their polyglot state of several republics together. Olivier's Kamenev is in the tradition of Leonid Brezhnev who was in charge at the time of the Soviet Union. It's with complete seriousness that the actor playing the Chinese premier calls him half a capitalist already. Of course when Mao died, the Chinese have become more than half capitalist themselves.

Others in the cast of note are Oskar Werner as a non-conforming Jesuit who espouses some heretical doctrine who Quinn finds intriguing and Leo McKern and Vittorio DeSica as a pair of politically astute Cardinals.

Good location shooting nicely blended with newsreel footage of crowd scenes give the film a real authenticity. I think Catholic viewers will like Shoes of the Fisherman especially.