Sotto il cielo di Roma

There is now enough evidence (there actually always was) to fully vindicate Pope Pius XII and his decision to save as many Jews in Europe through diplomatic and underground means, given the harsh reprisals against Jews, clergy and civilians every time He and the church actually spoke publicly (the movie references the Dutch bishops condemnation of Nazism, and the subsequent round-up of Jews and converts, most notably St Benedicta of the cross aka Edith Stein). However, the film doesn't mention that shortly after the Pope did denounce the Nazis publicly in his Christmas address of 1942 (and the subsequent aftermath) which further convinced him to take the course he decided. While the series seeks to personify the people he ended up saving (Jews and in one case a communist), the characters are in effect shallow and one-dimensional, despite the love-interest back-stories at work. And while it also showed the reality that the Vatican had absolutely no defense from the Nazis and was purely a mental construct (the similarity to Hotel Rwanda was noted) the film seemed to be full of haughty platitudes from the characters as opposed to portraying what really happened...which would have been far more interesting. Cromwell was an interesting yet lacking choice for the role of Pius XII, since he comes off as an American Grampa figure as opposed to the scholar and statesman Pope Pius XII was. Filmed in a VERY "made for TV" style (laughably, the modern graffitti on the bridges wasn't even edited out), this was simply a topic and subject matter which is much larger than the venue put together here.

The Father and the Son are the Parents of the Holy Spirit, if many churches are correct. The Trinity is a Family-- two Parents and an Offspring, if many churches are correct.In the Book of Job which is part of the bible,the Lord is compared to a father and also a mother with a womb. "From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens"--Job 38:29. What is written in this paragraph (before this sentence)is compatible with Catholic Church doctrine. Saying that the "Father and the Son are the Parents of the Holy Spirit" is simply another way of saying that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son" which has been official Catholic Church teaching for centuries. Of course, The scriptures are vague if the Holy Spirit is the 3rd or 1st or 2nd Person of the Trinity--whichever of these is true,the First Person and the Second Person may be the Parents of the Third.

This is one of the best films I have seen in a very long time. Directed by the immensely skilled Christian Duguay, this foreign miniseries has the scope and ambition of a big-screen epic. I was overwhelmed by the heights of emotion within this story as well as fantastic acting all around from the cast with the notable standouts being Miguel Herz-Kestranek, Cesare Bocci, and of course James Cromwell whose performance is one I can only describe as inspired.

The story is always intriguing, but the most interesting introspection is in explaining how the papacy fought to save lives in a terrible time in which many people were threatened and killed. Though much controversy has been brought up about the pontificate during the Nazi occupation of Rome, many neglect to focus upon the exact situation. Lives depended upon the words (and silence) of Pius XII. For me, the presentation of the situations within this film cleared the air a bit in explaining how limited his actions were despite his power and made me want to do more research into the pontificate of Pius XII, deeply and not surface-level as most decriers seem to resort to.

The best scene for me was when the pope and the Nazi general assigned to kidnap/kill him meet for the first time, with the general becoming confused/fascinated/humbled by the fact that Pius insists on seeing good within him despite his actions. As a result. I was blown away with how much I loved this film. The slick direction of Duguay, the powerhouse performance by Cromwell, and the beautiful score and interesting story of a man seeking to do what is right with the power he has.

I give this film 3 stars only because it has a fairly well-dramatized screenplay, even though the story is utterly wrong in the way it portrays what Pius actually DID. There's lots of good (and recent) historical research that exposes Pius's unpious approach to dealing with Hitler. The director and writers of this film should have done some homework.

Or maybe that's what they did NOT want to do? Maybe this film is a conscious propaganda effort seeking to whitewash the church's failure to oppose fascism. Pius not only did not oppose Hitler, he was in league with Mussolini! There's new research documenting that, too.

All in all, I would say that this film is little more than a feel-good P.R. film for the Catholic Church. Take it for what it is.

Regardless whether the acting and the special effects were scanty or not, the history depicted was fascinating and disturbing. Not many stories about this awful time are out there that I know of. The ruler of the Catholic Church v.s. the nazi madman. I thought the film did a good job of showing the Pope's agony over what to do. Besides the fear of Hitler's reprisals, the waffling and indecision among his own rank and file was clearly stated. The German soldiers may have been played over-the-top in their brutality and sinister doings, but how else to portray these thugs who sent thousands to their death. Even though these stories may be presented in less than a first-rate production, at least the folks that made this film brought to the screen a bit of history that needs oft to be repeated.