Le Pape Jean Paul II

I dare to think, that my opinion (I am a Pole, coming from Krakow) might be interesting for other watchers of this movie. So here are my remarks.

Polish historical background is shown properly, although movie only marks milestones of Polish history after 2nd World War. Krakow is shown in realistic way, main scenes are shot in REAL historic places f.eg.:

• Pope 'window' chat on Franciszkanska street

• Krakow's ghetto 'cleaning' on Pilsudski bridge

• meeting with Wyszynski in Corpus Christi church's garden

I am under impression of Cary Elwes performance. I always regarded him as a comedy actor. But he shows very good picture of young Wojtyla. On the beginning he is rather 'flat'. But he is getting better getting 'older'. He is in fact very similar to young Wojtyla. Very good job, Cary.

If Cary did good work, Jon Voight have done excellent work. Producers have chosen conclave as the moment of replacing main actor. It is very good idea. Jon Voight perfectly studied mimicry of old Wojtyla, his way of walking (before and after hip operation). He showed us in realistic way growing influence of Parkinson disease. I fully agree he deserves Emmy award. His last public 'dumb' appearance on Vatican window is very touching and memorable picture.

Authors of movie did extremely good research work. Movie quotes several well known memorable pictures of Wojtyla, f. eg:

• reading a book in canoe - canoe altar mess - making a 'glasses' from hand by Pope - described above last public appearance

Sometimes (especially when light dimes and Voight is taken from profile) main actor became so similar to Wojtyla, that you might have impression to watch documentary.

Unfortunately special effects are bad. Pictures of crowd (f.eg. Warsaw mass, St Peter Square) are artificial, flying doves are artificial, German airplanes over Krakow are also too artificial. Maybe it is not visible in TV, but it looks really bad in theater.

And finally last remark. This movie is now distributed in polish cinemas (Poland is probably the only country in the world which broadcasts this movie in theaters). I do not know exactly what is the difference between versions shown in USA in TV and 'polish' theatrical version. I can see it is much shorter (127 min) Unfortunately it is also dubbed. I could not hear polish accent of Jon Voight. If I could vote for main actors only my score would be 10/10. But whole movie (although very good as a TV movie) is not perfect for reasons described above. It deserves strong 8.

I have always been a Cary Elwes fan and of course, I love John Paul the Great and will always love the greatest saint of modern times but I was never a fan of John Voight until that Sunday night and now I can say that he is one of the best actors of his day he became the late great Holy Father for ninety minutes. yes the mini series made JP II look like saint, but hey is one. Elwes was fine, too old for his his first hour on screen, but passable. my only complaint was that it was too short and rushed in places. the film was reverently, well acted and handsomely crafted. I think it's crime that Voight is not up for a golden globe but I expect him to win an emmy for this one.

I commend CBS for airing this excellent biography of Pope John Paul II. I feel it did a marvelous job of portraying his courage, faith and love! There was a continuity from event to event that was not apparent in the biography aired by a rival network a few days earlier. Because of all the Pope did, it was impossible to do an adequate job of showing his life with only a two-hour movie. It is refreshing that an American television network chose to depict the Pope in a positive way instead of denigrating religion as the secular media are often wont to do. I also appreciated being shown how Pope John Paul II turned to God for inspiration when he had choices to make and during his trials. Finally, I think Jon Voigt was able to capture the Pope's sense of humour and his char ism.

Folks, last night I watched the second and last part of CBS's biopic on Pope John Paul the Great, and as far as I'm concerned, of the three papal biopics I've seen this year, this one is the best, and the most faithful to the late Pope's life.

So far, this is the only biopic that has respected the order of events in Pope John Paul's life. There was good attention to detail: the conclave scene is faithful down in terms of place and ceremony. You may clearly see the cardinals' seats in the Sistine Chapel, as well as the three-cardinal committee that counted the ballots, everything, including the cry of "extra omnes" ("everyone out") preceding the start of the election, was authentic. The ABC's biopic that aired last Thursday rendition of the same moment seemed oversimplified and rushed in comparison.

The real strength of the movie lies in its cast. Cary Elwes played the younger Karol Wojtyla in the movie's first part and I have to say that at times, and from certain angles, he closely resembled the young Wojtyla. But the thing I liked the most is that he projected an *inner joy* and peace that was captivating. Wojtyla was no sourpuss and Elwes "got it right." The only thing that appeared inauthentic is that when he portrayed the late pope's quarry days during the Nazi occupation, he too seemed chubby and well-fed as compared to pictures Wojtyla in pictures taken at the time. The Nazi diet in Poland was not the best fare and it showed in Wojtyla even on his first photos as a priest. Apparently, Elwes hesitated to go into a drastic diet to change his looks so drastically for this role. I can't say I blame him.

For John Voight, this was an Emmy-worthy performance. It helped that Voight resembled the Pope physically, sharing the same square, strong jaw as John Paul. The way Voight captured Pope John Paul's accent and baritone voice was at times pretty scary, so much so that I wonder how much of his lines were lip-synced to existing audio tracks of the late Pope. Voight's countenance when he opened the Holy Doors for the Year 2000 Jubilee so uncannily resembled John Paul's that I had to blink a couple of times to ensure that I was watching Voight and not John Paul. Therefore, kudos and congrats go too to CBS's makeup department for such an outstanding job. Maybe there's an Emmy here for them too.

Voight captured John Paul's physical suffering so much so that it was inspiring. I bet that is not easy to capture a face paralyzed by Parkinson's disease, but Voight did it, down to the trickle of saliva off the side of his mouth at the reenactment of the Pope's last public appearance.

Secondary characters: James Cromwell played Cardinal Adam Sapieha, Wojtyla's first mentor and Archbishop of Krakow during WWII. You might remember from roles as the robot developer and inventor in _I, Robot_ and as the warp drive inventor, Zefram Cochrane in _Star Trek: First Contact_. He did well in this movie.

Christopher Lee played Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski of Warsaw, Wojtyla's other mentor. You may remember that Lee played Count Doku in the last two episodes of the _Star Wars_ prequel. That was weird…I feel bad that I've type-casted poor Christopher Lee into a bad guy role for ever and ever.

I also applaud the portrayal of the Pope's "nephews and nieces," his inner circle of friends and spiritual children, from whom Wojtyla learned so much about the human condition. His friendship with "Roman," a Jewish childhood friend was endearing and illustrative of Pope John Paul's big heart—although I have to say that I don't remember "Roman" from any of the bios I've read about John Paul. Maybe "Roman" is a composite character. The name of the Pope's childhood Jewish friend was different in the other two biopics. That leads me to believe that's probably the case.

One bad point: the scene where the Pope was in his open pope mobile cruising St. Peter's Plaza, with the columnata in the background, and the crowd in front of him, on his way to be shot by Mehmet Ali Agca looked fake through and through. The three "layers" were superimposed and they sort of "shook" out of sync with normal movement. It may me dizzy to look at it. Thumbs down to the special effects people.

All-in-all, it was a great production. As soon as I'm able, I'll get me the DVD.

I watched this film with my Polish girlfriend this morning in a cinema in Krakow... It was dubbed in Polish, so I didn't understand a word that was said (apart from the very basics), but I really enjoyed it all the same...

A very simple and moving story about a honest man who believed in love and peace - simple as that... I am not a catholic (and never will be), but I was really moved by his story...

Jon Voight did a great job as the older pope - could really feel his frustration as the Parkinsons syndrome took hold...

By the way they are going mad about this in Poland - cinema was full at 10.45am on a Monday morning...

Many Thanks to my girlfriend who did her very best to translate for me! You should have seen the look of horror on her face when she realised it was dubbed in Polish and not polish sub-titles!