Miracle à Cupertino

An excellent movie that I deeply appreciated. I give this high marks for its respectful representation of the life of a simple saint. At times, the movie is certainly dated, but the humor and truth of it remains. I recommend this movie with some disclaimers; its not terribly exciting or romantic; its just a good, clear biography of a saint.

This film is a warm and loyal portrayal of the life of St. Joseph (Giuseppe) of Cupertino. Giuseppe is portrayed as a simple and humble Franciscan brother. In one scene, the bishop who is sent to investigate the reports of Brother Giuseppe's mystical experiences, is charmed by their mutual love of working with the pigs in the barn. This portrayal communicates the sincerity, simplicity and holiness of a saint who does not think of himself as a saint. St. Joseph of Cupertino was one of those individuals who can be characterized as a natural "mystic." He was canonized (declared a Saint of the Church) for his virtue and holiness of life, and was made a patron saint of air pilots, probably because it is said that he would levitate from the ground during prayer. The movie is entertaining on all counts. You will leave this film feeling better about God and the human race.

Set in 17th century Italy, it tells how a clumsy young man, Joseph of Cupertino (Maximilian Schell) achieves holiness . He was born the son of Felice Desa (Arnoldo Foà) and Frencesca Panara (Lea Padovani) in the village of Cupertino, in the Region of Apulia, then in the Kingdom of Naples. His father having died before his birth, however, the family home was seized to settle the large debts he had left, and his mother was forced to give birth to him in a stable. Joseph is pressured to enter a monastery, thanks to a kind bishop (Akim Tamiroff) is picked up by monks (Ricardo Montalban, Harold Goldblatt, Carlo Croccolo...). The simple and honest young pursues full priesthood and he does so, and that's why he surprises everyone by passing the entrance exam to study for the priesthood, so he joins the Franciscan order. Later on, Joseph happening an ecstasy in some touching scenes, then he performs a miracle, but this is only the first of many surprises from the man who would become Saint Joseph Cupertino. The picture that's got everything ! ... plus the surprise of your life !

This a perceptible and feeling movie full of mirth, humor touches , and enjoyable message. At the same time the film gives us an agreeable panorama about monastery life, its religiosity , and goodness ; furthermore , the ordiary oration , sacrifice , work , companionship and various situations happen in monastic existence. There a simple young man thought by many in his village to be an idiot, carries out a series of holy acts that eventually ensures his sainthood. Its perfect developing resides on superb characters incarnated by the main role Maximilian Schell who gives a very sympathetic performance, though overacting at times and the good-natured priests, well played by Ricardo Montalban, Akim Tamiroff, Harold Goldblatt, Carlo Croccolo, Giacomo Rossi Stuart, among others . This unknown picture was well written/produced/directed by Edward Dmytryk. In my opinion this is one of the best religious films to come out of Europe in the decade of the 60s along with ¨Marcelino bread and wine¨. The picture will touch the hearts of numerous spectators . Rating : 7/10. Above average.

Adding more biographical details to those already explained in the film: Joseph of Cupertino (1603 -1663) was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar who is honored as a Christian mystic and saint. According to traditional Franciscan accounts, he was "remarkably unclever", but experienced miraculous levitation and ecstatic visions throughout his life which made him the object of scorn. He applied to the Conventual Franciscan friars, but was rejected due to his lack of education. He then pleaded with them to serve in their stables. After several years of working there, he had impressed the friars so much with the devotion and simplicity of his life that he was admitted to their Order, destined to become a Catholic priest, in 1625. Joseph began to experience ecstatic visions as a child, which were to continue throughout his life, and made him the object of scorn. His life was not helped by his frequent outbursts of anger. He was soon apprenticed by his uncle to a shoemaker. Feeling drawn to religious life, in 1620 he applied to the Conventual Franciscan friars, but was rejected due to his lack of education. He then applied to the Capuchin friars in Martino, near Taranto, by whom he was accepted in 1620 as a lay brother, but he was dismissed as his continued ecstasies made him unfit for the duties required of him. After Joseph returned to the scorn of his family, he pleaded with the Conventual friars near Cupertino to be allowed to serve in their stables. After several years of working there, he had so impressed the friars with the devotion and simplicity of his life that he was admitted to their Order, destined to become a Catholic priest, in 1625. He was ordained a priest on 28 March 1628. He was then sent to the convent of Santa Maria della Grotella, just outside Cupertino, where he spent the next 15 year. After this point, the occasions of ecstasy in Joseph's life began to multiply. It was claimed that he began to levitate while participating at the Mass or joining the community for the Divine Office, thereby gaining a widespread reputation of holiness among the people of the region and beyond. He was deemed disruptive by his religious superiors and church authorities, however, and eventually was confined to a small cell, forbidden from joining in any public gathering of the community. As the phenomenon of flying or levitation was widely believed to be connected with witchcraft, Joseph was denounced to the Inquisition. At their command, he was transferred from one Franciscan friary in the region to another for observation, first to Assisi (1639-1653), and finally Fossombrone, where he lived with and under the supervision of the Capuchin friars (1653-1657). He practiced severe asceticism throughout his life, usually eating solid food only twice a week, and adding bitter powders to his meals. He passed 35 years of his life following this regimen. Finally, Joseph was allowed to return to a Conventual community.

Brother José's life, as its shown in this movie, manifest that doing simple acts, however profound, we reach the real meaning of our existence. Dmitryk uses the marvelous to teach us how to live as a true human being.

The Reluctant Saint is a film based on the life of St. Joseph Desa of Cuppertino, who reputedly did some involuntary feats of levitation while at prayer. In the next century he was canonized a saint by the Catholic church and today is the patron saint of both aviators and bad students.

Maybe today we would say Joseph suffered from attention deficit disorder or maybe he was a milder case of the idiot savant syndrome that Tom Hanks portrayed so well in Forrest Gump. At any event he's considered the village idiot. There are some funny moments at the beginning of the film, especially where Joseph loses control of a donkey and he's dragged through the vineyards, tearing up the fields. In watching that, I swear Maximilian Schell must have watched some Jerry Lewis movies to get it right.

But there's a lot more to Joseph than that. His parents finally prevail upon an uncle who's a priest to take him into a monastery. And he's just as bad there, except when he finally is transferred to the stables.

The key scene of the film for me is when a traveling bishop comes to inspect the monastery. The stables he finds are an unsightly mess and the other monks start to berate him. But the bishop played by Akim Tamiroff sees that Joseph has stayed up all night trying to help a ewe deliver her lambs. He says that Joseph is just the kind of person we need in the order, one who St. Francis of Assissi would understand.

Later on the Bishop at dinner that night gets very bored with a lengthy dissertation on the Trinity goes out to the stable where Joseph is still caring for his animals. Turns out the Bishop comes from just such a peasant background as Joseph and relates to him as no others have ever. He mentions to him that even he has problems understanding the concept of the Trinity. Joseph then takes his blanket and folds it twice and says this is the trinity, one blanket, three folds.

Right then and there the Bishop knows that this young man is not the idiot everyone takes him for. He becomes his friend and patron.

I saw this film in theaters back in 1962 when it first was released. Starring the man who had just been named the Best Actor of 1961 for Judgement at Nuremberg, you would have thought it would have been given more publicity. But it was playing on the bottom half of double bills which we had back then. I can't remember what was the feature attraction. But I never forget Maximillian Schell's simple explanation of the trinity.

And it's hard to believe that the erudite and articulate defense attorney of Judgement at Nuremberg is also the Forrest Gump of the Counter Reformation. But that's how good an actor Maximilian Schell is.

Up to the point of the trinity explanation, the audience is seeing Joseph through the eyes of all around him as a simpleton. After that we see and adopt Akim Tamiroff's point of view. The rest of the film concerns the incidents surrounding the reported levitations.

Schell and Tamiroff head the cast of mostly players from the Italian cinema. The only other name that Americans would recognize is Ricardo Montalban who plays a priest who remains unconvinced to almost the end of Joseph's worth. Schell, Tamiroff, and Montalban should all be proud of the work they did here.

This is a really fine, but sadly neglected film.