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Brother Sun, Sister Moon

6.5

1,127

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Original title

Fratello Sole, sorella Luna

Year

1972

Running time

121 min.

Country

Italy

Director

Franco Zeffirelli

Screenwriter

Suso Cecchi d'Amico, Kenneth Ross

Cast

Music

Ken Thorne

Cinematography

Ennio Guarnieri

Producer

Co-production Italy-United Kingdom;

Genre

Drama | Religion. Biography. 13th Century. Middle Ages

Synopsis

The story follows young Francesco (Graham Faulkner) as he emerges from post-war trauma, renounces all worldly possessions, and attains enlightenment as a simple monk. His materialist father wants him to go into his textile business, but local beauty Claire (Judy Bowker) understands Francesco’s preference for dallying amid the fields of flowers. They start their own church and gradually attract a large following, arousing the ire of the local bishop who sends soldiers to shut them down. Puzzled by such hypocrisy, Francesco walks barefoot all the way to the Vatican for a climactic confrontation with the Pope (Alec Guinness).

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Awards: 1973: Nominated for Oscar: Best Art Direction

1973: BAFTA Awards: Nominated for Best Costume Design

1971: David di Donatello Awards: Best Director (ex aequo)

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Critics' reviews

"Soft-focus spiritual gunk."

Don Druker: Chicago Reader
"Franco Zeffirelli has utilized a style of simple elegance, befitting both the period and the subject."

Variety Staff: Variety
"A pretentious bore."

TV Guide
"Zeffirelli's work looks like a Sunday-school coloring book: everything is glowingly photogenic, including poverty, and leprosy."

Jay Cocks: Time
"'Brother Sun, Sister Moon' is a big, limp Valentine of a movie, filled with an excess of sweetness and light. What a shame (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: Chicago Sun-Times
"Zeffirelli has made a big, absurd doodad, a movie that confuses simplicity with simple-mindedness and that makes saintliness look like an extreme form of Asian flu"

Vincent Canby: The New York Times
"Avoid this insipid rendering of the early life of St Francis of Assisi."

Adrian Turner: Radio Times

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