A slightly hippie adaption of Saint-Francis' life story
Brother Sun, Sister Moon is a typical example of flower-power, influencing the films of this period, though certainly not in a dark or racy kind of way, no this is a very clean and gentle film, and certainly the figure of Saint Francis is a good vehicle to express this "back to earth", "abandon material life" kind of attitude that was common in this period.
Do I agree with this attitude? No and it's difficult to really get invested into the life of a Saint without his suffering and hardship on display, or those of others, which are all just to bland to really influence the viewers.
Sure, Francis goes loopy for a while, his dad flogs him, there are wars somewhere in the background, people in the workshops are poor and miserable, someone dies in the background, some lepers wander around, people just join Francis and then the pope kisses his feet.
Yes, a good biopic needs suffering and defeat to make it cathartic and to put yourself into the place of the main-character, this film is just to lighthearted to make it a good biopic. So bad in that regard, though it is a good slice of medieval life, the town, the costumes, the people, it is a living breathing world, in that sense still recommended.
Dec 24th 2024

This review was posted from the United States or from a VPN in the United States.