Francesco

Presented in a longer "director's cut" version (compared to the edited VHS tape released on home video), filmmaker Liliana Cavani's 1989 Francesco dramatizes the life of St. Francis of Assisi, drawing from Hermann Hesse's 1904 monograph Francesco d'Assisi. Mickey Rourke, untypically but effectively cast, stars as the titular saint, a privileged son of a wealthy 13th-century Italian merchant, who—following a gradual epiphany (triggered by reading Scripture that was illegally translated from Latin to the common tongue)—renounces all of his wealth and possessions, ultimately leading a religious order based on uncompromising acceptance (welcoming women, embracing lepers) and taking vows of poverty. His ascetic philosophy is perceived as a threat, not only by the upper classes but also by the powerful Church itself. Even with the celebrity lead (and the rather distracting presence of Helena Bonham Carter as a close female disciple), this earth-toned treatment is no Hollywood spectacle but instead a dignified portrait of a driven holy man. Backed by a soundtrack by Vangelis, extras include press conference footage featuring Rourke at the Cannes Film Festival premiere, and a booklet with a foreword by Cavani and an essay by film critic Aaron Hillis. Recommended. (C. Cassady)