Pope Joan (1972)

Director:

Michael Anderson

Writer:

John Briley (writer)

Release Date:

29 September 1972 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

This movie is based on the medieval legend of Pope Joan, who was made Pope for a brief period around 855 A.D...

Plot Keywords:

Pope | Religion | Bishop | Monk | Catholicism

Cast

Liv Ullmann	...	Pope Joan
Jeremy Kemp	...	Joan's Father
Natasa Nicolescu	...	Joan's Mother
Sharon Winter	...	Joan as a child
Margareta Pogonat	...	Village woman
Richard Bebb	...	Lord of Manor
Peter Arne	...	Richard
Patrick Magee	...	Elder monk
George Innes	...	Monk
Nigel Havers	...	Young monk
Lesley-Anne Down	...	Cecilia
Susan Macready	...	Sister Nunciata
Shelagh Wilcocks	...	Sister Louise
Olivia de Havilland	...	Mother Superior
André Morell	...	Emperor Louis

Also Known As:

She Who Would Be Pope (UK) (restored version)
The Devil's Imposter (USA) (recut version)

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | UK:15 (video rating) (2005) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Cyprus

Company:

Big City

Trivia:

The final film of Derek Farr.

Movie Connections:

Version of Die Päpstin (2009)

Soundtrack:

Veni Creator Spiritus

Don't moan at Joan, moan at the post production

The early 1970's was my favourite period in recent cinema history, classics such as Kubrick's Clockwork Orange, Skolimowsky's Deep End and Visconti's Death in Venice abound; but there are some, less than ringing endorsements of the era, this half-forgotten movie being one.

Liv Ullman, the embodiment of Scandinavian sang-froid, the epitome of ephemeral solemnity, plays Joan, a pious and youthful nun, who travels from a medieval convent, burnt down by Saxons, raping and pillaging, as if they misconstrued it for a set on a Ken Russell film, to Rome where disguised as a (rather attractive) young man, she wins her spurs, becomes a cardinal and eventually the first - and possibly last - female pope.

The trouble is, although Liv's performance is full of meaning and her fights against the alleged sin of lust, particularly enthralling, the editing, jumpiness and preposterousness of some scenes, leave an anxious viewer in need of redemption elsewhere.

True, it is interesting to see actors of the time - Lesley Anne Down, Maximillian Schell, Trevor Howard and Olivia de Havilland - giving robust performances, but a sandwich with an attractive filling is hardly worth eating if the bread is stale. And this is a stale mish mash, which ultimately fails to satisfy. It is a shame. The theme is interesting, whether the story is true or not. Given the current arguments amongst many religions on the role of women, it has significance for us in the 21st Century.

The scenery around Brasov, Romania, where it was filmed, which I visited post Ceausescu, is exemplary. Mind you, maybe the reason for the film's disjointed nature is just that - that the dictator, in his first flush of dictatorial youth, was in charge of production. There again, maybe Ceausescu was a woman. Now that would be a tale worth telling...