Written by Erin Shaw, image courtesy of Evgeny Afineevksy
Following the daily news cycle can fatigue a person. We are inundated with information, told to fear the unknown and sleep with one eye open. “Francesco” explores said morose events but ultimately leaves the viewer hopeful and uplifted.
The documentary observes the pope through a lens wherein he is an empathetic yet politically-minded strategist. He is seen traveling from destroyed site to destroyed site, if only so that the media follows him, thus promoting the fact that there are people in the world suffering beyond our wildest imaginations. This is revealed to be his ultimate goal: to care for those who are suffering.
“Francesco” is director Evgeny Afineevsky’s most recent documentary, following two others, “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” (2016) and “Cries from Syria” (2017), both met with award nominations and critical acclaim. In its simplest form, “Francesco” is a journey through Pope Francis’ life, before and during his papacy. The film depicts many of the biggest global tragedies that have occurred or been commemorated during his term and how he chose to react to those events.
The film covers a lot of ground, one of my few issues with the film, such as the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan, the decimation of the war in Syria, the walled divide between Israel and Palestine and the U.S.–Mexico border, the desolation of Myanmar migrants and very importantly, the nearly innumerable accounts of sexual abuse from Catholic church officials that began in South America. The animated images and B-roll footage were compelling. But, after a while, it felt like a barrage to the senses. The beginning of the film spliced the devastating with the uplifting but toward the middle, it became tedious and slightly exhausting.
Despite many scenes being difficult to watch, the film has an overarching sentiment of hopefulness and united motivation. Pope Francis is shown to be a humble, tender humanitarian and a universally welcoming leader. He believes in “concrete” (one of his favorite terms) ecological action as well as large-scale political, social and economic reform. The theme of peace is rampant throughout the film. Pope Francis begins to seem less like a figurehead and more like a human among us. He is a man who cries, laughs and watches soccer.
For a daunting subject like a portrait of the religious leader of 1.3 billion people, Afineevsky and his team emphasize the relatability and humanity of the current pope. The audience watches Pope Francis boldly quote from Oscar Wilde — a particularly revelatory moment. The best quote did not come until after the screening though when Afineevsky spoke about his process as a filmmaker. The moderator set up a question for the director.
“Evgeny, you have a brand new baby, five weeks old I believe. Can you tell us what you named your son?” he asked.
“Francesco,” Afineevsky replied.
