About
The Flowers of St. Francis

It’s always intimidating to give an opinion about a film praised by so eminent filmmakers and critics : “The Most Beautiful Film of the World” wrote Truffaut for instance. What can I say after that ? I never had the opportunity to watch this film until recently, partly because I’m not particularly interested in Roberto Rossellini (I prefer Fellini, Visconti, Scola or Comencini), partly because Francesco, giullare di Dio wasn’t available for years. The film turns out to belong to the Realist genre, with the exception of the scene with Aldo Fabrizi. Numerous scenes may also be seen as belonging to the Comedy genre. No lyricism here nor scenes sanctifying Francesco’s actions. Francesco is an inspired man filmed by a camera ignoring that he will become a Saint. That’s the secret of Francesco, giullare di Dio. In short, I liked this film. But I also like hundreds of other movies.