Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)

My wife going through classes at Northwest Nazarene University towards ordination.  Because one of her current classes is church history,  we are watching a bit more church history documentaries at the moment.  Tonight we watched Franco Zefferelli's 1972 film about St. Francis of Assisi.

The 1970s, along with disco, was the Zefferelli decade.  Romeo & Juliet, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and the Jesus of Nazareth miniseries.   

Every one of them is visually stunning and musically fascinating.  The theme from Jesus of Nazareth is incredibly powerful.  Donovan (remember him?) wrote and sang many of the songs.   I still have yet to see a version of Jesus' life than Jesus of Nazareth more emotionally and spiritually affecting.   If you were too young to have watched it, do so now.   I was not a Christian at the time but it hit hard.

These films were all lavishly produced.  The scene where St. Francis seeks Pope Innocent III's blessing caused my wife to say. "3/4 of the budget must have been costumes."