Mystery of Bergoglio inspires new movie

by ROWENA OREJANA
The desire to explore and know more about the mystery that is Pope Francis is what led top Argentinian-Spanish director Beda Docampo Feijoo to craft the movie Francisco.

“The idea came after a proposal from producer Pablo Bossi and my reading of Elizabetta Piqué’s book which inspired me to think about a script further. What set things in motion for me was the mystery of who truly is this 76-year-old man who was elected as the next pope,” said Mr Feijoo.
The Catholic writer and director known for the films El Marido Perfecto (1993), El Último Tren (2002) and Amores Locos (2009) said this proved to be a challenge.
“This mystery was further exacerbated by the fact that Bergoglio rarely spoke about his life — what little he said were the brief phrases here and there,” he said.
Mr Feijoo said Pope Francis would now and again say something like: “My grandmother was the most important woman in my life”, “my mum did not approve of my becoming a bishop” or “I was taken aback by a girl that I met in a seminar, making me almost abandon my path”.
“Constructing a narrative based on just these sorts of phrases was the first big challenge,” said Mr Feijoo.
Mr Feijoo said he was deeply curious to know whether Pope Francis as the world sees him now is the same man before he became pope.
“Was he always like he appears in the public eye now, or was he changed by his assignment? The desire to answer aspects of this mystery was the engine that set forth the series of investigations and interviews of people that knew him,” said Mr Feijoo.
Mr Feijoo explained the movie is a fictionalised account of the Pope’s life.
“I looked for a character that would be able to serve as the antagonist, the reporter, who was an agnostic character with a critical view of the Church but who, at the end, was left with a sense of admiration of the man who as a priest was always on the side of the poor and underprivileged,” he said.
Researching the film, which received the Best Movie of 2015 prize from the Conferencia Episcopal Espanola (Bishops Conference of Spain), gave him insight into Jorge Mario Bergoglio.
“Bergoglio’s life is an exemplary life for Catholics, Buddhists, agnostics,” reflected Mr Feijoo, who interviewed people from the slums who knew Pope Francis when the Pope was an archbishop.
“We were told that he was loved because he was one of them: another poor person and an example to be held by people in government or in any position of power. Bergoglio felt like a man of Christ, and acted as such,” he said.
Mr Feijoo said only actor Dario Grandinetti met Pope Francis personally so he (Mr Grandinetti) could study nuances of Pope Francis’s character, the way the Pope spoke and walked to accurately portray him (Pope Francis).
“We held a screening for close friends of the Pope, and at the end of the screening, they were visibly emotional and said that the actor was not physically similar to Bergoglio but behaved identically to him and that the movie reflected his life,” Mr Feijoo said.
“In general, the movie has a strong emotional connection with the public and we feel a sense of accomplishment when we see people leave the movie theatre about to burst into tears,” he said. “This is not only an accomplishment of the narrative of the movie, but of Bergoglio’s character — he is a truly moving individual.”