Have No Fear
Y
Dec 1, 2005
8-10 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 1
ABC
The title notwithstanding, this film on the former pontiff plays less like a life story than a highlight reel, jumping from event to event. We see young Karol Wojtyla losing his mother to illness and his older brother, a dedicated young doctor, to scarlet fever. A few years later, his father dies from, well, it's not clear what. There's also college student Karol defying the invading Nazis with political theater and the risky business of entering the seminary. Then there's the bishop refusing to be bullied by communist Polish authorities.
The thread that runs through all these isolated incidents is the pope's lifelong history of not giving in to fear. Indeed, if Pope John Paul II, played here in a very deliberate manner by Thomas Kretschmann, had any other significant characteristics -- such as a sense of humor, a love of music or a fondness for sausage -- there is no evidence of it in this rather single-minded and always respectful portrayal. This depiction of John Paul II as half human, half saint -- though hardly unexpected and possibly even warranted -- leaves us with a character that is less dimensional and less relatable and, consequently, less interesting.
Depending on your philosophy, you might have thought less of the pope if the film mentioned his strong and uncompromising stands against abortion, homosexuality and the ordination of women, so none of that stuff was included. Still, unlike some world leaders we know, the pope is capable of admitting a mistake, as he does after Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero (Joaquim de Almeida) is gunned down while celebrating Mass. The pope previously met with Romero and told him to drop his liberation theology, which argued for better conditions for the downtrodden.
In one sense, it's hard to blame writers Michael Hirst and Judd Parkin for their connect-the-dots approach to film biography. CBS, which has its own Pope John Paul II project starting Sunday, tells the pope's story over four hours. The Hallmark Channel, which presented a four-hour telefilm on the late pontiff in August ("A Man Who Became Pope"), only dealt with events through 1978, when Wojtyla was elected pope after two more heavily favored cardinals deadlocked during the conclave.
"Have No Fear" was filmed in Rome and Lithuania with a cast lacking promotable names but nonetheless capable of getting a little more out of the material than was put on the page. Backdrops are convincing and well-designed. On a few occasions, director Jeff Bleckmer intercuts the dramatization of events with actual recent news footage, which has a jarring effect. Mostly, though, he manages a consistency and earnestness throughout the film.
HAVE NO FEAR: THE LIFE OF JOHN PAUL II
ABC
Five Mile River Films Ltd.
Credits:
Executive producers: Judd Parkin, Lorenzo Minoli
Co-executive producers: Thomas Augsberger, Donald S. Reid, Alexander M.S. Vik
Producers: Giovanni Lovatelli, Paola Piria
Director: Jeff Bleckmer
Teleplay: Michael Hirst, Judd Parkin
Story: Michael Hirst, Judd Parkin, Lorenzo Minoli
Director of photography: Robert Benvenuti
Production designer: Giovanni Natalucci
Editor: Benjamin Weissman
Music: Carlo Siliotto
Set designer: Jurga Lukoseviciute
Costume designer: Enrica Barbano
Casting: Jeremy Zimmermann, Andrea Clark, Susan Edelman
Cast:
Pope John Paul II: Thomas Kretschmann
Cardinal Wyszynski: Bruno Ganz
Archbishop Oscar Romero: Joaquim de Almeida
Young boy Karol Wojtyla: Jasper Harris
Teen Karol Wojtyla: Ignas Survila
Father Dziwisz: John Albasiny
Edmund Wojtyla: Paulius Ignatavicius
Gen. Jaruzelski: Richard Rees
Thursday, Dec. 1
ABC
The title notwithstanding, this film on the former pontiff plays less like a life story than a highlight reel, jumping from event to event. We see young Karol Wojtyla losing his mother to illness and his older brother, a dedicated young doctor, to scarlet fever. A few years later, his father dies from, well, it's not clear what. There's also college student Karol defying the invading Nazis with political theater and the risky business of entering the seminary. Then there's the bishop refusing to be bullied by communist Polish authorities.
The thread that runs through all these isolated incidents is the pope's lifelong history of not giving in to fear. Indeed, if Pope John Paul II, played here in a very deliberate manner by Thomas Kretschmann, had any other significant characteristics -- such as a sense of humor, a love of music or a fondness for sausage -- there is no evidence of it in this rather single-minded and always respectful portrayal. This depiction of John Paul II as half human, half saint -- though hardly unexpected and possibly even warranted -- leaves us with a character that is less dimensional and less relatable and, consequently, less interesting.
Depending on your philosophy, you might have thought less of the pope if the film mentioned his strong and uncompromising stands against abortion, homosexuality and the ordination of women, so none of that stuff was included. Still, unlike some world leaders we know, the pope is capable of admitting a mistake, as he does after Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero (Joaquim de Almeida) is gunned down while celebrating Mass. The pope previously met with Romero and told him to drop his liberation theology, which argued for better conditions for the downtrodden.
In one sense, it's hard to blame writers Michael Hirst and Judd Parkin for their connect-the-dots approach to film biography. CBS, which has its own Pope John Paul II project starting Sunday, tells the pope's story over four hours. The Hallmark Channel, which presented a four-hour telefilm on the late pontiff in August ("A Man Who Became Pope"), only dealt with events through 1978, when Wojtyla was elected pope after two more heavily favored cardinals deadlocked during the conclave.
"Have No Fear" was filmed in Rome and Lithuania with a cast lacking promotable names but nonetheless capable of getting a little more out of the material than was put on the page. Backdrops are convincing and well-designed. On a few occasions, director Jeff Bleckmer intercuts the dramatization of events with actual recent news footage, which has a jarring effect. Mostly, though, he manages a consistency and earnestness throughout the film.
HAVE NO FEAR: THE LIFE OF JOHN PAUL II
ABC
Five Mile River Films Ltd.
Credits:
Executive producers: Judd Parkin, Lorenzo Minoli
Co-executive producers: Thomas Augsberger, Donald S. Reid, Alexander M.S. Vik
Producers: Giovanni Lovatelli, Paola Piria
Director: Jeff Bleckmer
Teleplay: Michael Hirst, Judd Parkin
Story: Michael Hirst, Judd Parkin, Lorenzo Minoli
Director of photography: Robert Benvenuti
Production designer: Giovanni Natalucci
Editor: Benjamin Weissman
Music: Carlo Siliotto
Set designer: Jurga Lukoseviciute
Costume designer: Enrica Barbano
Casting: Jeremy Zimmermann, Andrea Clark, Susan Edelman
Cast:
Pope John Paul II: Thomas Kretschmann
Cardinal Wyszynski: Bruno Ganz
Archbishop Oscar Romero: Joaquim de Almeida
Young boy Karol Wojtyla: Jasper Harris
Teen Karol Wojtyla: Ignas Survila
Father Dziwisz: John Albasiny
Edmund Wojtyla: Paulius Ignatavicius
Gen. Jaruzelski: Richard Rees
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