Nov 16

Nov 16 DOC NYC film review: 'Francesco'

The documentary 'Francesco' (screening at DOC NYC 2020) puts the Holy Father's teachings in the context of global upheaval.

In short: Pope Francis looks at the pressing challenges - from the global pandemic to climate change - of the 21st century.

It's all too easy to callously read a headline about a capsized boat of refugees. It's entirely different to watch one of these boats sink, and the resultant child-sized casket. 'Francesco' looks at tragedies through a lens of humanity - and reveals the empathetic foundation of the Pope's position on various atrocities and tragedies.

'Francesco' serves a sermon at a turning point in human history, highlight some of the most pressing issues of the day. The documentary plainly lays out, in terms any secular or non-Catholic, can understand and see world events through the eyes of one of the world's most influential figures.

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The limitation of 'Francesco,' however, is inherent to its structure. The film essentially spotlights the unvarnished and dire images of an urgent situation, then allows the pontiff to address the human tragedies of refugees, war and climate change. The film succeeds in laying out how the Pope addresses numerous issues - and just moves on. Any one subject - from the Catholic church's stance on the Armenian genocide or Francis's role in the Venezuela revolution - could deserve its own full-length documentary. Yet, 'Francesco' nods its head toward each topic and moves on to the next topic.

The documentary succeeds in shining a light on the oft-overlooked tragedies of the past decade, such as the mass exodus of refugees. It makes the case that, under the direction of Pope Francis, the Catholic church has chosen to confront and address socio-political events rather than ignore them. While the documentary achieves that goal, it does so at the cost of trying to cram the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal, coronavirus outbreak, climate change, institutional racism, genocide and many more subjects into a mere two hour documentary. It's simply too much for any one singular film to wrap its arms around without feeling like the film could have invested more substance and time to each topic.

Final verdict: 'Francesco' is simply too ambitious for its own good - and the Pope and the numerous subjects covered deserve better than just being relegated to a series of too-short vignettes.