Product Details

• Actors: Aldo Fabrizi
• Directors: Roberto Rossellini
• Format: NTSC, Dolby, Full Screen, Import
• Subtitles: English, Korean
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Sky Cinema
• Run Time: 88 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000MVNJV4
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #318,194 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

In a series of simple and joyous vignettes, director Roberto Rossellini and co-writer Federico Fellini lovingly convey the universal teachings of the People's Saint: humility, compassion, faith, and sacrifice. Shot in a neorealist manner, with monks from the Nocere Inferiore monastery playing the roles of St. Francis and his disciples, The Flowers of St. Francis is a timeless and moving portrait of the search for spiritual enlightenment.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most beautiful films I've ever seen, February 25, 2012

By 

Dana Bailey Wheeler "prunellabooks" (Midwest) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Roberto Rossilini's The Flowers of St. Francis ~ presented by Federico Fellini (Original theatrical release) [Import, All-Region] (Dvd) (DVD)

I would not recommend this film to people who want the film quality to be perfect. I have no expertise on various types and qualities of films, cameras etc. that go into movie making so I can't explain why the quality is so primitive looking. Perhaps Roberto Rossilini deliberately gave it this quality to give it more authenticity and depth? A spareness that would have appealed to St. Francis? He obviously chose b&w to emphasize what he was sharing about this beloved saint. As to the film itself, it has a lightness and humor that is absolutely brilliant! Each segment, prefaced with an amusing title of what's to come, is composed of memorable moments of Saint Francis & his eleven fellow monks during their early years at the deserted lazar (leper) house of Rivo Torto near Assisi. This was a very informal existence and they spent most of their time wandering the hills of Umbria spreading the gospel and showing Christ's love in all they said and did. A haunting moment __Francis was woken from sleep and hearing the ringing of bells he creeps through the dark where he spied a leper walking completely alone and forsaken. St. Francis was repulsed yet felt such sympathy and love that he forced himself to hug the man...then you could feel his repugnance turn to love as he fully embraced the poor lost soul. Who among us could have done it? Clad in a rough garments, barefooted, following Christ's example, Francis and his followers chose never to be ordained priests and the community lived as "lesser brothers," fratres minores. The fraternity and fun of these men permeates the film, but also shows the very serious side of their commitment to the saving of souls. The movie is never preachy (it's all in Italian anyway) but the actor playing St. Francis brought such subtlety and humility that it brought the film to life, as did the performances of all his fellow actors. (I detest the word 'stars' in regard to actors) The film ended when the brothers followed St' Francis' dictum to go out into all the world and spread the good news. Even that was humorous, as he has the men all spin and whatever direction they fell in was the way they were to go preaching. This film was a work of love, and brought what could have been rather hackneyed, as is often the case when dealing with someone famous or held in great awe, to a vivid and authentic portrayal...on two levels, as a movie it was funny and entertaining, as a religious biography it was tender and truthful and reverent.

0 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Check if Foreign Film, April 2, 2008

By 

S. Angelo (Sterrett, AL, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Roberto Rossilini's The Flowers of St. Francis ~ presented by Federico Fellini (Original theatrical release) [Import, All-Region] (Dvd) (DVD)

Check to see what language this is in. I think I returned this because it was in a foreign language.