Cheap Assisi Home of St. Francis (Video) (NOVA T) Price

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Customer Reviews of Assisi Home of St. Francis

Turn the sound off on this one
The most memorable thing about this film is that it combines the worst of two worlds. First, as a film that deals with a spiritual topic--Franciscan spirituality--it's mawkish and simplistic. Francis "speaks" in the first person throughout--"Hello. I'm Francis. Francis of Assisi. And you?"--in a cheesy, British-accented voice. When Francis isn't speaking, he's shown doing saintly things like riding a donkey or kneeling in ecstatic prayer. This is precisely the kind of stuff that creates bad Sunday School memories. Second, as a film that promises to tell viewers something about Assisi, it's pedantic and schoolmarmish. An extremely annoying, high nasal female voice rattles off tourist-book information about Assisi and its environs, giving dates and statistics but little interesting information. The film's movement from cheesy Francis to monotonous school mistress is maddening--especially when you factor in the background semi-pop/semi-pious oboe and piano music.

Still, if you turn the volume off and just allow yourself to sink into the images, there's some reward in viewing (but not purchasing!) the film. The Umbrian countryside is splendid, the towns of Assisi and Perugia full of beauty. In other words, use the movie as a slideshow.