Friars Petition Mel Gibson to Make St Francis Film

[matcom]

:eyes:

<snip>

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Franciscan friars in New York loved Mel Gibson's hit movie "The Passion of The Christ," so much they are petitioning him to follow-up with a film biography of the order's founder, Saint Francis of Assisi.

More than 40,000 hits have been registered on the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal's "open letter and respectful petition" addressed to Gibson, and more than 8,000 readers have filled out the online petition at www.franciscanfriars.com.

Father Glenn Sudano, head of the community of 82 friars in the New York metropolitan area, had the petition posted after seeing "The Passion," believing it would be a natural sequel and high time for a realistic portrayal of Saint Francis.

"They dip these people in plaster," Father Glenn said about perceptions of the saints. "They are much more powerful, more interesting, more engaging, much more human."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=573&e=2&u=/nm/20040421/od_nm/friars_dc

[htuttle]

1. But St. Francis was all peaceful and stuff

No blood, no flaying, no decapitation -- I'm sure Mel won't be interested.

[On the Road]

7. If I Recall Correctly,

St. Francis was into self-punishment in a pretty serious way. I remember reading of St Francis, after saying something he thought was sinful, lying down and asking his companion to put his foot in his mouth and stomp around. A lot of early Franciscans were self-flagellants, although I can't find a reference that Francis himself did this.

Francis also identified with the sufferings of Christ to the extent that he reportedly developed the stigmata and bled from the wounds.

Things like this tend to be looked at as embarrassments nowadays and get dropped from modern accounts.

Still, Francis, is probably not violent enough for Mel. I like the Maccabees idea much better.

[Ganja Ninja]

2. There already is a pretty good flick on St Francis.

It's called Brother Sun Sister Moon. I haven't seen it for over 30 years. A lot of the sound track was by Donovan.

[SoFlaJet]

3. St Francis of Assisi

Great saint great man great prayer he wrote-Nero the wolf who'll play him?

[TXlib]

4. Prayer of St Francis

Lord make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
And where there is sadness, joy
O divine master grant that I may
not so much seek to be consoled as to console
to be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love
For it is in giving that we receive
And it is in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it's in dying that we are born to eternal life
Amen

That prayer is the heart of what Christianity should be. Even an atheist like me can be insired by it. If only more Christians took it to heart...

(Thanks, SOteric, for sharing it with me.)

[PATRICK]

5. Won't happen

The action scenes. Francis renouncing warrior career. Totally self-afflicted pain and suffering. The stint in the Crusades may again off Gibson a chance to trash infidels. No great orgy of death and destruction to cloud the centrality of the spiritual message.

For those who have not studied all the ways Gibson botched the Wallace legend his likely disfigurement of Francis will necessarily be massive, but a refreshing change that might move him away from the blood and guts focus of war and torture. Sort of like Clint Eastwood slowly decreasing the body count in his later films- for a while.

[commander bunnypants]

6. St. Francis

good guy. I carry his prayer with me for the last 15 years. One reason I became a social worker.


DDQM