Just because you’re the pope, that doesn’t meant mean you can’t have a little fun. The dearly departed Pope Francis had plenty of earthly passions, including soccer and cinema. Fellini’s The Road, Gabriel Axel’s Babette’s Lunch, Kurosawa’s August Rhapsody, and Rossellini’s Rome Open City were among the late pope’s favorite films.
Apparently his successor, Pope Leo XIV, is not only a White Sox fan but also something of a cinephile. Ahead of a meeting with iconic figures from the film world on Saturday, Leo XIV, the first ever American pope, shared his four favorite movies of all time via a statement from the Vatican. They include a Christmas classic, a beloved musical, an Oscar-winning drama, and an Italian film.
The first movie on Leo’s list is Frank Capra’s 1946 classic It’s a Wonderful Life—where Jimmy Stewart’s despondent businessman George Bailey learns to appreciate the beauty of life on Christmas. It’s a fitting choice for the Catholic leader for obvious reasons (see: Christmas). Pope Leo XIV’s next choice also makes sense thematically: the 1965 musical The Sound of Music, directed by Robert Wise and based on the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical. Of course Pope Leo XIV loves the musical, which stars Julie Andrews as Maria, a nun-in-training tasked with looking after the seven Von Trapp children as the Nazis begin to invade Austria: singing nuns and escaping the Nazis are catnip to a pope.
Pope Leo XIV’s next two choices veer a little bit farther from the papacy. He name-checked Robert Redford’s 1980 film Ordinary People, starring Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland, and Timothy Hutton. Winner of the Oscar for best film, it follows a family of three dealing with the death of their eldest son—decidedly darker fare than either The Sound of Music or It’s A Wonderful Life. Pope Leo XIV’s fourth and final choice is the 1997 film Life Is Beautiful, directed by and starring Roberto Benigni as a Jewish-Italian waiter who is taken to a concentration camp with his young son. The Oscar-winning Italian film makes sense given Leo’s new residency in the Vatican City.
According to a statement from the Vatican, Leo XIV “has expressed his desire to deepen dialogue with the World of Cinema, and in particular with actors and directors, exploring the possibilities that artistic creativity offers to the mission of the Church and the promotion of human values.” As such, prominent Hollywood figures such as Cate Blanchett, Spike Lee, Monica Bellucci, and Gaspar Noé, as well as Italian cinema staples Marco Bellocchio, Raoul Bova, and Sergio Castellitto, will have an audience with the pope in Vatican City this weekend.
Perhaps on Saturday, the cinephiles will learn which films just missed the cut for Leo XIV: maybe Sister Act one or two, Doubt, or the recent hit One Battle After Another, in which nuns prominently figure. In any case, it’s clear that it’s time to get Pope Leo XIV on Letterboxd: We’d love to see his Conclave review.
Original story appeared in VF Italia.
