Last weekend while housesitting for my sister in Ojai, I figured it would be a good time to take advantage of her much larger T.V. and watch something subtitled that I have been wanting to see. I rented The Flowers of St. Francis by Roberto Rossellini. (1950) Apparently he worked on it with Fellini and considering my interest in Francis and Italy in general I thought I should see it. An interesting, sweet little film which is basically a series of vignettes about Francis and his followers. If movies without plots annoy you, this is not a film for you. What I loved was that he cast actual monks for all the parts and there truly is an innocence about them that comes across on camera.The Criterion version has a great interview in the special features of Isabella Rossellini talking about her father and Fellini. Fan of "special features" that i am, it was all worth it.
Of course it made me miss Italy and most especially Assisi. Assisi felt magical to me and there is a special energy about the place. I will add some black and whites tomorrow.
Basilica of St. Francis, September 2008
All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.
~Saint Francis of Assisi
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