HotToastyRag I have a feeling that in 1968, this movie was a major deal. The Shoes of the Fisherman showed the intimate, intricate process of selecting a new pope after the current one's death, and it included real footage of the coronation ceremony while splicing in footage of a properly bedecked Anthony Quinn. Devout Catholics who have an interest in the process and ceremony will probably be very interested in this movie. Modern audiences who maybe aren't as serious about the religion will find it, as I did, incredibly boring.The plot synopsis reveals Anthony Quinn has been released after spending decades in a POW camp, but he doesn't act like he's been through anything more difficult than remembering his lines. Normally, I think he's a brilliant actor, but he must have been angry at the director because he wasn't nearly as good as he could have been. You would think, playing a character who's endured years of imprisonment, he'd have an underlying pain behind his eyes. You would think, playing a character who's up for consideration to become the new pope, would have a multitude of expressions at his disposal, rather than just one that says, "I'm cold and I'm sad about it." Whatever Tony was trying to do didn't come across.John Gielgud plays the pope, of course, but as he often did during his later years, he acts like he's enormously bored and would rather be somewhere else. Laurence Olivier plays a Russian bigwig, but even his biggest fans will admit he isn't always the best at accents. Speaking of accents, for the first half of the film, I didn't know what kind of accent Anthony Quinn was putting on. At first I thought he was Italian, then Russian, then Spanish, then Transylvanian. By the time I was convinced he came from the land of Count Dracula, another character in the movie informed the audience he was supposed to be Ukrainian.David Janssen takes up a good third of the movie, and this third could have easily been cut. He plays an adulterer and a reporter. His scenes are pointless, irritating, and boring. Oskar Werner plays a priest with religious doubts, but the scenes they gave him to express his opinions and spark an interesting debate were both watered down and intentionally confusing, maybe so the audience would tune out and not pay attention to this part of the story.As you can tell, I didn't like this movie. I appreciated the detail included with regards to the election process, but as far as the dialogue and acting, I wasn't impressed. Catholic moviegoers might want to check out The Thorn Birds instead.

gitfiddlegary When asked. if he accepts election, kiril shakes hi head NO, but THEN says he accepts election!

dleifker The visual richness of this movie is simply breathtaking. I was swept along by the vividness of the images and almost found myself ignoring the plot. After it was over, I was shocked to learn that it was 162 minutes long because it seemed much shorter. My only gripe is that the plot feels thin, and too much time is spent on the crumbling marriage of the TV reporter and his wife. They could have left that out and expanded the main plot, which literally concerned the fate of the planet. Nevertheless, there are many enjoyable parts of this film, especially if you're curious about the inner workings (and pomp) of the Vatican.

casipe-800-138230 Well, for me, "Shoes of the Fisherman" is a science fiction movie about the future of the Roman Catholic Church. I believe the big question posed by the movie is this "What if a Marxist left wing socialist is elected Pope of the Roman Catholic Church? How would that church react to a pope with a agenda like that? How would the world react?" Despite the fact that the future pope, archbishop Lakota (Anthony Quinn) is locked away and tortured in a Soviet Prison Camp for 20 years, His actions and statements shows his preference for Socialism. For instance, at one point, he mentions his violent advocacy of a Socialist sounding "Authentic Christian Revolution with work for all, bread for all, dignity for all men". At the beginning of the film, Kiril rejects the medieval structure of the Roman Catholic Church, where he rejects being a "Prince" of the church because he wants a mission to be with "simple men". At another point of the film, Lakota goes "AWOL" and decides to be a regular "working man's" priest, ditches his "Pope" stuff and hangs out with the "people". At another point in the film, Lakota confesses to Father Telemond (another fellow Radical) about his guilt in being a "Prince" while regular people starve. And at the end, our "Socialist" Pope gives away all the wealth of the church to help the suffering.