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Pope John Paul II (2005) (TV)

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17 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
Wonderful TV movie of the formation and life of John Paul II., 7 December 2005
Author: TxMike from Houston, Tx, USA, Earth

The first half of this TV movie, "Pope John Paul II", was shown on Sunday last. The second part was shown tonight. Certainly Roman Catholics everywhere were interested, but also anyone of any Faith, and even many who don't profess a Faith, I hope found this story fascination. The story of a simple man who found love in his heart and lived a life to help spread that love among all.

Cary Elwes is very believable as the young adult Karol Wojtyla growing up in Poland during the advances of Nazi Germany. He was strongly influenced by his father and the priests and bishops he came in contact with. He was interested in drama, in education, in sports, and had many friends. We see a glimpse of his girlfriend who challenged him to tell her what he wanted out of life, hoping that he would want to become her husband, and father of their children. But the challenges of the times forbid his going in that direction, and later as history has witnessed, he became a priest, studying in secret, in defiance of the German regulations, to fulfill his calling.

The first half ends in the midst of the Conclave of Cardinals to elect a new pope, and young Cardinal Karol is being considered, much to his surprise.

The second half opened where the first left off, and as we know Karol Wojtyla indeed became the new Pope, John Paul II. Cinematically the transition from Elwes to Voight was also a good one. As good as Elwes was as the young adult Wojtyla, Voight was even better, as we would expect from such a seasoned actor. (It may have helped that, as a young man, Voight was educated at Catholic University.)

The whole movie is extremely well done, and shows what a great man and a great spiritual leader Karol Wojtyla became. And, even though we knew they were actors in this movie, the final hours of John Paul II were very touching.

I definitely plan to buy this one once the DVD is out.

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16 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Pope John II TV movie was brilliant and inspiring, 5 December 2005
Author: montuno7777 from United States

I was riveted to the television set, watching Cary Elwes' brilliant and beautiful performance as John Paul the Great. It is such a pleasure to see a show on network TV, which seeks to instruct and uplift rather than the usual trash on TV, which demeans and degrades. When Mr. Elwes spoke, I could have sworn it was Wotyla himself. He captured the accent of the late Pope speaking English to the tee. There is no doubt that the late JPII was one of the most important figures of the 20th century. What I find the most appealing in this show, was the ability of Elwes and Voight to capture the warmth of the man. It also demonstrated his political shrewdness as a voice for Polish freedom. I wish there were more shows like this on television. What a breath of fresh air !!!!...10,000,000,000,000 stars !!!

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12 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Great watch!, 8 December 2005

Author: povblogmaster-vivificat from United States

Folks, last night I watched the second and last part of CBS's biopic on Pope John Paul the Great, and as far as I'm concerned, of the three papal biopics I've seen this year, this one is the best, and the most faithful to the late Pope's life.

So far, this is the only biopic that has respected the order of events in Pope John Paul's life. There was good attention to detail: the conclave scene is faithful down in terms of place and ceremony. You may clearly see the cardinals' seats in the Sistine Chapel, as well as the three-cardinal committee that counted the ballots, everything, including the cry of "extra omnes" ("everyone out") preceding the start of the election, was authentic. The ABC's biopic that aired last Thursday rendition of the same moment seemed oversimplified and rushed in comparison.

The real strength of the movie lies in its cast. Cary Elwes played the younger Karol Wojtyla in the movie's first part and I have to say that at times, and from certain angles, he closely resembled the young Wojtyla. But the thing I liked the most is that he projected an *inner joy* and peace that was captivating. Wojtyla was no sourpuss and Elwes "got it right." The only thing that appeared inauthentic is that when he portrayed the late pope's quarry days during the Nazi occupation, he too seemed chubby and well-fed as compared to pictures Wojtyla in pictures taken at the time. The Nazi diet in Poland was not the best fare and it showed in Wojtyla even on his first photos as a priest. Apparently, Elwes hesitated to go into a drastic diet to change his looks so drastically for this role. I can't say I blame him.

For John Voight, this was an Emmy-worthy performance. It helped that Voight resembled the Pope physically, sharing the same square, strong jaw as John Paul. The way Voight captured Pope John Paul's accent and baritone voice was at times pretty scary, so much so that I wonder how much of his lines were lip-synced to existing audio tracks of the late Pope. Voight's countenance when he opened the Holy Doors for the Year 2000 Jubilee so uncannily resembled John Paul's that I had to blink a couple of times to ensure that I was watching Voight and not John Paul. Therefore, kudos and congrats go too to CBS's makeup department for such an outstanding job. Maybe there's an Emmy here for them too.

Voight captured John Paul's physical suffering so much so that it was inspiring. I bet that is not easy to capture a face paralyzed by Parkinson's disease, but Voight did it, down to the trickle of saliva off the side of his mouth at the reenactment of the Pope's last public appearance.

Secondary characters: James Cromwell played Cardinal Adam Sapieha, Wojtyla's first mentor and Archbishop of Krakow during WWII. You might remember from roles as the robot developer and inventor in _I, Robot_ and as the warp drive inventor, Zefram Cochrane in _Star Trek: First Contact_. He did well in this movie.

Christopher Lee played Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski of Warsaw, Wojtyla's other mentor. You may remember that Lee played Count Doku in the last two episodes of the _Star Wars_ prequel. That was weird…I feel bad that I've type-casted poor Christopher Lee into a bad guy role for ever and ever.

I also applaud the portrayal of the Pope's "nephews and nieces," his inner circle of friends and spiritual children, from whom Wojtyla learned so much about the human condition. His friendship with "Roman," a Jewish childhood friend was endearing and illustrative of Pope John Paul's big heart—although I have to say that I don't remember "Roman" from any of the bios I've read about John Paul. Maybe "Roman" is a composite character. The name of the Pope's childhood Jewish friend was different in the other two biopics. That leads me to believe that's probably the case.

One bad point: the scene where the Pope was in his open pope mobile cruising St. Peter's Plaza, with the columnata in the background, and the crowd in front of him, on his way to be shot by Mehmet Ali Agca looked fake through and through. The three "layers" were superimposed and they sort of "shook" out of sync with normal movement. It may me dizzy to look at it. Thumbs down to the special effects people.

All-in-all, it was a great production. As soon as I'm able, I'll get me the DVD.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Can you say Emmy anyone?, 17 December 2005

Author: squarepizza4-1 from United States

I have always been a Cary Elwes fan and of course, I love John Paul the Great and will always love the greatest saint of modern times but I was never a fan of John Voight until that Sunday night and now I can say that he is one of the best actors of his day he became the late great Holy Father for ninety minutes. yes the mini series made JP II look like saint, but hey is one. Elwes was fine, too old for his his first hour on screen, but passable. my only complaint was that it was too short and rushed in places. the film was reverently, well acted and handsomely crafted. I think it's crime that Voight is not up for a golden globe but I expect him to win an emmy for this one.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
The Best Pope John Paul II Movie, 8 December 2005

Author: Ron Broadfoot from Canada

2005 has been the "Year of The Pope". There have been three TV movies about John Paul II's life this year. I think this one is the best. The one with Thomas Kreutschmann in the title role was too rushed and it tried to cram Karol Wojtyla's life into only 2 hours. This one goes at a more relaxed pace. Cary Elwes, Jon Voight, Ben Gazzara, James Cromwell, Christopher Lee and the rest of the cast are excellent. Voight adopts a perfect Polish accent when he plays Wojtyla as an older man.

I recommend that all religious teachers throughout the world show this movie to their students, whatever their religion may be. John Paul II reached out to people of all faiths, and he was even the first Pope to welcome a visit by the President of Iran!

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Brilliant; Voight was amazing, 8 December 2005
Author: vchimpanzee from North Carolina

I watched both the ABC and CBS versions of the life of Karol Wojtyla. The ABC version was impressive but the CBS miniseries is the one to watch for at Emmy time.

This version opens with the shooting of John Paul II on May 13, 1981. Then we see Karol's earlier life through flashbacks. Sadly, we see only five seconds with his mother, but that scene was wonderful. Add to that about ten seconds of Karol's life as a boy.

From there, we go to Poland in the days of the invasion by the Nazis. Karol is part of a theater group, and he is in college. A number of his friends and even a professor get taken away or killed by the Germans, and he has important choices to make. God's call seems to outweigh all the other factors, and Karol does end up becoming a priest, even though he must break rocks for the Germans. Even while doing that, Karol shows how strong and moral he is. Later, the Communists appear to be less of a threat than the Germans. Maybe so, but they are still manipulating the church for their own purposes.

We see several scenes with Karol's loving father, but for the most part his life is shaped by his superiors in the church, including Cardinal Adam Sapieha. Karol advances more quickly in the church than anyone would expect, making the Communists nervous.

Eventually, a new Pope is needed, and Karol is ready. He seems less reluctant to accept the position in this version, and the election process is shown in more detail (and twice), even using the correct language (which must have been Latin).

As Pope, John Paul II is shown as very loving and caring, interested in the people and in travel, and ready to take on all challenges. World events, especially those affecting Poland, receive a detailed treatment here, and Lech Walesa is a major character.

Cary Elwes did a fine job as Karol in his younger years, showing Karol with quite a sense of humor as well as very intelligent. Jon Voight, who looked less like John Paul II than Thomas Kretschmann, did an amazing job and effectively captured an aging and increasingly frail man who still had faith and a strong desire to serve. All the major actors did an impressive job, but I particularly noticed James Cromwell since I have known him since his days as Stretch Cunningham. Who would have ever believed Stretch Cunningham as a Cardinal? Well, believe it.

The ABC movie may be better for those with a limited attention span. If you want to be entertained rather than educated, this may not be the movie for you, though it includes plenty of entertaining scenes and considerably more laughs than the ABC movie did.

As a work of art, though, the CBS production achieves the excellence broadcast TV often lacks.

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Only watched the first half so far..., 7 December 2005

Author: LILDTCHMN from United States

Just the first half of this movie is inspiring and movie and the performance of Elwes and Voight (Thus Far with his small part in the first half) are beautiful and worthy of an Emmy. I was a little concerned when I first saw Elwes as the young Cardnial he has always been the Dred Pirate Roberts/Dear Wesley to me (Sorry Cary didn't mean to type cast you) but after watching his performance it really legitimizes his acting for me. As far as Voight goes from the moment I saw him dressed in the papal robes I knew his performance would be spectacular. I should have waited until I saw the entire mini-series before posting a review but I couldn't help it because the first part was SO good I needed to share it in case someone is looking at the reviews to decide if they should watch the second half or not. I really think the two parts can be stand alone as they stopped the first part in the middle of the 2nd conclave so if you haven't watched the first part you can still pick up on the 2nd although the 1st really shows why JPII had the resolve he had. I can't wait to watch the conclusion.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Mini series brings an even more human feel to this man!, 8 December 2005

Author: rlnutt (rlnutt@sbcglobal.net) from Texas

What a wonderful story! Cary Elwes plays the Pope from his early adulthood until his acceptance of being voted in by his fellow Cardinals to the Papalcy. Elwes does an incredible job and his acting is flawless and natural.

Jon Voigt simply deserves an award for his portrayal of the Pope... sometimes it was eerie watching his mannerisms and reactions to historically known situations. He had a quiet grace and dignity about him that was also seen with the late Pope! If you missed this story on TV, I would highly recommend you order the DVD, or try and catch it on a repeat! This telling of Pope John Paul II's life is sweet and respectful and at the same time explains why he took the path he did. I'm not a Catholic, nor do I know anything about the religion, but this story is incredible and I enjoyed every minute of it!

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
excellent biography, 8 December 2005

Author: promptjo from Canada

I commend CBS for airing this excellent biography of Pope John Paul II. I feel it did a marvelous job of portraying his courage, faith and love! There was a continuity from event to event that was not apparent in the biography aired by a rival network a few days earlier. Because of all the Pope did, it was impossible to do an adequate job of showing his life with only a two-hour movie. It is refreshing that an American television network chose to depict the Pope in a positive way instead of denigrating religion as the secular media are often wont to do. I also appreciated being shown how Pope John Paul II turned to God for inspiration when he had choices to make and during his trials. Finally, I think Jon Voigt was able to capture the Pope's sense of humour and his char ism.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Excellent performance, 3 April 2006

Author: ghofer from Austria

Thanks and congratulations to Mr. Voight for his wonderful performance. German actors attempted to play John Paul II, but without the dedication, respect and talent this parts requires. There are moments in this movie when you would think it IS John Paul, and that's remarkable. Jon Voight captured it all, the sense of humor, the movements, the suffering and the deep believe, the Pope's love for the youth and his political awareness and sensibility. And I am sure, it needs some courage to play the dying pope in his very last moments. But Jon Voight managed it all. Thanks to this tribute to a great, really great man.

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