Pope Joan

Starring:Liv Ullmann, Olivia de Havilland, Lesley-Anne Down, Trevor Howard, Jeremy Kemp, Patrick Magee, Franco Nero, Maximilian Schell, Natasa Nicolescu, Sharon Winter, Richard Bebb, Peter Arne, George Innes, Susan Macready, Shelagh Wilcocks, AndrÃ© Morell, Martin Benson, Kurt Christian, Duncan Lamont, Katherine Schofield
Director: Michael Anderson
Studio: Platinum Disc
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

what a crock
Interesting film; poor DVD quality

Pope Joan
Starring: Liv Ullmann , Jeremy Kemp , Natasa Nicolescu , Sharon Winter , and Margareta Pogonat
Director: Michael Anderson
Manufacturer: Platinum Disc
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Pope Joan: A Novel
Pope Joan
The Myth of Pope Joan
Pope Joan: A Historical Study
The Heiress (Universal Cinema Classics)

ASIN: B0000C23HX
Release Date: 2003-08-12

Customer Reviews:

what a crock.......2005-04-25

Whether you like the Catholic Church or not, there never was a Pope Joan. If you want historical fiction get an Oliver Stone movie and be done with it. If you want anti-Catholicism get the writings of Martin Luther, but at least be intellectually honest.

Interesting film; poor DVD quality.......2004-10-30

I have just rented this title from Neflix. The storyline they advertise is that of a 20th Century woman who feels that she resembles the legendary Pope Joan of the 9th Century. Through a visit to a psycharist, she manages to time-travel to Joan's world.

The actual movie, however, has nothing to do with the 20th century. No visit to a psycharist, no time-travel in her mind. This is a costume drama, a straight-forward bio pic of a woman who pretended to be a man (in order to save her life in those savage times) and was elected Pope (a story vigoriously denied by the Catholic Church).

While supporting actors Maximillian Schell (as a monk/painter), Franco Nero (as the Emperor) and Trevor Howard (as an aging pope) turn in convincing performances, it is Liv Ullman who steals the show (she is in practically every scene). Her face is the perfect actor's mask. Her transformation into Father John is so convincing that I found myself saying that, if I had just met him, either as priest or Pontiff, I'd believe she was a man. The actress does this entirely with her face, the mark of a true creative artist.

The set and costume designs easily transport you back in time. Maurice Jarre's music score is lovely, although it often tends to dominate rather than support the action. This is also a European production, so that the editing seems jarring at times, as if you are getting a cut-down version for international distribution. Also the sound has a thin, hallow quality, not well balanced as in Hollywood productions. This can also be digitally corrected (enhanced) for today's DVDs.

Unfortunately, all the efforts of the filmmakers are undercut by the horrific film/negative elements used in the DVD transfer. This looks like an old print that was found in someone's basement where the reels had moulded for years. There is a snow-storm of negative dirt floating across the screen, plus terrible negative scratches that frequently blemish the actor's faces. There are numerous rips/tears in the element and were poorly taped back together. It is a shame that nobody tried to digitally correct this problem.. And there is absolutely no attempt at color correction.

DVD was supposed to usher in a new digital age were studios protected their investments by finding and restoring their original elements. Instead, like the old, cheap video tapes of the recent past, some distributors are treating the DVD format as just another cheap way of getting people to part with their money. It has become a "buyer beware" situation. It often seems that more care is lavished on the box cover art than on the actual film transfer.

Film is an art form. So is it's presentation. Somebody needs to remind copyright, distributors of this simple fact. As in the theatrical exhibition of any film, the multi-millions of dollars lavished on a production can be undone by a single projectionist who lets the film go out of focus, or who doesn't clean the projector gate and allows a deep scratch to appear.

ABC News Specials The Mystery of Pope Joan

Average customer rating:

ABC News Specials The Mystery of Pope Joan

Manufacturer: ABC News
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Description

In the ninth century, did a woman do the unimaginable -- disguise herself as a man and win the throne of the Catholic Church? The legend of Pope Joan -- who historians say called herself Pope John Anglicus -- is supported by clues in several examples of art and architecture found in Italy. But did a female Pope really live and reign for two and half years -- before she went into childbirth in the middle of a papal procession? Diane Sawyer explores her existence, described in church chronicles - some say there are clues all over Europe, including the Vatican itself.

Average customer rating:

Open your eyes film

Trapped in a Purple Haze [Region 2]
Starring: Jonathan Jackson , JoBeth Williams , Carly Pope , Robin Dunne , and Amy Stewart
Director: Eric Laneuville
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000189KRA

Customer Reviews:

Open your eyes film.......2005-12-08

I really enjoyed this movie. Not only for the well crafted plot and talented cast, but the message behind the film. This story is touching, realistic, and tragic. Jonathan Jackson is superb as the troubled son, JoeBeth Williams as the controlling, choleric mother. Fans of Hayden Christensen may be surprised to discover his small but tangible role in the film. This story deals with drug abuse and it's consequences. How one teenager's innocent attempt to fit in spirals out of control. The scene where Mrs. Hanson (JB Williams) goes to lunch with some of her friends and spots her son Max (Jonathan Jackson) begging for drug money is very poignant. It opens her eyes to the fact that something is indeed wrong, and that parents need to listen to their kids.
In all, touching story of a woman who tries to live through her son, destroying his dreams and nearly her entire family in the process.

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