Directed by:
Michael AndersonScreenplay:
John BrileyCinematography:
Billy WilliamsComposer:
Maurice JarreCast:
Liv Ullmann, Olivia de Havilland, Lesley-Anne Down, Trevor Howard, Patrick Magee, Franco Nero, Maximilian Schell, Nigel Havers, André Morell, Martin Benson (more)Plots(1)
Liv Ullman portrays a female pope -- based on a long-held rumor that the papacy was held by a woman between the reigns of Leo IV and Benedict III -- in this rambling saga directed by Michael Anderson. A modern-day woman evangelist, played by Ullman, who feels an affinity to the legendary Pope Joan, pays a visit to her psychiatrist (Keir Dullea). Searching through her past lives to see whether she is the reincarnation of Pope Joan, the film then flashbacks 1000 years to pick up Joan (Ullman in an earlier incarnation of her character) undergoing a succession of trials and tribulations. Joan then meets up with and becomes the mistress of Adrian (Maximilian Schell), a monk with an artistic bent. After the death of Charlemagne when roving bands of Saxons are raping women and ransacking the countryside, Joan flees the country by cutting her hair short and dressing like a man. Together Joan and Adrian escape to Greece. In Greece, Joan's street-corner preaching draws the attention of Pope Leo IV (Trevor Howard), who is impressed by her impassioned rendering of the Gospel. Still disguised as a man, Pope Leo, clueless as to her true sex, hires her as his secretary. From there, she rises up the ladder of the Roman Catholic Church, becoming a cardinal and then Pope Leo's successor. But then she becomes pregnant by a lover from her past (Franco Nero) and Joan must hide her delicate condition from the papal authorities and the rowdy masses. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Liv Ullmann
Japan
Best movies:
Scenes from a Marriage (1973)
The Ox (1991)
Sonate d'automne (1978)
Olivia de Havilland
Japan
Best movies:
Gone with the Wind (1939)
The Heiress (1949)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Lesley-Anne Down
UK
Best movies:
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
The First Great Train Robbery (1978)
North and South (1985) (series)
Trevor Howard
UK
Best movies:
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
Gandhi (1982)
Brief Encounter (1945)
Patrick Magee
UK
Best movies:
Barry Lyndon (1975)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Cromwell (1970)
Franco Nero
Italy
Best movies:
Django Unchained (2012)
Die Hard 2 (1990)
The Case Is Closed, Forget It (1971)
Maximilian Schell
Austria
Best movies:
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
The Reluctant Saint (1962)
Un pont trop loin (1977)
Nigel Havers
UK
Best movies:
Empire of the Sun (1987)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
The Burning Season (1994) (TV movie)
André Morell
UK
Best movies:
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Ben-Hur (1959)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
Martin Benson
UK
Best movies:
Goldfinger (1964)
The Omen (1976)
Jesus of Nazareth (1977) (TV movie)
Richard Pearson
UK
Best movies:
It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet (1975)
Columbo (1971) (series)
A Christmas Carol (1951)
Keir Dullea
USA
Best movies:
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)
Devil in the Brain (1972)
John Shrapnel
UK
Best movies:
Gladiator (2000)
Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters (1999) (TV movie)
Jonathan Creek (1997) (series)
Margareta Pogonat
Romania
Best movies:
Meanders (1966)
Pope Joan (1972)
Bless You, Prison (2002)
Richard Bebb
UK
Best movies:
Agatha Christie: Poirot (1989) (series)
Cold Comfort Farm (1995) (TV movie)
King Ralph (1991)
Robert Beatty
Canada
Best movies:
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Jesus of Nazareth (1977) (TV movie)
Duncan Lamont
Portugal
Best movies:
Battle of Britain (1969)
Murder at the Gallop (1963)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
Terrence Hardiman
UK
Best movies:
Gandhi (1982)
Jonathan Creek (1997) (series)
Prime Suspect 3 (1993) (TV movie)
Peter Arne
Malaysia
Best movies:
The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
Straw Dogs (1971)
Pavillons lointains (1984) (series)
Richard Calder
UK
Best movies:
Appropriate Adult (2011) (TV movie)
Pope Joan (1972)
Vampire Circus (1972)