An American pope? Paolo Sorrentino had planned it 10 years ago
Will Pope Leo XIV be like Pope Pius XIII imagined by the Italian filmmaker?
The election of Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff sovereign in history, is surprising. But she shouldn’t be surprised Paolo Sorrentinowhich signed in 2016 The Young Popeseries as crazy as it is visionary.
Because Paolo Sorrentino had already imagined it. 10 years ago, the Neapolitan director entrusted to Jude Law The role of Lenny Belardo, alias Pius XIII, a young, charismatic pope, and above all … American: “The idea of an American pope immediately appealed to me “, entrusted Sorrentino to Variety. “There was never in reality, but sooner or later there could be one, and it seemed a good compromise between invention and likelihood.” Visionary? Even prophetic!
Behind the image of the young and modern pope – he is 47 years old when he takes office – Pius XIII reveals an austere, authoritarian, almost disturbing temperament. A complex pope, shaped without direct reference: “No, we were not inspired by any existing Pope” entrusted Sorrentino to first. “We have deliberately avoided any reference to historical figures. It is a pope that we wanted original and unprecedented, even if his conservative views bring him closer to pontiffs of the past. He could very well have had his place before the Vatican Council II for example …”
This is perhaps where Léon XIV may differ spectacularly from Pius XIII: if it is much older (69 years old), the real new pope is described as “progressive” and “listening” and should not reproduce the skeins of Pope Jude Law on the screen.
Besides, when we ask Sorrentino if he would like to see a pope like hersing the church, he contrasts: “No, but I’m not sure the pope we have now (François) is the right one“He said at first.
The Young Pope And The New Pope are available on MyCanal in France.
