Christianity and Film

Directed by Antonello Belluco.
100 minutes; released 2006.
A reformed criminal recounts the story of Saint Anthony who challenged the money lenders that enslaved the people of Padua. Starring Jordi Molla. In Italian with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Daniele D'Onofrio and Tiziano Mancini.
84 minutes; released 2006.
Ildebrando Pizzetti's opera about the murder of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.

Directed by Peter Glenville.
150 minutes; released 1964.
The lifelong friendship of King Henry II and Thomas Becket is tested when Becket is appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. Based on the play by Jean Anouilh. Starring Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole.

Directed by Robert Darène.
97 minutes; released 1961.
A fourteen-year old French peasant girl experiences visions of the Virgin Mary in 1858. Starring Daniele Ajoret. Dubbed English audio.

Directed by Franco Zeffirelli.
120 minutes; released 1972.
The story focuses on the early years of St. Francis of Assisi. In English with English and French subtitles.

Directed by Fabrizio Costa.
200 minutes; released 2007.
A film which gives equal weight to the lives of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Clare. In Italian or dubbed English.

Directed by Mel London.
28 minutes; released 1995.
The story of the Mexican peasant who in 1531 had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary near Guadalupe.

Directed by Paolo Damosso.
115 minutes; released 2007.
The inspiring life of Saint Joseph Benedict Cottolengo, who cared for orphans, the sick, the poor, and the needy in nineteenth-century Turin. In Italian with English subtitles.

Directed by Nino J. Martin.
90 minutes; released 1978.
Writer Aldyth Morris' one-man play about Blessed Damien de Veuster, the priest who worked with lepers in Hawaii. Starring Terence Knapp.

Directed by Hermann D. Tauchert.
47 minutes; released 1994.
Dramatization of the life of Polish nun, Saint Faustina Kowalska.

Directed by Leandro Castellani.
113 minutes; released 1988.
A dramatization of the life of the nineteenth-century Italian priest, St. John Bosco, who worked to rescue the homeless children of Turin and founded the Salesian religious order. In Italian with English subtitles.

Directed by Jerzy Lukaszewicz.
75 minutes; released 1994.
Dramatization of the life of Polish nun, Saint Faustina Kowalska. Audio-track in Polish with English subtitles.

Directed by Liliana Cavani.
115 minutes; released 1989.
The story of St. Francis of Assisi. Starring Mickey Rourke.

Directed by Michael Curtiz.
105 minutes; released 1961.
A feature-length movie based on the life of St. Francis of Assisi. Starring Bradford Dillman and Dolores Hart.

Directed by James Runcie.
52 minutes; released 1994.
A dramatization of the trial of the eleventh-century mystic Hildegard of Bingen.

Directed by Christian Duguay.
180 minutes; released 1999.
A feature-length movie adaptation of the life of St. Joan of Arc. Starring Leelee Sobieski.

Directed by K. C. Lynch.
60 minutes; released 1997.
A dramatization of the life of the Spanish priest who worked with St. Teresa of Avila to reform the Carmelite Order.

Directed by Raffaele Mertes.
100 minutes; released 2000.
The story of Joseph the carpenter, loving husband of Mary. Starring Tobias Moretti.

Directed by Fred Zinnemann.
120 minutes; released 1966.
Saint Thomas More, formerly Lord Chancellor to King Henry VIII, is put on trial for defying the king's will. Based on the play by Robert Bolt. Starring Paul Scofield.

Directed by Giulio Base.
105 minutes; released 2003.
A dramatization of the life of the young Italian girl who died defending her purity at the hands of a knife-wielding attacker. In Italian or English.

Directed by K. C. Lynch.
76 minutes; released 1995.
Leonardo Defilippis' one-man dramatization of the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest who was martyred by the Nazis. In English.

Directed by Paul Cox.
113 minutes; released 1999.
A dramatization of the life of Blessed Damien de Veuster, the priest who worked with lepers in Hawaii.

Directed by Maurice Cloche.
114 minutes; released 1947.
A feature-length movie about the life of Saint Vincent de Paul, the 17th century French priest who devoted himself to the poor, sick and abandoned.

Directed by Fabrizio Costa.
115 minutes; released 2003.
A feature-length movie dramatization of the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Directed by Kevin Connor.
92 minutes; released 1997.
A feature-length movie dramatization of the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Directed by Jean-Marie Benjamin.
90 minutes; released 1995.
A dramatization of the life of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, an Italian priest who received the stigmata.

Directed by Giulio Base.
180 minutes; released 2000.
The moving story of a simple Capuchin monk who was blessed with incredible spiritual gifts including healing, bi-location, reading of souls, and the stigmatic wounds. In Spanish with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Carlo Carlei.
214 minutes; released 2000.
The life of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, an Italian priest who received the stigmata. In Italian with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Jean Delannoy.
106 minutes; released 1989.
The story of Saint Bernadette Soubirous (the visionary of Lourdes) after she entered the Sisters of Charity convent at Nevers. Audio-track in English or French.

Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer.
82 minutes; released 1928.
Dreyer's black and white silent film about the trial and execution of St. Joan of Arc. French intertitles and optional English subtitles.

Directed by Pamela Mason Wagner.
53 minutes; released 2004.
A docu-drama of the life of Saint Patrick. Liam Neeson and Gabriel Byrne provide voice-work, and on-camera commentary is provided by the writer Frank McCourt.

Directed by Robert Marcarelli.
54 minutes; released 1997.
A dramatic presentation about Saint Paul the Apostle. Starring Garry Cooper.

Directed by Robert Day.
194 minutes; released 1981.
A television mini-series dramatization of events from the lives of the Apostles Peter and Paul. Starring Anthony Hopkins and Robert Foxworth.

Directed by Edward Dmytryk.
105 minutes; released 1962.
A dramatization of the life of St. Joseph of Cupertino, patron saint of those studying for examinations. Starring Maximilian Schell and Ricardo Montalban.

Directed by Umberto Marino.
95 minutes; released 2002.
A dramatization of the life of Saint Anthony, the young Portuguese nobleman who became a Franciscan monk and preached across Africa and Europe. Starring Daniele Liotti. In Italian with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Michele Soavi.
205 minutes; released 2002.
Filmed on location in Tuscany and other Italian locations, this two-part film tells the story of Saint Francis from childhood through death. Starring Raoul Bova.

Directed by Peter Dutton.
55 minutes; released 1983.
Leonardo Defilippis' one-man dramatization of the life of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Directed by Otto Preminger.
111 minutes; released 1957.
Preminger's feature-length movie adaptation of the play by George Bernard Shaw about the life of St. Joan of Arc. Starring Jean Seberg.

Directed by Vicente Sabatini.
450 minutes; released 1989.
An epic mini-series starring Paulina Urrutia as the young Carmelite nun from Chile who died at the age of 19. In Spanish with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Márta Mészáros.
110 minutes; released 1996.
A moving, artistic portrayal of the life of Jewish philosopher, Catholic convert and Carmelite martyr, Edith Stein, capturing the interior struggles of this extraordinary woman, as well as the great conflicts from her decision to convert to Catholicism. In Italian with English and Spanish subtitles.

Directed by Henry King.
156 minutes; released 1943.
A dramatization of Franz Werfel's novel about the young French girl who sees a vision of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes.

Directed by Dan Curtis.
92 minutes; released 1986.
A one-man dramatization in which the 86 year old Apostle John reflects on his encounter with Jesus Christ. Starring Dean Jones.

Directed by Robert Hughes.
90 minutes; released 2000.
A feature-length movie based on the life of the world-famous Irish hero. Starring Patrick Bergin, Malcolm McDowell and Alan Bates.

Directed by Josefina Molina.
450 minutes; released 1984.
A mini-series dramatization of the life of the sixteenth century Spanish nun and mystic, Teresa de Jesus. Audio-track in Spanish with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Leonardo Defilippis.
96 minutes; released 2004.
Dramatization of the life of the Carmelite nun, St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Audio-track in English with optional French or Spanish subtitles.

Directed by Michael O'Herlihy.
97 minutes; released 1980.
A feature-length movie dramatization of the life of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the convert from Episcopalianism and foundress of the American Sisters of Charity. Starring Kate Mulgrew and Lorne Greene.

Directed by Paolo Damosso.
58 minutes; released 2001.
The dramatic life story of Josephine Bakhita, Sudan's first Catholic saint, who was taken by Arab slave traders at a young age and sold to an Italian consular official.

Directed by Margarethe von Trotta.
111 minutes; released 2009.
The story of Saint Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th century Benedictine nun, who was one of the of the most important, inspirational and visionary female leaders of her time.