There were many attempts to produce a film on the life of St. Augustine, one of the greatest saints in history. He led a life worthy of a novel that can easily be portrayed in the big screen. Now all these attempts are now being realized in the studio of Imperium at Hammanet, Tunisia. They are filming a movie on the life of Augustine, following the various milestones of his life, even though some elements are possibly being added by the producers, which are more imaginative and fantastic than historical. Many of these are anachronistic, while others are simply adaptations in order to make the film more accessible and marketable to contemporary viewers. This film is a joint production of Lux Vide (Rai Fiction), Rai Trade (Italy), Eos Entertainment (Germany) and Grupa Filmowa Baltemia (Poland). “We were not the only ones who had the idea of making a gift to Pope Benedict XVI. While we were preparing for the shooting, we came to know that our German colleagues were working on a similar project and we decided to join forces,” said Luca Bernabei of Lux.
Premiere in spring
This project has a budget of ten million Euros. It is scheduled to be released in the next spring, coinciding with the birthday of the Pope on April. The film begins with the final moments of Augustine’s life in 430 AD, when the city of Hippo was surrounded by the vandals. But, the Canadian film director, Christian Duguay portrays the film with a twentieth century mindset. For example, the Pope has sent a ship to Augustine so that he may flee from the siege of the Vandals. It must be said that, firstly, to speak of the Pope as we know him today is something inappropriate for St. Augustine and his contemporaries. Secondly, news do not spread as fast as it is at present. It is enough to say that the news of Augustine’s death on August 28, 430 took more than a year to reach the imperial court, so as to have sent him still an invitation to attend the council of Ephesus on April of 431, nearly a year after his death. If the Pope, or rather, the bishop of Rome had wanted to send Augustine a ship, it surely would have come too late.
History and drama
The film depicts the moment when St. Augustine was chosen as official orator of the court and professor of the Palace school of rhetoric of the young Emperor Valentinian II (at that time, he was about fourteen years old), by the influence of Simmacus, the pagan and staunch of enemy of Ambrose, and of course, by Augustine’s unique rhetorical skills. Augustine is presented face to face with St. Ambrose asking him to turn over a church to the Arians. As mentioned, there are certain events that are historical, but the film producers wanted to present them differently, to give the film a greater dramatic impact. History tells us that indeed, the young emperor's mother, Justina, was philo-arian and thus, wanted to give the basilica Porciana to the Arians. St. Ambrose, portrayed as a courageous and zealous Bishop, locked himself up inside the basilica accompanied by a large number of faithful. The army surrounded the church to force them to leave, but they did not dare to violate the right of sanctuary. That is when St. Ambrose miraculously discovered the bodies of two saint-bishops of Milan: Saints Gervasius and Protasius. The emotion of the people was so great that multitude surrounded the army. Thus, in the midst of the great crowd and uproar of the mass who wanted to venerate the bodies of the two saints, the soldiers were forced to retreat, and the empress had to forgo of her plans. St. Augustine narrates in his Confessions, not as the main protagonist, but as a witness of these events, together with a number of details that would be too long to enumerate. The film puts them aside, changes history and possibly loses a page that is significantly beautiful and dramatic at the same time.
Actors
In the film, actor Franco Nero plays the role of St. Augustine in the final stages of his life, while Alessandro Preziosi takes the part of the younger Augustine. Monica Guerritore stars as Saint Monica, Andrea Giordana as St. Ambrose, Johannes Brandrup as Valerius, Vincent Riotta as Macrobius, and the name that the film producers give to Augustine’s teacher on rhetoric. They forgot that in Augustine’s letter 16, he was addressing the pagan Maximus, one of his former teachers at Madaura, who mocked the martyrs with Punic names. There was no need to invent names. What is more, the film makers, with so modern and exotic mindset, named the concubine of Augustine Khalida. In his Confessions, Augustine never mentioned her name and therefore it is unknown, but for sure it was not so alien ( it was neither an Arab name, as they were still far from the history of North Africa) as the name given by the film producers.
This movie is only a part of Imperium, a long-term project of the Lux productions, whose last film will be the new version of the movie classic Ben-Hur.