The ANNOTICO Report
Although Polish, Italians could not have embraced Pope
John Paul II much
tighter than they did.
Pope Movie Pulls In Massive Audience
Female First co.uk
April 22, 2005
A TV movie celebrating the life of the late POPE JOHN
PAUL II has become
Italy's biggest hit of recent years.
The two-part drama KAROL: THE MAN WHO BECAME POPE charts
the life of the
late pontiff, whose real name was KAROL WOJTYLA, from
his childhood in
Poland to becoming the head of the Catholic Church.
More than 13 million people tuned in to watch the second
part of the film,
which was screened on Monday (18APR05) and Tuesday (19APR05)
- the largest
audience for an Italian drama for three years.
Polish actor PIOTR ADAMCZYK, who played the Pope in the
movie, says, "We
were trying not to copy Karol Wojtyla. Not to copy his
gestures, his voice
- but to give symbols to try to touch the fragments of
his great
personality."
Pope John Paul II died on 2 April (05) aged 84. German
Cardinal JOSEPH
RATZINGER has since succeeded him as the new Pope.