Alberto Pasquali

The story of Jesus Christ has been portrayed countless times throughout the history of cinema, from the chaste and embryonic staging of the silent film era to the frenetic dynamism of the digital age at the beginning of the 21st century. Death and rebirth are present in a perpetual cycle in which the sacred myth is transformed into the product of a spiritual franchise.

Antamoro's CHRISTUS, epic in scale and ambition, and featuring decidedly otherworldly special effects, was released in 1916. Telling the story of the Life of Christ, the film is divided into three segments-- three Mysteries. The first of these includes the Birth of Jesus, the arrival of the Magi, Herod and the slaughter of the innocents, the flight into Egypt. The second Mystery features the expulsion of the merchants from the Temple, Mary Magdalene's conversion and Christ's entry into Jerusalem. The third Mystery is itself divided into three separate parts, which are The Passion, The Death and The Resurrection.

The story of this Renaissance genius, from his apprenticeship to his last years at the Château du Clos-Lucé in Amboise, including his meeting with Mona Lisa.

Frate Francesco/The Passion of St. Francis (1927) aka Santo Francesco was the third Italian film on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi. St. Francis, or Santo Francesco in Italian, was played by Alberto Pasquali, and the film was directed by Giulio Antamoro.