The Shoes of the Fisherman
Encyclopedia
The Shoes of the Fisherman is a 1963 novel
by the Australia
n author Morris West
, as well as a 1968
film based on the novel.
The book reached #1 on the New York Times
bestseller
list for adult fiction
on 30 June 1963, and became the #1 bestselling novel in the United States
for that year, according to Publishers Weekly
.
, The Shoes of the Fisherman opens as protagonist
Kiril Pavlovich Lakota (Anthony Quinn
), the Metropolitan Archbishop of Lviv, is unexpectedly set free after twenty years in a Siberia
n labor camp
by his former jailer, Piotr Ilyich Kamenev (Laurence Olivier
), now the premier of the Soviet Union
.
He is sent to Rome
, where the elderly fictional Pope
Pius XIII (John Gielgud
) raises him to the cardinalate
in the title of St. Athanasius
. Lakota initially declines, but reluctantly accepts the promotion.
When the Pontiff suddenly collapses and dies, the process of a papal conclave
begins, and Cardinal Lakota participates as one of the electors. During the sede vacante
, two cardinals in particular, Cardinal Leone (Leo McKern
) and Cardinal Rinaldi (Vittorio De Sica
) are shown to be papabile
. After seven ballots of deadlock, Lakota finds himself elected Pope as a compromise candidate (suggested by Cardinal Rinaldi) by acclamation after the Cardinals, unable to decide between the leading candidates, interview him and are impressed by his ideas and his humility. Lakota takes the name of Pope Kiril (using his baptismal name
). Meanwhile, the world is on the brink of nuclear war due to a Chinese-Soviet feud made worse by a famine caused by trade restrictions brought against China by the United States.
The evening after his election, Pope Kiril, with the help of his personal aide Gelasio (Arnoldo Foà
), sneaks out of the Vatican and explores the city of Rome without being recognized. Later, the Pope returns to the Soviet Union to meet privately with Kamenev and Chairman Peng (Burt Kwouk
) of China to discuss the ongoing crisis.
Pope Kiril realizes, however, that if the troubles in China continue, the cost would be a war that could ultimately rip the world apart. Knowing this, he must seek to convince the West as well as the Catholic Church to open up its resources to aid. At his papal coronation
, Kiril removes his tiara
(in a gesture of humility) and states this intent, much to the delight of the crowds in St. Peter's Square below.
A major secondary plot in the novel and the film is the Pope's relationship with a theologian and scientist, Father Telemond (Jean Telemond in the book, David Telemond in the film). The Pope becomes a close personal friend of Telemond (Oskar Werner
). To his deep regret, in his official capacity, he must allow the Holy Office to censure Telemond for his heterodox
views. To the Pope's deep grief, the shock of the censure, combined with his chronic medical problems, eventually kills Father Telemond, who has been slowly dying all this time from a cerebral aneurysm.
Lakota is inspired by the life of Ukrainian Catholic Cardinal Josyf Slipyj. Slipyj was released by Nikita Khrushchev
's administration from a Siberian Gulag
in 1963, the year of the novel's publication, after political pressure from Pope John XXIII
and United States
President
John F. Kennedy
. Slipyj arrived in Rome in time to participate in the Second Vatican Council
.
but he became ill and was replaced by Michael Anderson
(Asquith died in 1968).
and Best Art Direction
(George Davis
, Edward Carfagno
).
paleontologist
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
.
Pope John XXIII
died on the day the novel was published, 3 June 1963. Pope Paul VI
was serving as Pope when the film version was released.
Ten years after the release of the film, on 16 October 1978, a Slavic cardinal from a Marxist
-dominated country, Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła from Poland
, was elected as Pope John Paul II
.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n author Morris West
Morris West
Morris Langlo West AO was an Australian novelist and playwright, best known for his novels The Devil's Advocate , The Shoes of the Fisherman , and The Clowns of God . His books were published in 27 languages and sold more than 60 million copies worldwide...
, as well as a 1968
1968 in film
The year 1968 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 30 - The film The Lion in Winter, starring Katharine Hepburn, debuts.* November 1 - The MPAA's film rating system is introduced.-Top grossing films :- Awards :...
film based on the novel.
The book reached #1 on the New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
bestseller
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
list for adult fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
on 30 June 1963, and became the #1 bestselling novel in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for that year, according to Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
.
Plot
Set during the height of the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, The Shoes of the Fisherman opens as protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
Kiril Pavlovich Lakota (Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Antonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
), the Metropolitan Archbishop of Lviv, is unexpectedly set free after twenty years in a Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
n labor camp
Labor camp
A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons...
by his former jailer, Piotr Ilyich Kamenev (Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
), now the premier of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
He is sent to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, where the elderly fictional Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
Pius XIII (John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
) raises him to the cardinalate
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
in the title of St. Athanasius
Athanasius of Alexandria
Athanasius of Alexandria [b. ca. – d. 2 May 373] is also given the titles St. Athanasius the Great, St. Athanasius I of Alexandria, St Athanasius the Confessor and St Athanasius the Apostolic. He was the 20th bishop of Alexandria. His long episcopate lasted 45 years Athanasius of Alexandria [b....
. Lakota initially declines, but reluctantly accepts the promotion.
When the Pontiff suddenly collapses and dies, the process of a papal conclave
Papal conclave
A papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a Bishop of Rome, who then becomes the Pope during a period of vacancy in the papal office. The Pope is considered by Roman Catholics to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and earthly head of the Roman Catholic Church...
begins, and Cardinal Lakota participates as one of the electors. During the sede vacante
Sede vacante
Sede vacante is an expression, used in the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, that refers to the vacancy of the episcopal see of a particular church...
, two cardinals in particular, Cardinal Leone (Leo McKern
Leo McKern
Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian-born British actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.-Early life:...
) and Cardinal Rinaldi (Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio de Sica
Vittorio De Sica was an Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement....
) are shown to be papabile
Papabile
Papabile is an unofficial Italian term first coined by Vaticanologists and now used internationally in many languages to describe a cardinal of whom it is thought likely or possible that he will be elected pope. A literal English translation would be "popeable" or "one who might become pope".In...
. After seven ballots of deadlock, Lakota finds himself elected Pope as a compromise candidate (suggested by Cardinal Rinaldi) by acclamation after the Cardinals, unable to decide between the leading candidates, interview him and are impressed by his ideas and his humility. Lakota takes the name of Pope Kiril (using his baptismal name
Kiril
The male name Kiril is a common first name in Slavonic world, in particular in Bulgaria, Poland, Macedonia, and Russia...
). Meanwhile, the world is on the brink of nuclear war due to a Chinese-Soviet feud made worse by a famine caused by trade restrictions brought against China by the United States.
The evening after his election, Pope Kiril, with the help of his personal aide Gelasio (Arnoldo Foà
Arnoldo Foà
Arnoldo Foà is an Italian film actor. He has appeared in over 130 films since 1938. He was born in Ferrara, Italy.-Selected filmography:* Un giorno nella vita * Bellezze in bicicletta...
), sneaks out of the Vatican and explores the city of Rome without being recognized. Later, the Pope returns to the Soviet Union to meet privately with Kamenev and Chairman Peng (Burt Kwouk
Burt Kwouk
Burt Kwouk OBE , born Herbert Kwouk, is an English actor of Chinese descent, known for many television appearances and for his role as Cato in the Pink Panther films.-Career:...
) of China to discuss the ongoing crisis.
Pope Kiril realizes, however, that if the troubles in China continue, the cost would be a war that could ultimately rip the world apart. Knowing this, he must seek to convince the West as well as the Catholic Church to open up its resources to aid. At his papal coronation
Papal Coronation
A papal coronation was the ceremony of the placing of the Papal Tiara on a newly elected pope. The first recorded papal coronation was that of Pope Celestine II in 1143. Soon after his coronation in 1963, Pope Paul VI abandoned the practice of wearing the tiara. His successors have chosen not to...
, Kiril removes his tiara
Papal Tiara
The Papal Tiara, also known incorrectly as the Triple Tiara, or in Latin as the Triregnum, in Italian as the Triregno and as the Trirègne in French, is the three-tiered jewelled papal crown, supposedly of Byzantine and Persian origin, that is a prominent symbol of the papacy...
(in a gesture of humility) and states this intent, much to the delight of the crowds in St. Peter's Square below.
A major secondary plot in the novel and the film is the Pope's relationship with a theologian and scientist, Father Telemond (Jean Telemond in the book, David Telemond in the film). The Pope becomes a close personal friend of Telemond (Oskar Werner
Oskar Werner
-Early life:Born Oskar Josef Bschließmayer in Vienna, Werner spent much of his childhood in the care of his grandmother, who entertained him with stories about the Burgtheater, the Austrian state theatre, where he was accepted at the age of eighteen by Lothar Müthel. He was the youngest person ever...
). To his deep regret, in his official capacity, he must allow the Holy Office to censure Telemond for his heterodox
Heterodoxy
Heterodoxy is generally defined as "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". As an adjective, heterodox is commonly used to describe a subject as "characterized by departure from accepted beliefs or standards"...
views. To the Pope's deep grief, the shock of the censure, combined with his chronic medical problems, eventually kills Father Telemond, who has been slowly dying all this time from a cerebral aneurysm.
Background
Morris West's protagonistProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
Lakota is inspired by the life of Ukrainian Catholic Cardinal Josyf Slipyj. Slipyj was released by Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
's administration from a Siberian Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
in 1963, the year of the novel's publication, after political pressure from Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII
-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
and United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. Slipyj arrived in Rome in time to participate in the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
.
Cast
- Anthony QuinnAnthony QuinnAntonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
as Kiril Lakota/Pope Kiril I - Laurence OlivierLaurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
as Piotr Ilyich Kamenev - Oskar WernerOskar Werner-Early life:Born Oskar Josef Bschließmayer in Vienna, Werner spent much of his childhood in the care of his grandmother, who entertained him with stories about the Burgtheater, the Austrian state theatre, where he was accepted at the age of eighteen by Lothar Müthel. He was the youngest person ever...
as Fr. David Telemond - David JanssenDavid JanssenDavid Janssen was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Kimble in the television series The Fugitive , the starring role in the 1950s hit detective series Richard Diamond, Private Detective , and as Harry Orwell on Harry O.In 1996 TV Guide...
as George Faber - Barbara JeffordBarbara JeffordBarbara Jefford, OBE is a British Shakespearean actress best known for her theatrical performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Old Vic and the National Theatre, and her role as Molly Bloom in the 1967 film of James Joyce's Ulysses.-Early life:Jefford was born Mary Barbara Jefford in...
as Dr Ruth Faber - Vittorio De SicaVittorio de SicaVittorio De Sica was an Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement....
as Cardinal Rinaldi - Leo McKernLeo McKernReginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian-born British actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.-Early life:...
as Cardinal Leone - John GielgudJohn GielgudSir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
as Pope Pius XIII - Burt KwoukBurt KwoukBurt Kwouk OBE , born Herbert Kwouk, is an English actor of Chinese descent, known for many television appearances and for his role as Cato in the Pink Panther films.-Career:...
as Peng - Arnoldo FoàArnoldo FoàArnoldo Foà is an Italian film actor. He has appeared in over 130 films since 1938. He was born in Ferrara, Italy.-Selected filmography:* Un giorno nella vita * Bellezze in bicicletta...
as Gelasio - Leopoldo TriesteLeopoldo TriesteLeopoldo Trieste was an Italian actor, film director and script writer.Trieste was born in Reggio Calabria...
as Dying Man's Friend - Frank FinlayFrank FinlayFrancis Finlay, CBE is an English stage, film and television actor.-Personal life:Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Margaret and Josiah Finlay, a butcher. A devout Catholic, he belongs to the British Catholic Stage Guild. He was educated at St...
as Igor Bounin
Production
The film was originally a project of the British director Anthony AsquithAnthony Asquith
Anthony Asquith was a leading English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on The Winslow Boy and The Browning Version , among other adaptations...
but he became ill and was replaced by Michael Anderson
Michael Anderson (director)
Michael Joseph Anderson, Sr. is an English film director, best known for directing The Dam Busters , Around the World in 80 Days and Logan's Run .-Early life:...
(Asquith died in 1968).
Awards
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best ScoreAcademy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
and Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(George Davis
George Davis (art director)
-Career:Davis began his career at 20th Century Fox, his first film was Joseph L. Mankiewicz's fantasy The Ghost and Mrs. Muir in 1947, a director for whom he frequently worked, notably on House of Strangers , All About Eve -Career:Davis began his career at 20th Century Fox, his first film was...
, Edward Carfagno
Edward Carfagno
Edward Carfagno was an art director who established himself in the 1950s with his Oscar-winning work on such films as Vincente Minnelli's The Bad and the Beautiful , Joseph Mankiewicz's Julius Caesar and William Wyler's Ben-Hur...
).
Real world events
Much of the characteristics of Father Telemond were based on the controversial French JesuitSociety of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
paleontologist
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ was a French philosopher and Jesuit priest who trained as a paleontologist and geologist and took part in the discovery of both Piltdown Man and Peking Man. Teilhard conceived the idea of the Omega Point and developed Vladimir Vernadsky's concept of Noosphere...
.
Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII
-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
died on the day the novel was published, 3 June 1963. Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
was serving as Pope when the film version was released.
Ten years after the release of the film, on 16 October 1978, a Slavic cardinal from a Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
-dominated country, Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła from Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, was elected as Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
.