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The Shoes of the Fisherman

Play trailer Poster for The Shoes of the Fisherman G 1968 2h 37m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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43% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 74% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
After spending decades in a Siberian Gulag labor camp, Roman Catholic priest Kiril Lakota (Anthony Quinn) is set free by Russian leader Piotr Ilyich Kamenev (Sir Laurence Olivier) at the height of the Cold War, when Russia and China are locked in a tense conflict. Following the death of the pope (Sir John Gielgud), Lakota ends up on the global stage when he is chosen to be his successor. As the pope, the humble Lakota becomes a compassionate advocate for ending world hunger and poverty.
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The Shoes of the Fisherman

Critics Reviews

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Steven D. Greydanus Decent Films 04/12/2006
B
A curious, at times almost prescient anticipation of the reign of John Paul II, filtered partly through the lens of the Silly Sixties. Go to Full Review Renata Adler New York Times 05/09/2005
Unless you have read the novel by Morris West on which the film is based, the first two hours are unintelligible. Go to Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 05/28/2009
C+
Critics have comically dubbed it Zorba the Pope. Go to Full Review Urban Cinefile Critics Urban Cinefile 07/19/2008
Settle back and let this old fashioned but entirely enjoyable epic (from Aussie writer Morris West's novel) take you on a journey that is in many ways every bit as relevant today as it was then Go to Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 08/23/2006
B-
All-star cast, headed by Anthony Quinn, Olivier and Gielgud, can't help Anderson's poor transfern of Morris West's bestseller, an international political thriller about a Russian survivor of the gulag who becomes pope; best thing is Alex North's score. Go to Full Review Philip Martin Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 05/15/2006
3/5
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Audience Reviews

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Glafira Regina O Jun 18 In short, the film is about nothing. From the very first minutes, when Lakota is introduced as a Russian who lived in Lviv (which would have been impossible), and when Soviet leaders send a former political prisoner to the Vatican as a priest, it became clear that there wasn’t much to hope for. The story doesn’t unfold in a single direction, but rather in four: in the Vatican, in the home of a woman whose husband is unfaithful, in famine-stricken China, and the quarters of Lakota’s friend, also a priest. None of these storylines is fully developed. The priest who wrote inconvenient books for the Church simply died of a seizure... The resolution of the Chinese issue is not shown. What happened to the couple — also unclear. In my opinion, they could have at least tried to manage it somehow in two hours... See more Jose B 09/07/2024 The film was bound to be "A Superproduccion" but achieving its goals only halfway. It has an Alex North score, great cast, (Anthony Quinn fine as usual), but it looks very outdated indeed. There are two parts, being the first part better than the second. This is clearly a film of Producer rather than Director and it can be entertaining to watch on a rainy weekend.. If you don't anything better to watch. Nice photography and "small roles" by outstanding actors but very forgettable indeed. See more steve d 07/18/2020 The cast made it an interesting watch. See more 06/28/2016 Amazing that at the height of the VN war Hollywood was presenting this stuff. Two Commie leaders, a Russian (Stalin?) and a Chinese (Mao?) are presented al levelheaded guys determined to prevent war and end starvation. Meanwhile. by 68 Moscow/Beiging had murdered about 150 million worldwide and a lot of it through starvation (see Holodomor,Leap Forward). And the Church is the 'rich' bogeyman who caused it all. No wonder we are where we are today. See more 10/06/2015 It is a 50 year old movie, but I enjoyed it. If only all Popes cared about the world rather than the church. See more 06/15/2015 Brilliant story even though the telling and the cinematography is now dated. The viewer must keep the movie in context of the 1960s when the film was released. See more Read all reviews
The Shoes of the Fisherman

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Cast & Crew

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Michael Anderson

Director

Anthony Quinn

Kiril Lakota

Laurence Olivier

Piotr Ilyich Kamenev

Oskar Werner

Fr. David Telemond

David Janssen

George Faber

Vittorio De Sica

Cardinal Rinaldi

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The Shoes of the Fisherman

The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis After spending decades in a Siberian Gulag labor camp, Roman Catholic priest Kiril Lakota (Anthony Quinn) is set free by Russian leader Piotr Ilyich Kamenev (Sir Laurence Olivier) at the height of the Cold War, when Russia and China are locked in a tense conflict. Following the death of the pope (Sir John Gielgud), Lakota ends up on the global stage when he is chosen to be his successor. As the pope, the humble Lakota becomes a compassionate advocate for ending world hunger and poverty.
Director
Michael Anderson
Producer
George Englund
Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Rating
G
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 14, 1968, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 21, 2016
Runtime
2h 37m
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