“Be careful how you vote, because Stalin doesn’t see you, but God does!” This phrase, spoken in Italy immediately after World War II during the first elections, sparked a controversy regarding the actions of His Holiness Pope Pius XII. The communists were then conducting a smear campaign against the Church, this pope, and his silence in the face of the Holocaust and the deportation of Jews.
Although history has proven his effective actions to save 800,000 people and the choice of the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Israel Zoll, to convert himself and his family to the Catholic religion, receiving baptism as Eugenio Zolli in homage to this unjustly criticized pope, “Shades of Truth” aims to demonstrate the truth about Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust.
This film was directed by Italian filmmaker Liana Marabini, who has already authored several films about the Church.
The cast is international, with American actor David Wall in the lead role. He plays David Milan, a journalist of Jewish origin, conducting an investigation into the history of Pope Pius XII. With the help of his friend, Father Roberto Savinelli, played by German actor Gedeon Burkhard, he manages to uncover the secrets of the Vatican. He studies documents, images from that era, and meets Holocaust survivors, thanks to the intervention of Pius XII. This American journalist discovers his parents’ history, saved by Pius XII. “Without this pope, I wouldn’t be here.”
To make this film, Liana Marabini used over 100,000 historical documents as well as numerous testimonies from survivors.
Following the play “The Deputy,” adapted by Costa-Gavras where the pope was disparaged, Liana Marabini’s film is the first to present a positive image of this much-criticized pope. It took a very long time, five years, to produce this film that restores the holy father’s place and role during the war. Pius XII is the pope of the Second World War and the Cold War.
Liana Marabini, during our meeting, confided: “This film by its example gives hope to our humanity, Pius XII was a priest of courage.” The director concluded: “When Eugenio Pacelli was 14, his best friend was Guido Mendes, a young Jew.”
The film poster is a powerful symbol; the holy father’s white robe is adorned with a Star of David. The cross and the star unite to share the martyrdom. It is a great film eagerly awaited for its cinema release.
Thierry Jan
