Liliana Cavani’s ‘Francesco trilogy’

The introduction surveys this volume’s varied approaches and assessments of Liliana Cavani’s three representations of St Francis Assisi while considering Cavani’s idea of cinema as a form of knowing and an instrument of exploration. It focuses on her formative years at RAI, in particular her investigative historical documentaries, and on her singular vision of the revolutionary social experience of Francis and Clare of Assisi. The only director to film three versions of Francis’s life, Cavani conceived of his story as a testament to how a single individual can transgress conventional social boundaries and undertake a life adventure attuned to the realities of modernity. Her two feature films (1966, 1989) and a TV miniseries devoted to Francesco (2014) present Francis not as a man of the past but a prophet whose vision and example of solidarity inspires us with a vision for a future peace.