I was about 15 years old when I watched this movie first on TV in the 70s. It was an impact. See a Russian pope proposing concrete action to end hunger and poverty in the world was something inspiring and made me hope for better days for everyone. Today, despite the beautiful photography, charismatic characters and sense of atmosphere so rare in most contemporary films, "The shoes of the fisherman" seems too romantic in the way that shows the Catholic Church and humanity itself.

Overall, I liked it quite a bit although it felt overlong. There was an entirely superfluous subplot with the adulterous marriage of a tv reporter that could have been excised. The costume design was fantastic, and along with the location shots in Rome, brought many interesting visuals throughout. Anthony Quinn's portrayal of the main character was very engaging, and the film was well acted. The scoring was also superb.

Surprisingly good. You know that the whole subplot with David Janssen cheating on his wife was added in there by nervous producers to broaden its appeal, but if you ask me it's an unnecessary distraction. I would have been fine with the whole movie being about Anthony Quinn's character, and how nicely his story illustrates the theme "How do you be a holy man in a world as fucked up as this one? Can you REALLY help people? Can you stand down the wicked?"