Whatever your religion,
there is no denying that John Paul II
was an extremely powerful and enduring
figure. There will be many who grew
up knowing only him as the head of the
Catholic Church, and as a result the
effect of his death was devastating.
Credo is a film compiled from
documentary scenes taken from the Pope’s
life, and at some of the rituals surrounding
his funeral. The opening alternates
a little disconcertingly between the
living pope, and his body being transported
through the Vatican, and lying in state
as crowds of tearful mourners pay their
last respects. There is no commentary
as such: John Paul II’s voice, more
often than not with English subtitles,
comes through now and again with significant
statements. Like the scenes which have
been selected, these are very much the
positive highlights of the pope’s long
and illustrious reign. These dropped-in
moments of speech and occasional ambient
sounds - applause for instance - relegate
the music to the background at times.
The musical programme
is a collection of hymns and sacred
music. Andrea Bocelli has his own large
following, and so anything I say will
have little effect on those for whom
he can do no wrong. I find his rather
hard and unyielding vocal tone, with
its seemingly complete lack of variety
in colour, extremely trying. Just taking
one of the extra tracks, ‘The Nativity’
in which he sings ‘Adeste Fideles’ (Oh
Come, all ye Faithful), there is no
change between that and anything on
the main feature – more, more, and more
of the same. Even if it had been ‘Silent
Night’ I can’t imagine there being any
change.
That said the cumulative
effect during the ‘Credo’ film depends
very much on your point of view. It
is either an inspirational, spiritually
uplifting record of an enduring icon
for our times, or sentimental, saccharine
sweet Catholic propaganda. At the very
least the film gives you the feeling
that you were ‘there’. Many of the shots
are of crowds, the camera inevitably
selecting the most dramatic moments
of grief, or transports of joy, ecstasy,
or silent and concentrated prayer. The
subtitles are not always entirely idiomatic,
with translations like "…the same
Christ whom once, saw a poor and loved
him!" Sound quality is reasonably
good for the main film, but the extra
features leave much to be desired. The
‘Meditations’ are John Paul II’s words
on Michelangelo’s paintings of the Sistine
Chapel; accompanied by a dreadful Richard
Clayderman style piano track. Both this
and ‘The Nativity’ have some kind of
nasty compression, like badly calibrated
Dbx noise reduction. ‘Andrea Bocelli
live on stage’ is his open-air performance
before the pope in Tor Vergata in 2000.
Sound quality at such a venue might
not be expected to be wonderful, and
the harp dopes sound a little overblown
and clunky in the opening. With a slightly
dodgy moment on Bocelli’s grand rubato
toward the end of the piece, one feels
that at least one extra rehearsal might
have helped, and neither he, Chung or
John Paul look all that comfortable.
Please don’t take all
my negative vibes on this DVD too much
to heart. If you are looking for a tastefully
compiled reminder of John Paul II’s
long and influential career accompanied
by appropriate and movingly performed
sacred vocal music than you need look
no further. Most of the unforgettable
images and moments are there: meetings
with world leaders, kissing airport
runways, waving from the Pope-mobile
– if like me you spent most of your
formative years with him in your life,
he really does seem irreplaceable, even
now.
Dominy Clements
Andrea Bocelli (tenor) 
WARNER DVD 2564 63367-2 [63:00] 
