The Shoes of the Fisherman is a 1968 film directed by Michael Anderson based on the novel of the same name. It tells the story of Kiril Pavlovich Lakota (Anthony Quinn), the Metropolitan Archbishop of Lviv, Ukraine who is set free by Soviet Premier Piotr Ilyich Kamenev (Sir Laurence Olivier) after 20 years of imprisonment in the Soviet Union, brought to Rome, and named a Cardinal by the elderly Pope Pius XIII (John Gielgud). Kiril becomes friends with a young priest named David Telemond (Oskar Werner) After Pius XIII dies Kiril finds himself unexpectedly elected Pope by the College of Cardinals.
The film has examples of:
- Artistic License – Religion: The film has the identity of Pope Kiril not being revealed until he steps out on to the balcony of St. Peter's, and it is only then that the people realize a non-Italian has been elected. In real life, the name of the newly elected Pope is given during the announcement (Habemus Papam) that is given when a new Pope accepts election, prior to the new Pope appearing on the balcony.
- Confessional: After the death of the young Fr. David Telemond, Cardinal Leone and Pope Kiril hear each other's confessions. This leads to the two men becoming friends and the previously somewhat hostile Leone becoming one of Kiril's staunchest supporters when the Pope proposes some radical ideas to the College of Cardinals.
- Didn't See That Coming: Pretty much no one expected one Kiril Pavlovich Lakota to step out on to the balcony of St. Peter's after the Habemus Papam announcement.
- Fish out of Water: Kiril, who is forced to adapt to a job he never expected to have.
- Good Shepherd: Kiril decides that the need to relieve the suffering in the world are far more important than the trappings of the Papal office and the wealth the church holds.
- I Did What I Had to Do: During the conclave, Kiril admits to his fellow Cardinals that while at a Siberian labor camp he stole bread to feed a fellow prisoner who had been badly injured after being attacked by a guard, and how he had almost killed that guard.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Cardinal Leone admits that he would rather have been a simple parish priest instead of a highly ranked Vatican official.
- Meaningful Rename: Averted. When asked what name he would like to be known as upon being elected Pope, Kiril bucks several hundred years of tradition by not choosing a new name for himself, but instead telling his fellow Cardinals that he would continue to use his own name.note
- Next Sunday A.D.: While the film appears to be set in the late 1960s,
Word of God had it that the film actually took place twenty years in the future, or the late 1980s. - Oh, Crap!: Cardinal Lakota has such a moment when he realizes that the majority of his fellow Cardinals have decided to acclaim him as Pope even though he begs them not to go through with that.
- Right in Front of Me: While out exploring Rome, Kiril comes across a doctor who asks him to go to a nearby pharmacy to obtain some medicine she needs to make one of her patients more comfortable. Kiril does so, and it's only after he leaves the pharmacy that the pharmacist picks up a newspaper and realizes who the priest was who just visited his store.
- Rousing Speech: Pope Kiril I, announcing his plans to the world.
- Royal "We": After being elected Pope Kiril uses the royal we to refer to himself in public settings before notably abandoning it in his post-coronation speech.
- Sneaking Out at Night: Largely unfamiliar with Rome, Pope Kiril decides to sneak out late one evening in a plain priest's cassock to explore the city.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Fr. Telemond, who has some unconventional ideas is censured by church officials, the stress of which exacerbates a neurological condition. The young man dies from this condition, deeply affecting both the Pope and Cardinal Leone.
- Unexpected Successor: When Pius XIII dies, no one expects the new Russian Cardinal Kiril Lakota to be elected his successor, least of all Cardinal Kiril Lakota.
- Zero-Approval Gambit: Kiril decides to sell off a great deal of the church's holdings in land, buildings, and art to fund relief efforts to relieve famine in China even though he knows he risks 0% Approval Rating. However, when he announces his plans at his coronation the crowd in the square overwhelmingly approves of his plans, shouting Viva La Papa (long live the Pope).
