The Flowers of St. Francis

The Flowers of St. Francis (1950) is Roberto Rossellini's quiet historical drama, free to watch online on iFILM. Rather than a grand biography, it strings together small, joyful episodes from the life of Francis of Assisi and his earliest followers.

The film opens as the brothers return from Rome, where Pope Innocent III has approved their order, and closes as they scatter to preach. In between come rain, mud, shared bread and gently comic moments that carry real devotion. The monks are played by actual Franciscan friars from the Nocera Inferiore monastery, with Nazario Gerardi as Francis himself.

Rossellini wrote the script with a young Federico Fellini, and the camera frames each scene like a medieval painting. Closer to a calm parable than a plot-driven story, it rewards anyone open to slow, luminous cinema without grandstanding. Stream The Flowers of St. Francis (1950) online on iFILM.