November 12, 2025 | 4:33pm
MANILA, Philippines — Needless to say, “The Sound of Music” is one of Pope Leo XIV’s favorite things, to see onscreen that is.
Ahead of a meeting with several Hollywood figures this November 15, the Holy Father shared which movie made the cut for his four favorites, a spin on the popular topic by social networking platform for film enthusiasts Letterboxd.
These are Pope Leo’s four favorites movies, in order of release:
- “It’s A Wonderful Life” (1946) by Frank Capra, starring Jimmy Stewart
- “The Sound of Music” (1965) by Robert Wise, starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer
- “Ordinary People” (1980) by Robert Redford, starring Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore
- “La Vita e Bella (Life is Beautiful)” (1997) by and starring Roberto Benigni
“It’s A Wonderful Life” is a Christmas classic about a man contemplating ending his life until his guardian angel intervenes.
“The Sound of Music,” based on the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical of the same name, follows nun-turned-governess Maria von Trapp and her relationship with the Von Trapp family during World War II.
Related: Morissette starrer ‘Song of the Fireflies’ wins at US film festival
“Ordinary People” was the late Robert Redford’s directorial debut that centered around the disintegration of a wealthy American family.
Finally, “La Vita e Bella,” another World War II film but centered mostly on the Holocaust, sees an Italian-Jewish bookkeeper try to hide the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp from his young son.
The November 15 meeting with celebrities is in line with the pope’s “desire to deepen the dialogue with the world of cinema, and in particular with actors and directors, exploring the possibilities that artistic creativity offers to the mission of the Church and the promotion of human values.”
The meeting follows after Leo’s predecessor Francis met with visual artists in 2023, comedians in 2024, and earlier this year, observed the Jubilee of Artists and the World of Culture.
Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Spike Lee, celebrity couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie, “Mad Max” franchise director George Miller, “Cinema Paradiso” director Giuseppe Tornatore, Chris Pine, Viggo Mortensen, and Monica Bellucci, who played Mary Magdalene in “The Passion of the Christ,” are confirmed to meet Pope Leo XIV.
Pope Leo previously met Oscar-winning actors Al Pacino and Robert de Niro, the latter recently honored with Rome’s top honor, the Lupa Capitolina.
RELATED: ‘Sunshine’ starring Maris Racal heading to Netflix this November