Directed by Liliana Cavani in 1966, Francesco d’Assisi was originally conceived as an Italian television miniseries and later re-edited in 1972 as a feature film.
Shot in black and white on 16 mm film and created with the historical consultancy of Boris Ulianich, it portrays the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, son of the wealthy merchant Pietro di Bernardone and the French noblewoman Donna Pica. After a dissipated youth, Francis undergoes an inner crisis that leads him to discover new spiritual values, which he chooses to spread. He withdraws to La Verna, where he receives the stigmata on 14 September 1224, and dies in Assisi, at the Porziuncola di Santa Maria degli Angeli, on the night between 3 and 4 October 1226, surrounded by his disciples.
In 2007, the film was restored by Cinecittà Holding with the support of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities.