Gone with the Pope

Duke Mitchell gives us his best Godfather impression and along the way offends all of mankind, sails the Atlantic without problem, nabs the most powerful man on the planet with a pistol, and then finds God? It's one of the most bonkers films ever made and shouldn't be missed.

This film is one of those rare "masterpieces" that come once every few hundred years. When films like Gone with the Pope are released, the stars and planets must all be in line and druids must sacrifice a virgin on top of some rocks. This is incredibly unique. It's two movies mashed into one with one of the least charismatic actors fronting the entire show all while not having a clue on how to make a movie. It's a vanity piece on par with The Room with a screenplay that is written on napkins and roll up hundreds primarily used for snorting coke. What Duke Mitchell put together in 1975 is a trainwreck of catastrophic proportions.

But then you take the incredible work that Bob Murawski did with restoring and recutting the film and the incredible soundtrack by Jeff Mitchell (Director Duke Mitchell's son) and you've got this travesty of a film packaged in a box that rivals the production qualities of Heat and Good Fellas. It's insane. Imagine if Troll 2 was reproduced by Steven Spielberg. 

What is created in the end is majestic. It's a non-stop roller coaster ride of banana business. Yet it never lets off on Duke's original "vision" if you can label such a thing. No punches are pulled in the editting. It's horrible to all of mankind and does its best job to set human rights back by 500 years. At no point, does Duke Mitchell not cease to offend, both by the terrible things he says to people and by the horrendous acting performance he gives. It's a symphony of disgust vs empathy.

The story is nuts, the acting is atrocious, the dialogue is a coke-filled nightmare, and behind it all is Duke smiling at himself in the mirror he's using to do lines off of. It's brilliant and nearly impossible to replicate. We may never see the likes of Gone with the Pope ever again in history and as such may be one of the most important bad movies you could possibly choose. Do not miss.

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Gone With The Pope (Blu-ray + DVD Combo)