(ZENIT News / Rome, 09.04.2024).- A virtually unknown aspect of Michael Jackson was his faith. He was an admirer of John Paul II, as shown in Liana Marabini’s new film “A Gift of God.” The film recounts seven years of the life of the King of Pop, from 1982 to 1989, the time of Thriller, Billie Jean, Bad and other great successes.
Michael Jackson, a Christian, was originally a Jehovah’s Witness, his mother’s faith. Enamoured of the Bible, which he knew by heart, he would give it to those that worked with him and taught them to pray. The filmmaker collected several testimonies of former collaborators of Jackson in this regard.
When Jackson left the Jehovah’s Witnesses, too inflexible and critical of his art, he began a personal spiritual quest, which led him to study the Torah, the Koran and Oriental philosophies, in search of another spiritual path, a balm for his soul.
In 1987, during a tour of “Bad” in Rome, Jackson discovered the beauty of the Catholic Liturgy, attracted in the interior of a Roman church by Schubert’s Ave Maria, which was being sung there, and he began his journey to this religion. He was fascinated by the figure of John Paul II, whom he called a “Beacon of light and hope for humanity,” and to whom he dedicated a beautiful portrait, as Jackson was also a good painter. The Director used the portrait in the film.
“A Gift from God” also recounts Michael Jackson’s unrequited love for Diana Ross, and the great artist’s suffering from the vitiligo that oppressed him until the end of his life and whitened his skin, always badly interpreted by the press and his detractors.
The film, shot between Los Angeles and the South of France, in which the young Italian-American actor Joshua Uziel Consigli stars as Jackson, will premier in Cannes in May of this year.
Other actors are Carin McDonald as Katherine, Michael’s mother; Damon Pittman as his father; Claudia di Candia as Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Pia Ruspoli as the psychologist, Kim Boulukos as Grace, and others.
The film’s Director and principal actor give life to the great artist with sensitivity and respect, desirous of showing the spiritual aspect of this very special man, who suffered for the better part of his life, but who gave so much beauty, harmony and joy to people. He was falsely accused, but fortunately acquitted in all the cases. Unfortunately, everyone remembers the accusation but few the acquittal.
In addition to being a tribute to the great artist, the film will also serve to refresh the memory and rehabilitate the figure of Michael Jackson.
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