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 "Shades of Truth" is the account of a fictional present-day
American journalist who starts off as a critic of Pius and
changes his mind after research in Israel, Rome and elsewhere in
Europe.
Some Jews have accused Pius, who headed the Roman Catholic
Church from 1939 to 1958, of failing to use his position to
bring attention to the extermination of Jews.
The Vatican says he worked actively behind the scenes to save
thousands of Jews and did not speak out more forcefully for fear
his words could have led to more deaths of both Jews and
Christians at the hands of the Nazis.
After a screening on Monday near the Vatican, the film, which
calls Pius "the most misunderstood person of the 20th century",
was universally panned.
The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said the film, which
its director Liana Marabini wants to show at the Cannes festival
this year, was "naive", "lacking credibility" and a "frankly
clumsy attempt" at defending the wartime pontiff.
The Italian Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana said the film
would hurt Pius's already fragile reputation because it was
overly apologetic and not sufficiently based on historical
documents that defend him.
Pagine Ebraiche, the online paper of Rome's Jewish community,
called it "a blundering soap opera of dubious quality, filled
with stereotypes".
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It also faulted the film for a scene in which the journalist dreams
he sees Pius wearing a yellow Star of David on his white cassock,
like the patch the Nazis forced Jews to wear.
The film stars American actor David Wall and includes appearances by
Christopher Lambert and Giancarlo Giannini.
Last year, Pope Francis defended his predecessor in an interview
with a Spanish newspaper, saying Pius "has to be seen in the context
of that era". The Vatican's wartime archives would shed much light
on what Pius did to help Italian Jews, he said.
Jewish groups have asked the Vatican to freeze the process that
could lead to sainthood for Pius until all wartime archives are
fully opened to historians, saying Catholic-Jewish relations could
be harmed if the process moved ahead.
(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
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