Part 1 of two. A reverent drama about the life of Karol Wojtyla, who became Pope John Paul II. Cary Elwes portrays Wojtyla as a younger man; Jon Voight plays him in his later years. The story begins with the failed 1981 assassination attempt on the pontiff's life. As John Paul undergoes surgery, flashbacks reveal his younger days in Poland when the Nazis invaded and Karol made his decision to become a priest. James Cromwell.