November 26, 2024
The Pope had passed away, so Dean Thomas Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) convened all his fellow Cardinals at the Vatican to vote for a new Pope. The prominent contenders were: Bellini (Stanley Tucci) from the US, Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) from Italy, Adayemi (Lucien Msamati) from Nigeria, and Trembley (John Lithgow) from Canada. The newest unknown Cardinal there was Benitez (Carlos Diehz) from Mexico serving in Islamic Kabul.
As a Catholic, I had always been intrigued with what went on behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel where the conclave of the College of Cardinals was held to choose the new Pope. Everything is draped in extreme secrecy until we see the color of the smoke coming out of its chimney after each vote. Now we have this film to get an insiders view into the proceedings. It is said that this film had followed all the Papal funeral rites to the letter.
Notwithstanding that this election was happening in the hallowed halls of the Vatican, it was still a political activity among men, so there will be sides to choose from. Here, it was also a face-off of liberals (who were pushing all their woke advocacies) and the traditionalists (who wanted none of those). Catholics in the audience will also find themselves rooting for their own sides -- that was how effectively Peter Straughan wrote the arguments in his script.
The ensemble of actors assembled for this project was impressive. Consistently on-point character actors Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow need no further validation about the excellence of their performances. As ultra right-wing Tedesco, Italian actor Sergio Castellitto makes a big splash in his first English-language feature. Isabella Rosselini's Sister Agnes was able to address the conclave, but I am not sure if nuns can really do that.
Director Edward Berger ("All Quiet on the Western Front") had a sure handle on telling this complex story based on Robert Harris' 2016 novel, as secrets sprout out on after the other, affecting the votes at every thrilling turn, although that final twist was a bit too bizarre. Berger and cinematographer Stephane Fontaine also took time capturing silent beautiful images of random cardinals, nuns and locations from various angles, enhancing artistic cachet. 8/10.
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