 Director: Edward Berger Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini Studio: Focus Features Genre(s): Drama Rated: PG (For thematic material and smoking) |
A pope has died. A new one must be chosen. One man has been tasked with overseeing the process. But how does one pick someone who is going to be one of the most public spiritual leaders on Earth? This is the dilemma of "Conclave," a movie that oversees a conclave and the process involved in picking the new pope. As someone who isn't Catholic, I'm going to presume (for the sake of the story) that everything is presented as factually as it can be (though I'm sure some exaggerations are infused in the script to rank up the tensions of the subject). Largely filmed in enclosed rooms with lots of men talking, "Conclave" would be a difficult movie for anyone to make compelling.
Yet director Edward Berger ("All Quiet on the Western Front") uses his considerable skills as a director to keep the dialog sharp, the conversations tense, and the tension thick. Considering how tight-lipped the Vatican is about the inner workings of the church, this feels as authentic as it probably can. The story revolves around Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), who has been tasked with overseeing the conclave that will select a new pope. It is his job to not only oversee the proceedings but to make sure the other cardinals are not influenced by the outside world. Nevertheless, internal politics may pose more of a threat to the proceedings than anything coming from the outside.
There are cardinals who are on different ends on how the church should present itself. Should it stay conservative or go in a more liberal direction? Should the old ideas be laid to rest for new ones? What about the pope's death? Does it seem suspicious (one cardinal seems to think so)? Did something happen? Then you have the sisters, who walk the halls and hear everything. Though tradition forbids them from getting involved, at least one nun has knowledge that could be of vital importance to the selection process. Cardinal Thomas is warned by another "the men who are dangerous are the ones who want [power]." Since no man can truly live up to the high standard Jesus Christ set, whoever gets chosen will be a man of significant flaws.
Does that make him any less holy? These are the sorts of questions that make "Conclave" not so much a Catholic film but a film about Catholics. It asks questions that are likely a bit uncomfortable, but very much worth asking for those of us on the outside. The script is as tight as any screenplay I've seen in recent years, and the casting is as perfect as I could have hoped. Fiennes commands the screen as the man who is being pulled in all different directions while Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow play members of the church whose intentions may not be as noble as they appear on the surface.
Yet the movie, I feel, also has a deep respect for people who have faith. These are not evil men in the typical sense, yet they do have blindspots to their own sins. Tradition seems to be at the center of most of the debates (as they are in all political situations). The film asks some questions for which there are no easy answers. I also suspect the ending (which will come as a shock to many) is also likely to be a turn-off for those who practice Catholicism, but for me, it did have me thinking about the process in a way I never would have considered before. "Conclave" is the kind of high-stakes drama that Hollywood used to make more often, but now regulates to streaming. That something of this intimacy is being released in theaters feels like a miracle, and by the grace of God people will see it in a cinema where it belongs.
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