An interesting story, which is fictionalized and filmed at a professional level. Of course, with so many first-rate stars, it could not be otherwise: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow – Oscar nominees. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Robert Harris, written in 2016.
Plot
The sudden death of the Pope and the next Conclave. In the center of our attention are five cardinals, one of whom is most likely to become the next Pope. Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is a Briton, Dean of the College of Cardinals, it is he who is responsible for holding the elections. Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci), an American, a representative of liberal views on the development of the Catholic Church. Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow), a Canadian, a conservative. Joshua Adeyemi, a Nigerian, black by birth, a conservative. Goffredo Todesco, an Italian, a traditionalist, militantly opposed to other religions.
For two hours, we are immersed in the inner world of the Catholic Church, discovering the side that the church should not have: intrigue, baseness, corruption, vanity, meanness, and all this among Catholic cardinals, who should be a model of honesty and justice. The leaders of the vote will replace each other as facts are revealed about them that make it impossible for them to hold the position of Head of the Catholic Church. The result of the vote will be unpredictable and stunning.
All events and characters are fictional. But if you delve a little into the recent history of the election of the Pope, you can see who exactly became the prototypes of some of the characters and what events inspired the author, in this case I mean the author of the novel Robert Harris. There have been many scandals that shook the foundations of the Catholic Church and disgraced the highest-ranking church dignitaries in recent decades, the author had plenty to choose from.
Voting procedure
The winner of the vote will be the one who receives a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the votes. If none of the Conclave participants receives the required number of votes, the vote is postponed to the next day, and so on until a winner is determined. That is, the Conclave is not limited in time and can last a very long time. If a new Pope is not elected, black smoke comes from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel, if elected, white. Modern conclaves are quite fleeting, a maximum of 2-3 days, while in the Middle Ages they could last up to half a year or more.
Secret Cardinal
Indeed, the Pope has the right to appoint a cardinal and keep this appointment secret; as a rule, this is done for the safety of the cardinal himself. In the film, an unexpected participant joins the Conclave – a secret cardinal from Afghanistan. In the book, he was from Iraq. Here there is a departure from the generally accepted rule: in reality, such a secret cardinal loses his powers with the death of the pontiff who appointed him, but in the film the rule is changed, and the secret cardinal retains his powers, confirming them with a letter from the Pope.
I became curious about whether there was a Catholic cardinal in Afghanistan in reality — I checked, there wasn’t. Besides, there is no Catholic presence there now. For obvious reasons, everyone scattered. The Catholic mission was at the American embassy and functioned mainly for diplomats and their families. The locals were afraid to approach it. The only local Afghan who changed his faith to Catholicism was convicted and sentenced to death.
Interesting storyline of the Dean of the College of Cardinals, played by Ralph Fiennes
The man has a deep crisis, not of faith in God, but of faith in the future of the Catholic Church as an institution. He repeatedly asked for his resignation, but the previous Pope, sensing his imminent death, did not let him go, understanding that it was this person who would be able to hold the election of the new pontiff at the right level and help choose the best candidate. However, we were not told what the reasons for Cardinal Lawrence's crisis were – some personal tragedies or the actual state of the Catholic Church, mired in scandals and sin. Thomas refuses even the thought of being elected the new Pope (in reality, there were cases when the Dean of Cardinals became the new Pope). But closer to the finale, he changes his point of view on this possibility. Through Cardinal Thomas, the film reveals the theme of doubt. Without doubt, according to the director, there can be no faith.
An unexpected twist in the finale
It is not even connected with the person of the elected Pope. Here everything is predictable from the very beginning: if you have a “black swan” in the plot, he will be the winner in the end. And with his physical, or rather medical condition. I will not spoil, but I do not think that this turn is a tribute to the Western “agenda”. This is completely different. However, I do not understand why they came up with it. This condition does not depend on the person, he is the way he was born. At the same time, as far as I understand, it does not violate any rules of the Catholic Church.
What did the author want to say?
In this case, we are talking about the film's director, Edward Berger (“Patrick Melrose”, “Your Honor”, “All Quiet on the Western Front”). Did he want to hit the Catholic Church with all its modern problems, or, on the contrary, support it? Berger is a Catholic, so I think he definitely did not want to hit the foundations of Catholicism once again. But the childishly naive ending does not look like support either. It is rather unexpected. Because it was absolutely impossible to assume that the cardinals, some of whom were mired in sins and corruption, would suddenly realize everything, be guided by the voice of reason and make such an unexpected choice for everyone, primarily due to their solidarity. I think the director reserves the right to hope that the people who are in power and make decisions about the future of the Catholic Church will have time to come to their senses and not allow its collapse or a new crusade, as one of the cardinals in the film suggests.
The film gives a fairly detailed idea of the process of choosing the Pope. I am not an expert on this issue, but after watching the film I immersed myself in studying the procedures and traditions shown to us, and I must say that everything I saw in the film corresponds to reality. The film has a beautiful picture, great dialogues, for which I would like to thank the screenwriter, and the amazing acting of all the actors without exception — all this is unlikely to leave you indifferent. I watched it with great pleasure and I recommend it to you.
Share