The Academy Awards on their way and Mhatt is reviewing the main movie for us. You can see the rest of his reviews here. This time, it’s a religious, political thriller, Conclave.
Conclave
Directed by Edward Berger and written by Peter Straughan and Robert Harris (novel by). Conclave stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Lucian Msamati, Carlos Diehz, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini. The plot is:
The Pope has died, and the ancient process of selecting his successor backdrops a tale of deceit, intrigue and subterfuge within an interesting insight into the centuries-old tradition of electing a Pope.
The Pope is dead! Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Fiennes) is charged with arranging a conclave in the Sistine Chapel, which will sit until a new Pope is elected. The church has been cautiously navigating its state of perpetual fragility. This makes the candidates philosophies, ranging from progressive to traditionalist, all the more pertinent.
This is a pivotal moment to not so much redeem the church as one to at least help steady the ship as it moves into a contentious future. Leading contenders for the papacy are
The Candidates
Cardinal Aldo Bellini (Tucci), Cardinal Joseph Tremblay (Lithgow), Cardinal Joshua Adeyemi (Msamati), and the long-shot candidate. Cardinal Vincent Benitez of Kabul (Diehz), who was secretly ordained by the pope, hoping to ride the long shot.
As the election campaigns begin, scandals involving the candidates are brought to light. This further complicate the temporarily insulated ritual from the unstable political climate encroaching on the Vatican.
Each vote raises the stakes and the tensions, culminating in an unforeseen turn of events that raises even more questions about where the church is heading.
Overall, Conclave is an entertaining and well-made film that respects its audience regardless of their religious leanings. I don’t want to give anything away because it is worth seeing for yourself; if you only watch for the superb performances, you won’t be disappointed.
Overall
Tucci and Lithgow both stand out, while Isabella Rossellini is limited to a few good moments in what is otherwise Ralph Fiennes’s movie. Despite the modern-day reality of the Catholic Church and its waning legitimacy, the subject matter is treated with due respect.
Neither a hit piece nor an attempt at image polishing, the church is used as a setting for a well-conceived and pretty intriguing mystery. While the material is presented with a certain level of sacredness, it never panders or asks you to suspend belief until the very end, if at all.
One can only wonder what any god would think of the mechanisms of modern-day earthly politics, and regardless of whatever meaning you want to assign to this, the journey toward it is worth the watch alone.
What You Should or Shouldn’t Watch For:
- Best Actor for Ralph Fiennes (*I’d like to see him get this)
- Best Adapted Screenplay
- Best Supporting Actress for Isabella Rossellini (*nothing special, see this as career recognition and for being well connected).
- Best Picture
- Best Editing
- Best Production Design
- Best Costume Design
- Best Achievement in Music
- Best Picture (*All of these have merit; it’s a professionally made film that lets its talent talent.)
Only recommended viewers for people who miss watching (non-porn) adult movies, fans of any of the familiar actors, those interested in a casual insight into how a pope gets made and anyone who’s been to Vatican City and likes to remind people they’ve been there.
PS…I’ve been there.