CONCLAVE
2024 | Dir. Edward Berger | 120 Minutes
"No sane man would want the papacy."
When the pope unexpectedly passes away, Cardinal Thomas Lawrence gathers the College of Cardinals to elect a new leader for the Catholic Church. Sequestered in the Vatican to complete the voting process, Lawrence's principles are put to the test as he uncovers secrets surrounding each candidate that gradually shape the outcome election.
A taut drama playing out primarily through interpersonal conflicts with intriguing wider implications about human nature, director Edward Berger's film adaptation of Robert Harris's 2016 novel centered on the election of a new pope is a remarkably suspenseful thriller. Between contentious rounds of voting, Conclave is rich with intense monologues, unpredictable betrayals, and shocking revelations, presenting an ostensibly stuffy premise as a cut-throat competition between papal candidates. While each candidate is given enough characterization to make it easy for audiences to find them analogous to world leaders beyond the walls of the Vatican, at the center of the narrative is a man with no greater ambition than to urge others to make the right decision after considering all the facts laid bare, however difficult it may be.
The production thoroughly portrays the ritual pageantry of Vatican practices, depicting each step of the voting process with meticulous detail. Substituting various locations in Rome and sets at Cinecittà Studios for Vatican City, the filmmakers do a convincing job of depicting the Catholic epicenter. While striking, Volker Bertelmann's aggressive score is occasionally quite distracting. Ultimately, the picture's greatest strength is Peter Straughan's well-paced sharply-written screenplay performed perfectly by a fantastic ensemble cast.
Ralph Fiennes gives a stirring performance as the conflicted Cardinal Lawrence treading the line between loyal friend and impartial official. In the role of the dejected American Cardinal Bellini, Stanley Tucci effortlessly conveys disappointment and seething anger all at once. Captivating and soft-spoken, Carlos Diehz is intriguing in his subtlety as the mysterious Cardinal Benitez. Isabella Rossellini is masterfully understated in a memorable supporting role as Sister Agnes. The cast also features Lucian Msamati as the seemingly influential Nigerian Cardinal Adeyemi with a questionable past, John Lithgow as the deceptively ambitious Canadian Cardinal Tremblay, and Sergio Castellitto as the loathsome vaping far-right Italian Cardinal Tedesco.
Conclave is a gripping procedural on a cinematic scale featuring solid direction, a brilliant script, and a superb cast. Released during political divisive times, despite its isolated Vatican setting the film aptly serves a reflection of the society at large. The picture encourages its audience to make informed carefully-considered decisions, but also to compromise when necessary for the good of the many, just as its protagonist must make challenging and occasionally unorthodox decisions in order to appropriately fulfil his duty.
FRAGMENTS
- The reveal of Cardinal Benitez to be an intersex person is a bit heavy-handed, but I'd argue it works on a thematic level
- On the other hand, the preceding literal explosion is a bit much
007 CONNECTIONS
MCU CONNECTIONS
- Stanley Tucci (Abraham Erskine in Captain America: The First Avenger)
