Conclave

Discussion in 'Books, movies, links, websites.' started by padraig, Sep 12, 2024.

  1. padraig

    padraig Powers

    https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/sep/10/conclave-movie-review-ralph-fiennes

    After the death of the sitting pope, cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is forced to put aside any grief and focus on the urgent task at hand, putting together a conclave, bathed in secrecy to decide upon a successor. He’s closely aligned with the reluctant US candidate Bellini (Stanley Tucci), whose liberalism compels him to stand against the more traditional, and bigoted Italian Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto). They also face competition from the more powerful American Tremblay (John Lithgow), the increasingly popular Nigerian Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) and a surprise, mysterious contender in the shape of Benitez (Carlos Diehz), who has been working in Kabul.

    The rules dictated by the conclave make for a neat escalation of suspense with no information technically allowed in or out. Lawrence isn’t keen to play Poirot but the more he finds out about the candidates from shreds of information shared by those around him, the more he is compelled to bend the rules, in need of hard facts over hearsay. Fiennes makes for a compelling and unknowable detective, operating under extreme circumstances as he also starts to rise in power himself, gaining votes he claims not to want. He has to work through his own morality compared to the church’s and weigh up the greater good with the personal cost and after being snubbed for playing a very different sort of manager in The Grand Budapest Hotel, one can see him returning to the Academy fold here, a quietly commanding turn, gently carrying the film on his shoulders.



    It’s a thriller of character actors talking in rooms but Berger gives it a dynamism which makes it glide and after this and his Oscar-winning war film, one can see why he was briefly linked to the next Bond movie (a rumour he has enthusiastically denied). He guides a wealth of great performances aside from Fiennes, including a wonderfully imperious Lithgow and a steadily unravelling Tucci, with room for a scene-securing Isabella Rossellini as an observant nun who’s so fun to watch in just a handful of scenes that you wish she had just a bit more to do.

    The film picks at knotty discussions (Is a black pope really a sign of progress if he holds vile views towards the LGBTQ+ community? How much can you tweak and modernise an ancient religion before it loses its shape entirely?) and I’d argue that sometimes it could have picked a little harder, leaving interesting threads a little under-explored. But the knottiest is left for the finale, when a twist takes the film to new and surprising territory. I predict some potentially furious discourse upon release but I think it’s handled here with just about enough maturity if taken the right way, an opinion that may not be shared by some.

    The nature of the twist, together with the high volume score, some crowd-pleasing gotchas and some sinister vaping remind us that Conclave is a glossily transferred airport novel first and a deeper drama about the world of religion second. Given how few high-class thrillers of this scale we actually get on the big screen at this moment, I would vote for more.

    • Conclave is screening at the Toronto film festival and will be released in US cinemas on 1 November and in the Uk on 25 November

     
  2. Luan Ribeiro

    Luan Ribeiro Powers

    This seems to be a reference to the African Cardinal Robert Sarah in the next conclave, who is very conservative, or rather, very Catholic on moral issues.
     
    Joan J, Clare A, Carmelite and 5 others like this.
  3. padraig

    padraig Powers

    In St Malachy's prophecies of the Popes he refers to the last Pope as being, 'Black'. Though that might mean evil.

    https://uscatholic.org/articles/201309/what-is-the-prophecy-of-st-malachy/
     
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2024
    Mary's child and Luan Ribeiro like this.
  4. AED

    AED Powers

    Mary's child, Sam, Prayslie and 2 others like this.
  5. Carmelite

    Carmelite Archangels

    I thought he would be too old at this point. I love him, but I can’t see it
     
  6. Joan J

    Joan J HolySpiritCome!

    Francis is Jesuit.
     
  7. Patrick8747

    Patrick8747 Guest

    I've also thought of fr bashabora as being a black pope elected if they ever appoint him cardinal.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 16, 2024
  8. I went to this movie. I don't recommend it. Scandalous. So sad, but the cinematography was very nice.
     
    Sam and Pax Prima like this.

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