Inside the conclave: An Oscar-worthy political thriller
When the chapel windows are boarded up, and all outsiders are asked to leave, it starts to get stuffy and unpleasant. Whispers and significant glances don't help. Alliances must be formed, and everyone involved must be carefully observed. The fight for the most important position has just begun. Edward Berger has crafted a film that is as if it were straight from the Oscar recipe book. But how exquisite it is!
9:52 AM EST, November 7, 2024
The pope dies. The faithful will later hear about his service until the end, his hard work, and then the quiet vigilance of cardinals and nuns. Meanwhile, the body must be packed into a plastic bag, placed on a stretcher, and taken to the morgue. The director is not sentimental and shows the reality: the pope's death means a body to be prepared and an empty throne. The cardinals gathered in the Holy Father's room remain silent, but each thinks the same thing: someone from this group will become the pope in a few weeks.
The conclave begins, overseen by Dean Cardinal Lawrence (played by Ralph Fiennes). He is not pleased with this duty; he has a crisis of faith and wants to get it over with, aiming to elect the liberal and dynamic Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci) to the throne and then retreat to the convent. He has no idea that this will be the most challenging task he faces, and the conclave's finale will surprise the whole world.
"Conclave" is a film adaptation of the 2016 novel by popular writer Robert Harris. Other films inspired by his books include "An Officer and a Spy," "Munich: The Edge of War," and "The Ghostwriter." Edward Berger (director of the Oscar-winning "All Quiet on the Western Front") along with screenwriter Peter Straughan treated the material as it truly is: a political thriller. Reflection on the condition of the Church and its powerful figurehead is the theme of this story, but in the foreground, there is the individual and his character, the question of whether ambition resides within each of us. The cinematic Bellini prompts us to look into our hearts and ask ourselves if we truly do not desire recognition and honors.
Sharp glances flash back and forth under the pious foreheads of the cardinals. Should they vote for a liberal speaking on minority and women's rights or for a conservative lamenting the cultural revolution? What if someone does not aspire to the papal throne at all? He must quickly hand over his supporters to the favorite to avoid being blindsided by an opponent doing the same. We quickly realize this is a game where cardinals are like pawns on a chessboard. Berger gives us this association, as seen in the scene during a secret meeting in the auditorium, where in the semi-darkness, only the scarlet skullcaps of the clergy deciding the fate of the Church flash. The Holy Spirit? Impossible to find in these negotiations and agreements. This is pure politics with sophisticated players.
Fiennes, as Lawrence, is burdened by the conclave, lost in his own ambitions yet dedicated to the cause. Brilliantly human in his turmoil, he is said to be a likely candidate for an Oscar nomination (it would be his third, following "Schindler's List" and "The English Patient"). Meanwhile, Cardinal Bellini, played by Stanley Tucci, steals the scene with a single gesture or grimace—sophisticated, intelligent, sarcastic. The jovial, almost boorish Cardinal Tedesco throws his arms wide, eats greedily, and ostentatiously smokes an electronic cigarette, wonderfully portrayed by the Italian actor Sergio Castellitto. More cardinals become pawns on this chessboard, flesh and blood characters with their own personalities, passions, and vices. These latter traits, in particular, will become the target of more than one faction. Among these powerful men, there is only one female character in the film who is given a spoken line: Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini). A seemingly small scene will change the course of events.
Stéphane Fontaine, the director of photography for "Jackie," is another candidate for an Oscar nomination. Thanks to him, the prose adapted for the screen required few words. He built scenes with colors, light, and shadow, which you'll be thinking about after leaving the theater. There will be comments that "Conclave," with its meticulously crafted images, is almost too beautiful and "on the nose." The ending may be easy to predict, but Berger didn't create a mystery story where the finale is the election of a new pope. It's an engrossing thriller about human nature, captivating with its visuals—justice for which can only be rendered by the big movie screen. Without these images and this cast, it might have been an interesting and enjoyable film, but Berger's "Conclave" is a cinematic masterpiece, an Oscar dark horse.
