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Conclave


Conclave (or Knives Out in Vatican City) is a cracking religio-political thriller full of meaty performances and an Oscar-winning script by Peter Straughan that winkles just enough out to leave the audience with some work to do. Straughan has some excellent work on his resume (Frank, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, etc), so throwing him together with director Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front), and heavyweights like Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini and John Lithgow, was a recipe for success. 

The start is also an ending. The pope has passed away  and the high-ranking priests are gathering to grieve and plan the succession. Fiennes plays Cardinal Lawrence, and as Dean of the College of Cardinals, it's up to him to organise the conclave, the meeting to elect the new pope. 


I'll say now, one of the positives of the film is that there's not too much jargon, so it isn't completely baffling for us atheists. It actually plays a pretty straight bat regarding any potential controversies - for example, it's revealed early on that the dead pope had his doubts, but never with God, only with the church. Safe enough ground, I'd reckon. 

Lawrence himself is having a 'crisis of prayer', as opposed to a 'crisis of faith' (hands up, I've no idea what the distinction is). He's eligible to become pope himself, though he doesn't want the job, he even offered his resignation just before the pope died, only to have it rejected.


The main candidates are split down lines of tradition and modernisation. Tradition is represented by Cardinal Tedesco, played with superb brio by Sergio Castellitto, who bemoans the fact that there hasn't been an Italian pope for years. The liberal thinking comes from the group behind Cardinal Bellini, played by Tucci, whom Lawrence counts as a friend.

There are other fancies for the papal crown (hat?) in Lithgow's Cardinal Tremblay and Lucien Msamati's Cardinal Adeyemi. Other standout performances come from Rossellini as Sister Agnes, Carlos Diehz as Cardinal Benitez and especially Brían F. O'Byrne as Lawrence's fixer, Monsignor O'Malley.


The cinematography is stunning too - no surprise when it's Stéphane Fontaine, who has some films with Jacques Audiard under his belt. The Vatican and surrounds have never looked more sinister, and that's saying something, all things considered. One great scene of the cardinals moving through a courtyard with white umbrellas might have come from Powaqqatsi or Baraka. 

A side note: it was refreshing that the resolution wasn't given away in the trailer like so many other films these days. Another side note: the turtles were a big hint...

Conclave is screening around Australia now (though I caught it at the Palace cinema in Perth).

See also:

Peter Straughan's adaptation of the John Le Carre classic Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), directed by Tomas Alfredson, is one of the best films of this century so far. While doing some digging, I stumbled upon this list that the Vatican sent to its bishops in the mid 90s - Alcuni film importanti (or Some important films). Interesting choices.

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