To Pick a Pope

I am not religious. I’m Jewish, but only culturally so (as in I’m Jewish enough, genetically speaking, but I’ve never been keen on the religious aspects), and I’ve never felt much need to go exploring around with the other religions. I’ve picked up when I know from an expected level of cultural literacy, but if you were to ask me more than basic surface details of Catholicism or Islam or anything, even Judaism, really, I wouldn’t be able to say much past a certain point. I don’t know and, more importantly, I don’t care.

Naturally, for that basic level of cultural literacy I know of the Pope, the dude with the white hat and then garish robes who watches over the Catholic world. One of the most famous people in the world. I’ve been around long enough to have seen the coming and going (on TV, in the news) of four popes so far: John Paul II, Benedict #16 (who apparently was hated by just about everyone and then stepped down), Francis recently, and now the arrival of Leo (fourteenth of his name). And, considering there was a movie released last year (before the passing of Francis) all about the conclave replacing a pope, it seemed like as good a time as any to watch that film and review it.

To be clear, I didn’t get the film because a pope died. I’d been hearing that the film was actually really good even before recent world events made it seem more prescient and timely, and I do have a soft spot for dramas full of intrigue, which this film apparently had in spades. It’s probably why I like period dramas since those films and TV shows are all about drama and intrigue. So while this film isn’t a period drama (it’s set in our current, pretty modern era), Conclave still seemed like the kind of film I would enjoy and, after watching it, I can confirm that is true.

In the film we’re introduced to Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), Dean of the College of Cardinals and one of pope’s personal confidants. When the pope dies suddenly, it (of course) forces all the cardinals from around the world to gather together to hold a conclave, the gathering where a new pope is elected. Only cardinals of the Catholic church may attend the conclave, and they must be sequestered for however many days, and through however many votes, it might take.

Lawrence is aligned with Cardinal Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci), the late pope's Secretary of State, a progressive American who doesn’t want to see the Church backslide into more conservative values. His opponents during the election are: Cardinal Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow), a moderate who wants the job just a little too much (and could, in fact, have been ejected from the Church due to some shady dealings, if the pope hadn’t died); Cardinal Joshua Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), a Nigerian conservative cardinal; and (the nightmare scenario for the liberal wing of cardinals) Cardinal Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), an arch-conservative traditionalist who absolutely feels like the Church needs to go back to its former values and not give in to liberalism. But even with these four front runners, there’s always a chance that misdeeds and dirty dealings could come out, letting an unexpected dark horse take the white, sparkly hat.

In many ways Conclave plays like a murder mystery. It’s not one, as the pope died of natural causes and there’s absolutely never a question of that raised at all. The way the film moves through its beats, though, absolutely feels like a murder mystery. We have a death, we have various suspects all floating around that have motives and desires, and we have their various dealings that could blow up in their faces, pointing further, unwanted attention towards them. All the descriptions I’d heard about the film made it sound like a murder mystery, and while watching it that’s clearly not the case, it is kind of neat that Conclave plays so well in the genre despite there being no murder.

Another way to look at it is that it’s a “palace intrigue” film, which is probably a more accurate way to describe it. Everyone is backbiting, and fighting, and vying for power, especially now that there’s a power vacuum. Just because they’re cardinals instead of various princes, that doesn’t change the game of intrigue at play. It’s like Game of Thrones, except with no death, no nudity, no dragons, and no real war afoot. So maybe not like Game of Thrones (except still, it kind of is). Although, in fairness, the movie would have been epic if there had been some dragons in it.

For a film like this to work it needs two specific details: a good mystery and great performances, and thankfully Conclave has both. First and foremost it has all that juicy palace intrigue. At least two of the cardinals vying for power have dirty dealings in their past, and our protagonist, Cardinal Lawrence, has to investigate behind the scenes, all that he can, to try and find out what’s going on. That’s his job, as the Dean of the College of Cardinals, as running the conclave is his primary duty when the pope has died. So he has to dig, and root around, and find out all the details to ensure his constituents are informed before they take their votes.

Lawrence is an interesting choice for the head of the conclave since, as we learn early in the film, he’s also having a crisis of faith. He’s not sure of his place in the Church anymore, and isn’t even sure if he really believes like he used to. When other cardinals accuse him of investigating so people will vote for him, he balks at it because he doesn’t want the role. This is aided, in no small part, by a fantastic performance from Fiennes, who makes all the care, pain, and faith plain on his face. It really is just a great bit of acting from him.

Of course, really, the cast is just packed with good actors. Tucci is warm and interesting as the liberal carindal who, ironically, also doesn’t want the role of Pope, he just knows he can’t let any of the other contenders have it. John Lithgow gives a solid, scenery chewing performance, really just doing his standard lithgow thing. It works, and you love to hate his cardinal all the more for it. And then there’s Carlos Diehz as Cardinal Vincent Benitez, a surprise cardinal that no one knew about, given his role by the former pope in secret. He gives a solid, understated performance that quietly steals the scenes he’s in. The whole cast is just fantastic.

Really, everything about this film just works. It’s not flashy or action packed. Everything is handled in rooms, with people talking, plotting, and scheming, but the director, Edward Berger, brings such life and energy to the film. This is an actors’ movie, the kind of film you watch because you just love performances and to see people get into the drama of their roles. Conclave is a film that will get you sucked into the intrigue, and if that’s the kind of film you like to cozy up to with some popcorn then, absolutely, this is a film to check out, even if you aren’t Catholic.