How a Pope is to be elected, is all its essence, in today’s world marred by anti-religion movements, agnosticism, atheism and what not, has been mainstreamed in the film ‘Conclave’, directed by Edward Berger. The film is a treat to watch as it imports to audience to a never seen before details of inside the Vatican Church, replicated as Sistine Chapel, in the process of election for the next Pope. It is based on a best seller by the same name by Richard Harris (2016) and had got eight Oscar award nominations. The film replicate the most exquisite centuries old marble architecture and paintings of Vatican, where 118 guests and aspirants ascend from all across the world, to be sequestered over a four-day Papal conclave, in order to election the next Pope. The church inside has been modified with modern gadgets; computers etc but CC Tv, an essential for today’s world were missing.
The two hour journey into the film deserves not a line to be missed. The language nuanced in best statesmanship, in idiom and word punctuated the whole plot. There was never a moment to literally bat the eye and skip a sequence. The director Edward Berger deserve kudos to have knitted a story, on a hitherto little known subject, where there was never a dull moment. For the world, at the end of the day, is just to see a new Pope, but in Conclave it melts into details, which are the real essentials of the film. The assembly, the dinner, sparkling clean ambience, discussions, deliberations, intrigues, conspiracies, fags, maneuvering, scandals, kitchen maintenance, food and crockery-overseen by sisters, are all aligned to a gripping spectacle. The red-and-white combination of dresses, sometime in black too, of Cardinals and Archbishops, adds a definitive contrast to the grey dresses of sisters. A scene worth capturing is once when all Cardinals carry white umbrellas over their red flowing robes and white gowns.
The entire charisma in all full gaiety is woven around four contenders namely Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci) of Italy, who was late Pope’s Secretary of State and a choice of the Church’s liberal wing, Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow) of Canada, an administrator of Holy See’s property and revenues, also an Archbishop Emeritus of Quebec, Joshua Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) of Nigeria, the Cardinal Major Penitentiary and Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), of Italy, a Patriarch of Venice, the head of one of the four patriarchs schools in the world. Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) the manager-ordained by the late Pope, plays the pivot with utmost transparency to uphold the sanctity of his commitment to Pope’s office.
As the elections got going hot, a discussion on the prospects of candidature of Adeyemi, supposedly to have become the first ever African Pope in the history of the Church, had his dream crashing down as it turned-out that he had fathered a child, thirty years back, with sister Shanumi (Balkissa Maiga). She had been purposely imported from Nigeria by Tremblay, who did not shy to libel even the dead Holy Pope, in order to scuttle the fate of Adeyemi. Adeyemi’s, sin was considered bigger than the fact that Popes, in the past, have colluded with communists and fascists, ignored reports of most appalling sexual abuse of children, hence, Cardinals would only serve the ideal but cannot be ideal. Yet, this does not apply for Adeyemi, obviously for the colour of his skin. But, Tremblay also had his prospects shattered as Sister Agnes (Isabella Rosselini), who bemoaned that although sisters are suppose to be invisible (sic) yet, God has given sisters ‘eyes and ears’ and testified against Tremblay, to bail out Thomas Lawrence, who had entered the last Pope room to probe the visit of Sister Shanumi.
Thomas Lawrence, throughout the film, was accused by his compatriots, of being ambitious, a typical leaf from William Shakespeare’s Cassius accusation against Caesar, and finally succumbs to it too, as he voted for himself. Conclave, through him, has been successful to give a message that St’ Paul’s gift to the Church is its variety, as has been shown through Ephesians, who are a mixture of Jews and gentiles, and that certainty is the great enemy of unity. Faith, doubt and mystery go hand in hand. The world ought to have a Pope who sins, asks for forgiveness and is the one who doubts and carries on. Certainty and infallibility are therefore the faces of the same coin, and which does not exist.
The film goofs up towards the end as there was a blast, which kills people, but right at that very moment, a beam of light enters the hall, as if of enlightenment to the fallen Lawrence, all strewn in dust and smoke? Fortunately, there was no blood spilt out! The film tried in vain to give a twist in the end, as a Mexican origin Cardinal Benitez (Carlos Diehz) from Kabul, Afghanistan won as the new Pope. However, yet again a desperate effort was made to given another twist to the tail, but it did not evoke any surprise, as it came out that Benitez was born a man, yet had uterus and cervix, which he was to have got operated, yet changed his mind as he wanted to remain the way God had made him. Hence, the new Pope, would be a cisgender aka an intersex man, as that difference is what is to make him more useful. Lawrence had decided to keep his secret. Conclave won the Oscars for best screenplay by Peter Straughan.
The writer is a former UP State Information Commissioner and a film reviewer.
