Edward Berger, “Conclave” (2024)
Who’d have thought that a film about a group of Roman Catholic cardinals electing a new Pope could turn out to be gripping and entertaining … and silly, to boot? Adapted quite faithfully from the novel of the same name by Robert Harris – who also turned out “The Ghost”, also adapted into a film by none other than Roman Polanski – “Conclave” is an engaging film, at least for most of its running length before the plot detours onto a path of comedy skits that become ever more bizarre.
On the death of the old Pope, Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with organising the conclave: the secret assembly of senior cardinals from around the world who will vote for the next Pope. And come they do, from all corners of the planet: among them, Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci), an American with socially progressive views similar to those of the old Pope; the Nigerian Joshua Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), a social conservative who frowns on gay marriage; the Italian Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) who rues the day the Roman Catholic Church ditched the use of Latin in services and various other reforms; and Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgrow), a Canadian whose views and opinions come close to those of Bellini. All four cardinals are rivals to succeed the Pope in the elections that will take place, and all four are determined in their own ways to claim that position. Just how determined they are becomes part of a plot that runs from one surprising (and often silly) twist to another, and another, in an environment deliberately sealed off from the outside world. And yet, even though this environment – this Conclave – is sequestered from all possible outside factors that might influence the voting and swing it one way or another, nevertheless the various schemes and shenanigans – the vote-buying, the lobbying, and the surprise dark horse in the form of Vincent Benitez (Carlos Diehz, in his debut film role) late in the voting – demonstrate that these cardinals, supposedly far removed from the lives of ordinary people, are in fact as human as the rest of us.
The film’s admittedly thin plot is carried by a cast of experienced and talented actors, Fiennes in particular delivering a wonderful performance of a priest experiencing self-doubt and a crisis of faith and confidence while trying at once to put out various fires (mostly metaphorical), maintain transparency in the voting, drive out corruption and continue the old Pope’s legacy of reform and spiritual renewal. Rumour that the old Pope tried to force Tremblay’s resignation reaches Lawrence’s ears, as does a thirty-year sex scandal (complete with a baby given up for adoption) involving Adeyemi and a Nigerian nun. Bellini makes no secret of his ambitions to be Pope to stop Tedesco from becoming Pope and undoing the legacy of the old Pope. One by one, undone by scandal, grubby behaviour, pride and ambition, or prejudiced opinion, the main candidates end up falling away. Castellitto chews the scenery with his portrayal of (an admittedly stereotyped ultra-conservative) Tedesco while Msamati’s very understated Adeyemi might impress some viewers. Of the minor cast members, Isabella Rossellini puts in a very subtle performance as Sister Agnes who is more eloquent when she is not speaking (especially when she is doing something at the same time – like being a dab hand at IT office technologies) than when she is.
A film about political ambition and personal ideological agendas, about faith and doubt (and the relationship of doubt to faith), about an institution that places history and tradition (even as its office bearers are enamoured of modern technology like coffee espresso machines) above the needs of the people it is supposed to serve, might be expected to err so much on the side of weightiness and depth that it becomes tedious and ridiculous; and yet “Conclave” comes away as an absurdist film with a light touch set in a universe in which God not only moves in mysterious ways, He moves also in ways that make fun of seriousness and dogmatic belief. After earnestly driving out corruption and ensuring openness in the Papal election, after rounds of voting that come to naught, and after (at long last!) the new Pope is chosen, Lawrence is informed of the new successor’s cancelled medical appointment and confronts the man about it. The revelation is so bizarre that – irony of ironies – Lawrence’s belief and trust in God, who surely must have manipulated the events during this conclave’s existence, are restored and, going against his own logic and conscientiousness and everything he has done so far, decides to keep this revelation secret in an organisation and context where secrecy and the mystery of God’s ways are, after all, paramount.