‘Although we sisters are supposed to be invisible, God has nevertheless given us eyes and ears...’
The appointment of a new pope must seem like an odd procedure to outsiders. The archaic voting process. The muttered conversations in long corridors. The pomp and circumstance. And finally, white smoke emanating from the chimneys of the Vatican. Conclave takes us deep into the halls of the Catholic church to demystify this process and in doing so, forces us to confront the nature of all power – not just religious…
We see this process through the eyes of Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), the Dean of the College of Cardinals and the man in charge of the vote. Each cardinal seems to represent a different branch of power. Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci) symbolises the liberal branch of the church, Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow) is a moderate, and Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) is a far-right Italian traditionalist.
It is clear that Edward Berger is a political filmmaker, we know this from his exquisite 2022 adaptation of the classic novel All Quiet on the Western Front, but Conclave, despite its analogous plot, is never preachy (excuse the pun). Instead, all of the candidates for the position of pope are presented as flawed, contradictory, human. Much of this subtlety is down to the excellence of the cast. Fiennes is born to play this kind of role. The quiet dignity. The intelligence behind the eyes. But it is Tucci who steals the show, offering a timely reminder that he is far more than just a comedic actor. It’s a towering performance, sure to be Oscar-nominated, and the scenes that Fiennes and Tucci share are impossible to look away from. Lithgow, too, uses all of his smarm and false charm and channels it into a career-best turn that demonstrates how Berger can pull special performances from his cast. A word too for Volker Bertelmann’s creatively complex score that helps to build the tension is a selection of scenes that are essentially just men talking angrily in rooms.
Conclave has been heavily tipped as a potential Best Picture winner and while it’s perhaps not quite as good as all that this is still a smart and nuanced film that hides a deeper truth behind the portentous world of Catholic cardinals.
