In the corridors of the Vatican, only the hurried footsteps of Cardinal Lawrence echo. It is with dignity, but panting, that he arrives at his destination: the papal apartments. Lying on his bed, surrounded by cardinals, the pope is no more. Three weeks later, it is up to Lawrence to lead the conclave at the end of which a new sovereign pontiff will be designated. The process takes place behind closed doors and, while we suspect that it will be marked by politicking, it is hard to see how there could be material for a thriller here. With brilliance, and helped by one of the best performances of Ralph Fiennes’ career, filmmaker Edward Berger gives the lie to these preconceptions in Conclave (VF), a film as exciting as it is breathtaking, presented at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
The screenplay by Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy/The mole), based on the best-selling novel by Robert Harris The Ghost (from which the film is taken The Ghost Writer/The Ghost Writer), is formidably constructed. Indeed, a myriad of information is distilled in dialogues that always sound natural, never explanatory: a rarity.
Often witty, not devoid of humor and sometimes downright galvanizing, the lines fly, delivered by a top-flight cast including Isabella Rossellini, as the head nun watching over the preparations for the cardinals’ meals with her sisters. You have to see her, alone in the middle of men behaving like petulant children, suddenly make her voice heard: “They ask my sisters and I to be invisible, but we have eyes and ears…”
What she says next will shake some members of the boys’ club.
Another memorable passage: the tirade of Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci), a “good guy” advocating openness and diversity. Exasperated by Lawrence’s reserve, Bellini tells him that all Cardinals secretly dream of becoming pope. “Look me in the eye, and tell me you have never thought about what name you would choose for the pope?” Bellini says in a statement that betrays a thirst for power that he has previously staunchly denied.
Power, in this case, is the central theme of the film: it is what drives all camps, left and right. Yes, one can easily read Conclave as a clever political metaphor. However, the entertainment aspect is there, and it turns out to be, pardon the pun, devilishly effective.
That being said, we are far from the improbable adventures of the Hollywood adaptations of Dan Brown’s “Catholic” thrillers. The Da Vinci Code (Da Vinci Code) and its sequel, Angels and Demons (Angels and Demons), also camped in the middle of the conclave.
We are treated to a much, much more subtle story.
Erudition and trepidation
In fact, through his exposure of the mechanisms of the religious “machine” and his transformation of these mechanisms into engines of mystery and suspense, Conclave is closer to excellent The name of the roseby Jean-Jacques Annaud, based on the novel by Umberto Eco.
In both works there is this balance between erudition and trepidation: like its distant relative, Conclave is not stingy with unexpected developments. And in both works again, the mixture of talent and charisma of the main actor adds to the appeal exerted.
Although, without taking anything away from Sean Connery, Ralph Fiennes is an actor with a broader range. In Conclavehe is dazzling. In the grip of sorrow, doubt, hope, anger, weariness, or even all of these at once, his face moves into a landscape sculpted by this series of contradictory emotions.
Most of the time, his Cardinal Lawrence maintains a benevolent and serene expression in his exchanges with his peers. Benevolent, he is. But serene? Not in the least. Something that we, the public, have the opportunity to observe many times, Edward Berger (All Quiet on the West Side/All Quiet on the Western Front) remaining riveted to its protagonist.
A protagonist aware that he is presiding over a merciless struggle between liberals and conservatives. Both factions are convinced that they are acting in the interest of humanity, of course.
The late Pope, we learn, was a convinced liberal and reformist. However, two of the favorites in the race (Lucian Msamati, Sergio Castellitto) defend conservative views, ultraconservative for one of them, facing a third candidate considered too liberal (Tucci) to rally a majority. To win, how far are each prepared to go? Revelations, turpitudes, corruption… Enough to ask for forgiveness many times.
The movie Conclave will be released on November 8. François Lévesque is in Toronto thanks in part to the support of Telefilm Canada.