Illustration by Michael DiMilo
Mysterious Ways: Film Review of Conclave
★★★★☆
By Geoff Carter
There is probably no more of a secretive or insular institution than the Catholic Church. Steeped in centuries of tradition, rituals, dogma, and mystery, the Catholic Church is like a dinosaur mired in the tarpit of its past. Nearly alone amongst other Christian denominations, it still does not allow women to enter the priesthood and forces its clergy to maintain vows of celibacy. It is no surprise that when the time comes for the Church to choose a new Pope, the ceremony, politics, liturgy, and anachronistic rituals dominate the thinking of those involved—as well as the process itself.
Edward Berger’s political thriller Conclave draws us into the enigmatic inner workings of the Church as a conclave of cardinals attempts to choose their new pope with its surprisingly brutal and cutthroat brand of politics.
The film opens as the pope has died of a heart attack. As Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), the Dean of the College of Cardinals, as well as other high-ranking officials of the church are summoned to his bedside. As the Dean, Lawrence will be tasked with assembling a conclave to choose the new pontiff. The main candidates are Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci) a liberalized American, Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow) a Canadian moderate, Joshua Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) a socially conservative Nigerian, and Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castelleto) a hard-core church traditionalist. And so the fun begins.
As the one hundred and thirty-eight cardinals begin to arrive at the Vatican, the major candidates immediately begin to lobby for votes. Bellini positions himself as the best alternative to the retroactive views of Tedesco, while a number of the traditionalists object to Adeyemi because he is not a European—they would prefer an Italian.
Just before the cardinals are to be sequestered, Dean Lawrence is approached by Janusz Wozniak (Jacek Koman) the prefect of the papal household. He informs Lawrence that on the night he died, the pope had confronted Tremblay and demanded his resignation, a charge which Tremblay denies. The arrival of Archbishop Vincent Benitez (Carlos Diehz) comes as a surprise to everyone because the pope had appointed him to his position in secret, or in pectore, the previous year. With some consternation, Lawrence admits him to the conclave.
In his homily on the eve of the conclave, Lawrence asks the cardinals to keep open minds, which some interpret as a signal of his own ambition. During the next day’s first ballot, no candidate reaches the necessary two-thirds majority. Adeyemi has a slight edge while Tremblay, Bellini, and Lawrence all garner some of the liberal and moderate votes while Tedesco holds sway over the traditionalist coalition.
Lawrence asks Raymond O’Malley (Brian F. O’Byrne), his assistant to gather information about Benitez. Later, during lunch, Cardinal Adeyemi has a confrontation with Sister Shanumi (Balkissa Maiga), a nun who was recently transferred from Nigeria to the Vatican. When pressed about the incident, Adeyemi confesses to an illicit affair with the sister resulting in a child. Although Lawrence is bound by the rules of confession, rumors circulate among the conclave and Adeyemi’s candidacy falters. Unable to gain any traction, Bellini throws his weight behind Tremblay.
Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini), the nun in charge of the conclave’s accommodations reveals that Tremblay arranged for Sister Shanumi’s transfer, and in effect derailing Adeyemi’s candidacy. Pondering Wozniak’s news that Tremblay had been asked to resign by the late pope, Lawrence breaks the seal on his room and discovers evidence that Tremblay had been selling church offices for votes. Lawrence reveals Tremblay’s treachery and agrees with Bellini to oppose Tedesco. Finding himself emerging as a viable candidate, Lawrence casts a vote for himself just as a suicide bomb rocks the Sistine Chapel.
In the aftermath of the attack by the suicide bomber, Tedesco denounces the bomber and calls for a holy war against Islam. Benitez, in turn, maintains that violence is not the answer. He is elected on the seventh ballot. Afterwards, Lawrence discovers the nature of Benitez’s medical appointment sponsored by the late pope, a revelation that may jeopardize the entire conclave.
On the surface, Conclave is a beautifully symmetrical movie. The beautiful Sistine Chapel while reflecting the pomp and grandeur (and wealth) of the Church, is also breathtakingly magnificent, a schism reflected in the brutal political struggles of the conclave to elect a leader to further Christ’s philosophy of peace, love, and understanding.
In this production, save for the bombing, everything in the world of the Church is neat, ordered, and preordained. The only unpredictability is human nature, but even that mostly falls within all too foreseeable human foibles. Avarice, ambition, lust, misogyny, and envy lurk below the cardinal robes of those who would be pope, and the comfort of ritual cannot disguise the failings of even the most religious of men. The deliberate pacing and measured editing of the film again reflect the institution’s deliberate and methodical approach to everything it does—which is not fooling anyone.
The real strength of Conclave, however, is in the acting. Ralph Fiennes is simply brilliant as Thomas Lawrence, a character who has to not only shepherd the conclave toward a vote but also judge them as candidates. As the dean, he has to make the very difficult choices between his colleagues—friends—and the papacy. His anguish, guilt, and his own ambition are skillfully layered over the morality of this cardinal.
The supporting cast is nothing short of superb. Lithgow is at his smarmiest best as Tremblay, the man who would bribe his way to the papacy. Tucci’s ambition barely conceals the real reason for his wish to be pope—he hates Tedesco that much. The other cast members, especially Rossellini, are equally powerful.
The story of the political strife in the election is a bit thin. The political intrigues and the denouements of various candidates along the way are eminently predictable. In the hands of a lesser director or cast, this might have been a garden variety religious thriller. Even the revelation with Cardinal Benitez at the end—while unusual—seems contrived.
But all in all, Conclave is a beautiful visual stroll through the hallowed halls of one of the world’s most historied institutions. It is not a groundbreaking film, but it is an entertaining one.