CINEMASCOPE: Politics of the Papacy – Newspaper

A largely faithful adaptation of Robert Harris’s 2016 novel, Edward Berger’s Conclave tells of the election of a new pope following the pope’s sudden death.

The film draws on Harris’ research into the ambiguities surrounding the papal election, which was also found in Fernando Meirelles’ bizarre 2019 film “The Two Popes,” about Popes Benedict and Francis. The cardinals of the conclave are entirely fictional, but the ritual of electing the new pope aims for authenticity.

The lighting gives a film noir vibe by keeping the faces half in shadow, fitting for the skullduggery that many of the main competitors are involved in. The strong cast includes Ralph Fiennes (the British Cardinal Lawrence in the film, renamed the Italian Lomelli in the novel), Stanley Tucci (as Cardinal Bellini) and John Lithgow (as Cardinal Tremblay). Isabella Rossellini plays Sister Agnes, a confident nun in patriarchal lockdown; A playful curtsy from her sent the audience into a frenzy during the performance.

Stéphane Fontaine’s cinematography has a dreamlike touch in some scenes. Before the election begins, Cardinal Lawrence must deliver a sermon to the assembled cardinals, which causes controversy among traditionalists by emphasizing the value of doubt over dogma. His subsequent slow-motion stroll through the yard, with out-of-focus cardinals in the background, perfectly signals Lawrence’s fear and sense of exposure.

“Conclave” is an exciting thriller about the Vatican’s power politics and is reminiscent of an election year

A darkened breakout room with turquoise seats, where the Liberal caucus strategizes – and where a crucial crisis meeting later takes place – hardly resembles a cinema hall. Towards the end, a wide-angle bird’s-eye shot looking down on the umbrella-wielding cardinals in white and pink crossing a rainy courtyard somehow reminded me of the dancing mushrooms in Disney’s Fantasia.

A divided church

Commercial cinema needs to attract a wide audience, so like “The Two Popes,” “Conclave” needs to portray the church in a way that makes sense to viewers of various faiths or non-denominations (myself included). It works here as a kind of political thriller, avoiding the mystifications of works like The Da Vinci Code and lurid conspiracy theories on the internet and social media.

This is done while providing a spectacle of rituals, costumes and sets (such as a recreated Sistine Chapel) that capture the visual delights of historical drama. In The Two Popes, sections of the chapel ceiling were used to comic effect – memorably a painted figure making a facial hand gesture. In the conclave, following the novel, Michelangelo’s frescoes signal the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Between their quarters and the chapel, the cardinals are in forced isolation, cut off from rumors from Rome, not to mention the media. In contrast to politicians, they do not allow themselves to be undermined by insiders who send sympathetic journalists via WhatsApp. Instead, we have a state governed by a caste of religious bureaucrats who are at least temporarily insulated from the everyday world and the immediate concerns of the public.

As in political biography, the character and follies of flawed individuals dominate the narratives rather than channeling broader social currents or political issues. Conclave offers elites an arguably comforting vision of politics insulated from an irreverent voter base.

The contrast between reformists and traditionalists could initially be read as an allegory of the decades-long global shift to the right. We could see reformists representing neoliberal managerialists – the outgoing Pope describes Cardinal Lawrence as a manager – and the traditionalists as “populist” nationalists, with complicity between factions where necessary.

The conclave finds its audience at the start of Trump’s second term, the first of Keir Starmer and Macron’s left-exclusive “unity government”, not to mention Georgia Meloni’s ongoing right-wing leadership in the country surrounding Vatican City – and whose migration politics has Won Starmer’s admiration.

However, the cardinals of the conclave show genuine socially liberal or ultra-conservative convictions that are not based exclusively on cynical strategies and vote calculations. The victory over the racist candidate Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) is the focus of liberals like Cardinal Bellini.

Some of the characterizations of Harris’ novel relied on stereotypes, such as the African churchman who is homophobic, even if they ultimately aimed for a “liberal” message. In Meirelles’s The Two Popes, Pope Francis could represent the global south and perhaps a watered-down version of liberation theology. One of the candidates in the Conclave also comes from Latin America – and has a secret of his own.

If the message is that the church can be modernized through egalitarian recruitment, this certainly overlooks the fact that the church is an entrenched, hierarchical, patriarchal institution.

Changing the faces at the top to demonstrate a commitment to diversity without changing the structure and policies of institutions has been called “elite capture” by Olúfémi O. Táíwò (American philosophy professor).

But this kind of identity politics, which ignores structure, is more likely in secular, liberal institutions than in a 2,000-year-old religious establishment known for moving at a glacial pace, for which even such superficial hints of modernization exist are unlikely.

That being said, the rest of the film seems more interested in giving us soapy, ceremonial intrigue, with plenty of opportunity for the cast to bring the plan to life. In this regard, Fiennes’s masterful ability to capture revelations and quick turns of events through tiny shifts in facial expression and posture is one of the film’s greatest joys.

The author is a lecturer in film and television at Burnel University of London in the United Kingdom

Republished from The Conversation

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 15, 2024