After World War I, Edward Berger straight leaps into the Battle of the Cassocks. Conclave, by the Oscar-winning director of All Quiet on the Western Front, is the fictionalised account of a papal election seething with intrigue, betrayals and revelations of a decidedly temporal nature.
Following the Pope’s sudden death, Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) oversees the election for his successor. While Lawrence himself is among the candidates, the main contest to head the Catholic Church is split between the American Bellini (Stanley Tucci), the Nigerian Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), the Canadian Tremblay (John Lithgow) and the Italian Tedesco (Sergio Castellito). The Mexican Benitez (Carlos Diehz), who is the Archbishop of Kabul, is a surprise last-minute addition.
There’s no clear winner in sight. Although the voting members have been sequestered in Vatican City, they are shielded neither from the stink of scandals of the past nor the realities of political events taking place on the outside. Every round throws up new surprises. Lawrence is tested to his limits, but the biggest shock is yet to come.
The Oscar-nominated Conclave has been released in cinemas. Like We Have a Pope (2011) and The Two Popes (2019), Conclave meshes fact with fiction, possibility with wish fulfilment, respect with sensationalism. Peter Straughan’s precisely written screenplay, closely adapted from Robert Harris’s 2016 novel of the same name, melds observation, commentary and critique of the Catholic Church.
The unexpectedly thrilling film pays as much attention to the ancient rituals involved in the election as to the skulduggery. Conclave entertainingly sets up the semi-symbolic unfrocking of various characters. Although the literal use of a deus ex machina, which creates a striking composition straight out of a classic painting, feels heavily contrived, the movie maintains momentum throughout, aided by excellent tech specs and performances.
The magnificent production design by Suzie Davies and vivid use of colours – crimson reds and deep blacks dominate – as well as dramatic close-ups by cinematographer Stephane Fontaine enhance the simmering tension. Ralph Fiennes’s superbly judged Lawrence is backed by an estimable supporting cast, which includes Isabella Rossellini as a nun with secrets of her own.
