5/5
Review by John P. Harvey.
Upon the death of his friend the old pope, grief-stricken Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) finds himself having to steer the volatile conclave, 108 cardinals strong, that must elect the new pope by a two-thirds majority.
Some cardinals, several with strong support, harbour clear ambitions for papacy. One of these, Tremblay (John Lithgow), is a picture of sensible righteousness, but Lawrence suspects underhandedness. Another, Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), presents the possibility of weaponising the Church through policies that would reverse the past 60 years of progressive inclusiveness, leaving Lawrence’s friend Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci) with little choice but to stand for the seat himself. And the stakes rise as one candidate after another falls.
Conclave depicts the Catholic Church at its grandest, with all the pomp and finery — as well as the cautiousness and fragility — that attends high office in the almost unrivalled stolidity of the world’s wealthiest enduring institution. It also shows the institution’s soft underbelly in the machinations of its own highest officers to topple their rivals for power, influence, respect, and effective wealth. The uncertainties that ebb and flow between Lawrence, Bellini, Tremblay, and their respective allies reflect shifting alliances and shifts in the political winds as secrets emerge that are unbecoming of a body of wisdom and compassion.
Standing at the centre of the crowd jostling for position, Cardinal Lawrence must try to be simultaneously down to earth and above undue influence, a difficult balance; and Fiennes, albeit that he demonstrates Lawrence’s commitments in action and word, conveys much of his internal struggle without words in remarkably subtle acting.
Well paced, engaging, gripping, masterfully filmed, beautifully acted, and opening our eyes to Church realities without seeming unduly cynical, Conclave is a fine piece of work from which both the Church faithful and anyone else can learn something of both the genuineness and the fraud pervading the institutions that hold themselves beyond accountability, doubtworthiness, and penetrating enquiry.