Film Review—“Conclave” 

Before seeing “Conclave,” my friend and I had lunch together—during which I pontificated self-righteously about the Catholic hierarchy not being of any particular interest. I’m intrigued by other modalities of Catholicism, I explained to this good Presbyterian, like creation spirituality, mysticism, and social justice. But the election of a pope by only men, wearing red skirts? Not so much…

HA! Then I got totally caught up in “Conclave’s” surprising drama: the ironies of the guys in crimson beanies arriving with their wheelies; the supposedly powerless nuns who cook for them having a hidden clout; the character of Cardinal Lawrence riveting because of his vulnerability. Ralph Fiennes plays Thomas Lawrence, dean of the college of cardinals, tasked with convening the papal election and running it smoothly. He shares his reluctance with his witty friend Cardinal Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci), but plunges gamely into some tricky plot twists. It’s a unique mix of ancient ritual, modern security, Latin formulae, Sistine Chapel, and the sudden shock of terrorist bombs.

The moving theme comes in Lawrence’s opening homily: “certainty is the deadly enemy of unity. If there were only certainty, there’d be no mystery and no need for faith. Let’s elect a pope who doubts.” Wisely, Lawrence sees that certainty is the stuff of demagogues, not for the followers of a poor carpenter. Easy to imagine how that annoys the sanctimonious conservatives, represented by Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) who wants a Latin Mass and calls Muslim terrorists “animals.” No doubts for him, by gum! But it will have direct bearing: the one who’s ultimately elected “lives in the spaces between certainties.”

The humanity of the cardinals, their parallels to politicians (yup, there’s intrigue, bribery, scandal, progressive vs. conservative factions) help us see that the drive for power is no different when it’s cloaked beneath medieval custom and swirling robes. We sense a coiled tension smoldering in Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini), who’s been told her inferior position, but clearly doesn’t believe it. At a crucial moment, she disrupts the male domination: “Although we sisters are supposed to be invisible, God has nevertheless given us eyes and ears.”

Despite the gender disparity, it’s heartening to see the racial and cultural diversity in the gathering. Lawrence is stunned when a surprise cardinal–Benitez, Archbishop of Kabul, turns up unexpectedly. Turns out he’d been appointed secretly “in pectore,” (how evocative, that mysterious term remembered from childhood), a protection in dangerous circumstances. Bellini quips, “How many Catholics are there in Afghanistan?” But Lawrence finds his credentials impeccable, and Benitez rightly criticizes the men who battle each other when they haven’t experienced the real wars he has.

To reveal the surprise ending would be behaving like the lowest cad in the hierarchy—so no disclosures here. Let’s just say a stunned Lawrence has to sit down for a moment–and it left us grinning and cheering as we left the theater.