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Conclave
Men and women of great religious faith are often forgotten to be flawed and human and feel emotions like jealousy, resentment, ambition, and inadequacy. For this reviewer, these are the underlying themes of 2024's Conclave, a biting and intense experience of political-like mystery of such anger and sincerity that has captivated audiences and reviewers alike, earning eight Oscar nominations including Best Picture.
The story opens at the deathbed of the current Holy Father, where we meet the Dean of Cardinals, Father Lawrence (Ralph Feinnes), who is expected to become the new pope; however, Lawrence is having a crisis of faith and is really not interested in becoming the new pope. Father Bellini (Stanley Tucci), who was closer to the Holy Father than anyone, is very interested in the position, but has no support behind. Father Tremblay (John Lithgow) has as much interest in the position than Bellini, but possesses a lot more ambition. It's also revealed that one of the Cardinals in contention for the position is black, which would, of course, be historical, and that's the just the beginning of the cinematic onion that gets peeled here.
The brilliant screenplay by Peter Straughan and Robert Harris have constructed a screenplay rich with characters of great faith, but also people with great ambition, resentment, and unworthy of where they are now. The treatment of the election of a new pope, which is called a conclave, makes up the meat of this story as we watch fear, jealousy, ambition raise their collective heads and enter the souls of all of the characters.
I began to see what was going on with the introduction of Father Tremblay, a character whose stench came right through the screen where we first begin to suspect that nothing is as it seems and watch the story get uglier and uglier. We are totally thrown with the actual introduction of a sex scandal is thrown in and completely knocks the story off its feet.
Director Edward Berger, who received an Oscar nomination for co-writing 2023's All Quiet On the Western Front, has mounted this story on a gorgeous canvas, utilizing first rate production values. I think the screenplay is a dead lock for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar and I think it has a shot at Best Picture as well. Ralph Feinnes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow deliver powerhouse performances that drive the narrative and I also loved Volker Bertelmann's music, also Oscar nominated. A gripping story that takes a moment to get going but then offers constant surprises once it does.
Men and women of great religious faith are often forgotten to be flawed and human and feel emotions like jealousy, resentment, ambition, and inadequacy. For this reviewer, these are the underlying themes of 2024's Conclave, a biting and intense experience of political-like mystery of such anger and sincerity that has captivated audiences and reviewers alike, earning eight Oscar nominations including Best Picture.
The story opens at the deathbed of the current Holy Father, where we meet the Dean of Cardinals, Father Lawrence (Ralph Feinnes), who is expected to become the new pope; however, Lawrence is having a crisis of faith and is really not interested in becoming the new pope. Father Bellini (Stanley Tucci), who was closer to the Holy Father than anyone, is very interested in the position, but has no support behind. Father Tremblay (John Lithgow) has as much interest in the position than Bellini, but possesses a lot more ambition. It's also revealed that one of the Cardinals in contention for the position is black, which would, of course, be historical, and that's the just the beginning of the cinematic onion that gets peeled here.
The brilliant screenplay by Peter Straughan and Robert Harris have constructed a screenplay rich with characters of great faith, but also people with great ambition, resentment, and unworthy of where they are now. The treatment of the election of a new pope, which is called a conclave, makes up the meat of this story as we watch fear, jealousy, ambition raise their collective heads and enter the souls of all of the characters.
I began to see what was going on with the introduction of Father Tremblay, a character whose stench came right through the screen where we first begin to suspect that nothing is as it seems and watch the story get uglier and uglier. We are totally thrown with the actual introduction of a sex scandal is thrown in and completely knocks the story off its feet.
Director Edward Berger, who received an Oscar nomination for co-writing 2023's All Quiet On the Western Front, has mounted this story on a gorgeous canvas, utilizing first rate production values. I think the screenplay is a dead lock for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar and I think it has a shot at Best Picture as well. Ralph Feinnes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow deliver powerhouse performances that drive the narrative and I also loved Volker Bertelmann's music, also Oscar nominated. A gripping story that takes a moment to get going but then offers constant surprises once it does.