Tackling the subject of religion in cinema is always going to be a thorny subject, especially if you are going to paint men of the cloth in a more human and flawed light, but I guess it helps somewhat if you can keep an audience riveted despite having a synopsis that doesn’t exactly sound as if it could set the world on fire. In fact, “old men gathering to vote” may, in fact, sound like the least exciting prospect of the year even without the added strain of them all being cardinals sequestered in Rome – however, Edward Berger, the director of the recent redo of All Quiet On The Western Front, has not only delivered a film that catches your attention, it grips it in a vice-like strangle hold and refuses to let go.
Plans, plots, paranoia, pontificating and Popes all become a battleground of rumours and muck raking and only the sheer gravitas of Ralph Fiennes can hopefully prevent scandal and unrest on a literally biblical scale.
The Pope has died due to a heart attack, but has made sure that Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, a man currently struggling with his own faith, be elected Dean to oversee the Conclave that will soon be amassing to select his successor. However, after these thirty men of the cloth have been sequestered and sealed off from the outside world while they vote, it soon becomes clear that some of the Cardinals up for contention have very different ideas of what the new Pope should be. First up is the socially conservative Joshua Adeyemi from Nigeria, but his views on homosexuality make some of the Conclave nervous, but even he seems like a safe choice compared to outspoken Italian Goffredo Tedesco, whose reactionary views would undo everything the previous Pope sought to build and set the Catholic church back forty years of progress. The alternatives lay with either the highly liberal American Aldo Bellini, who seems more driven to keep Tedesco out rather than actually wanting to take up the mantle of Holy Father; and Joseph Tremblay, a Canadian who some feel only wants to win for his own glory and as the votes start to come in, people start to take sides.
However, soon Lawrence finds himself having to deal with a string of seemingly random problems that all pop up at the worst times that he has to unravel starting with the arrival of the Archbishop Vincent Benitez of Kabul who was was made a Cardinal in secret by the Pope before he died. Soon other rumours and clues manifest themselves, with a story of one potential Pope having a secret child from a past affair surfacing and another dealing with stories of a Cardinal actually trying to cover up being sacked by the Holy Father around a day before his death.
It’s down to Lawrence’s dogged sense of fair play and his own doubts to give him the conscience to follow these scattered bread crumbs and ensure a new Pope will be chosen who is genuinely right for the job.
Even though Conclave is up to its eyeballs in ornate robes, Latin chanting, sacrilegious scandal and more crucifixes than every Dracula movie ever made, all credit has to go to Berger who takes a potentially stodgy drama and turns it into a talky arm rest gripper worthy of the political paranoia thrillers of the 70s – Three Days Of The Cardinal, anyone? Or how about All The Pontificate’s Men? Anyway, while the movie flirts heavily with the conventions of a good, old fashioned conspiracy thriller that’s set in a locked off location with a ticking clock in place, Conclave is wise enough to never step outside its own boundaries and suddenly lose its composure.
Paramount to achieving this is the central casting of Ralph Fiennes as Lawrence which proves to be a masterstroke considering Fiennes could look like the pressures of the world was crushing his lower lumbar region even if he was doing something as mundane as making a sandwich, and the actor turns in a controlled, almost mournful performance, that recalls the quiet restraint of Gary Oldman’s George Smiley from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Essentially planning to step down after the Conclave anyway, Lawrence finds himself pressured by friends and foes alike as matters get ever more political and his unwavering determination to find the truth bubbles underneath that restrained façade.
It also helps that he’s surround by a veteran cast who are positively chomping at the bit to sink their teeth into the drama of this thing and leading the charge is Stanley Tucci put-upon liberal candidate who is only putting himself forward to continue the previous Pope’s agendas, but as the votes come in, he starts to show his hand that maybe he’s not so resistant to the Popehood as he’s initially making out. Similarly we have John Lithgow in a toupee that weirdly makes him resemble Jon Voight from certain angles as a Cardinal who has a fair few secrets of his own that could aid him to the top; and then there’s Isabella Rossellini as a nun whose constant placement in the background means she knows a fair few secrets of her own.
However, possibly the most impressive aspect of Conclave is it’s admirable decision not to use this film as excuse to make cheap digs at the expense of faith. Oh it certainly does what it can to humanise the Cardinals as beside all the bickering, in-fighting, plotting and conniving on display, Berger mischievously includes footage of Cardinals puffing on cigarettes or vape sticks and aimlessly fiddling with their smart phones during time between voting. It’s that final message, that faith should be the defining feature of religion rather than scoring points or a fair amount of chest beating carries through to fairly remarkable shock twist ending that not only comes utterly out of the blue, but fits completely into the theme of the piece that maybe we all should learn to love a little more.
Still, the fact that Conclave plays a lot like a whodunit despite not including an official detective character or even a traditional crime means that it’s not only is contention for the thriller of the year despite not playing like a conventional white knuckler, but it’s probably the exciting and tense movie ever made about a cluster of old priests chatting shit about each other behind their backs while the movie goes to great length to show up the ins and outs of the mechanics of selecting a Pope. It should be deathly dull, but infallible performances, razor taunt direction and a wonderfully unsettling score means that Conclave is required viewing for those who prefer their films unpredictable, mature and, ultimately, uplifting.
Whether you’re down with the clergy or not, it doesn’t matter, because what Edward Berger, Ralph Fiennes and company has done has delivered a movie about faith that somehow manages to wear its heart on its ornate sleeve while simultaneously keeping you firmly teetering on the edge of your pew. Much more of a Vatican, than a Vatican’t.
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