As a Baptist pastor, I know there are two kinds of meetings: The official meeting in the building, where the votes are taken and counted, and the unofficial meeting in the parking lot, where the real business of the church gets done.
“Conclave” is a movie about both types of meetings conducted to select a new pope. Some scenes are set in the sequestered room where the official vote takes place, while others are set outside the room, where the selection business actually happens.
The film begins with the introduction of Cardinal Lawerence (Ralph Fiennes), the dean of cardinals, who arrives at the bedside of the dying pope. In this, we begin to see the players in the drama. They include Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci), the liberal cardinal who does not want to see the church go backward, and Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow), who has files in hand to get the press release done.
Later, we meet Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), an Italian who wants the role of pope to be back in the hands of the Italians. He believes the drift leftward damaged the church’s mission and legacy. We also come to know Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), an African who has desires for the papacy.
As the conclave begins, there is a cardinal no one knows about– Cardinal Benitez (Carlos Diehz) from Afghanistan. The last pope appointed him but did not inform the others of his appointment.
With these players in place, the plot moves to the jockeying and positioning to choose the new pope. A first round of voting doesn’t yield the needed majority to elect a new pope, at which point the story moves to the backroom dealings and the past sins of those who would be pope paraded before the viewer.
As the story unfolds, each frontrunner is taken down by one revelation after another— revelations that underscore these are not infallible men. They are just as susceptible to sin as the average person walking the street. The only difference is that they are wrapped in the vestments of the church, none of which stops them from smoking large numbers of cigarettes outside the room where they are sequestered.
When the viewer arrives at the end, another revelation comes from an unexpected place.
This is a roller coaster ride of a movie, but without any CGI, just good writing and great acting– an adult movie without adult language or themes.
As it relates to acting, this is not a one-person film. The ensemble cast works well together, and no single character is wasted.
I suspect Ralph Fiennes will be nominated for best actor for his work here, and John Lithgow and Stanley Tucci will be in the running for best supporting actor. If the Oscars awarded best ensemble, this cast would almost certainly be nominated.
As for my reaction, I watched this movie and was reminded of what Dr. Jerry Wallace told my class when I was in undergraduate school at Campbell University. He would tell stories of his days as pastor of a county-seat Baptist church. Out of those stories came this statement: “You need to realize that there is no such thing as Christianity without Church-ianity.”
Being young and without church experience, I was put off by that statement. However, age and experience have proven Dr. Wallace is right.
“Conclave” is an excellent example of Dr. Wallace’s words. But despite the humanness of our actions in the name of the church, God works and does things that make God’s desires known and done.
Director: Edward Berger
Writer: Peter Straughan, based on a novel by Robert Harris
Ralph Fiennes: Lawerence
Stanley Tucci: Bellini
John Lithgow: Tremblay
Lucian Msamati: Adeyemi
Sergio Castellitto: Tedesco
Carlos Diehz: Benitez
Rated PG for thematic material and smoking
Pastor of Temple Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is married and has two boys. His love is for movies, and he can be found in a theater most Fridays.
