"Conclave" - 2 Film Critics' 3-Star (out of 4) Review

 

Conclave ★★★

Because the Papal Conclave began today (May 7), we offer 2 Film Critics' review of the 2024 film by Oscar-winning director Edward Berger.

Availability: The film is being shown again in some theaters nationally and internationally. It is also available on multiple platforms for purchase or rent, including Amazon Video, AppleTV, and Fandango at home. See Just Watch here for future streaming options.

I Doubt, therefore I Am

The Pope has died. His successor will be chosen by the Conclave, an institution at once elitist (the gathered cardinals of the Catholic Church) and democratic (one man/one vote, secret ballots), guided by a Dean (Cardinal Lawrence, Ralph Fiennes) specially selected by the Pope for what will prove a formidable task. There are the theological/institutional differences, of course, with Cardinal Tedesco (an Italian [Sergio Castellitto] whose name translates as “German”—perhaps a stand-in for German Ratzinger, Benedict XVI) at one end of the spectrum, advocating a return to the church’s pre-ecumenical days and looking forward with Crusades-like zeal to war with the heathen Muslims; and at the other end, Cardinal Bellini (the over-exposed, food-show veteran Stanley Tucci, lacking gravitas for the role), mouthing the liberal mantra of diversity, equity, and inclusion. A third player, Cardinal Tremblay of France (John Lithgow, without a French accent), by implication shares Bellini’s liberalism, but his interests are elsewhere.

Above, Ralph Fiennes (front, left) as Cardinal Lawrence

and Stanley Tucci (right) as Cardinal Bellini.

 

What will most concern Lawrence is neither the church’s theological foundation nor its future structure, but its corrupt present. 

The Papacy has long fascinated writers of novels and film. Recent offerings include “The Two Popes” (2019), “The Young Pope” (TV miniseries, 2016, by Italian director Paolo Sorrentino), and “We Have a Pope” (2011, by director Nanni Moretti; in the original Italian release titled “Habemus Papam”). Yet in this latest treatment of the Papacy from Oscar-nominated director Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front,” 2022), what will most concern Lawrence is neither the church’s theological foundation nor its future structure, but its corrupt present. A mere Dean (“just a manager”) of the process, Lawrence functions as a thoughtful, independent, selfless (though not without being tempted) investigator of ethical violations and wrongdoing at the highest levels of the Sacred College of Cardinals.

 

The screenplay is at its core a somewhat old-fashioned detective story and, at the same time, a morality play.

 

Curiously, the rather contrived plot requires that Lawrence regularly violate the requirement that the Conclave be a sequestered sanctuary, free from all outside influences. The screenplay by Peter Straughan (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” 2011), based on Robert Harris’s 2016 eponymous novel, is at its core a somewhat old-fashioned detective story and, at the same time, a morality play, all of it dipped in intrigue. Each of Lawrence’s forays into the informational world outside the Conclave triggers one perverse chain of events after another. Making the central figure a pragmatic, ordinary man, rather than a charismatic spiritual leader, is an interesting choice, though not unheard of in the detective realm, Columbo being the archetype. Berger and Fiennes have created a finely tuned, subtle protagonist.

Though he is less than fully comfortable with his access to information from beyond the walls (including via a computer owned by Sister Agnes [Isabella Rossellini]), Lawrence is practical, crossing ethical lines when he believes it necessary to produce a just result. Like Judge Tanya Chutkan, who released information in the election-interference Trump case during an election season, Lawrence apparently has decided that not to follow an information trail would be to lack the courage of a morally responsible leader.

Less than credible as a dramatic device is Lawrence’s decision to break the seal and enter the dead Pope’s chambers, hoping to find something. Also less than credible are Lawrence’s tense and loud (Tucci, especially) discussions with the major players that take place not in private but in a dormitory hallway and a stairwell.

 

No part of the actual Vatican City State appears on screen.

The Vatican won’t like this film, and certainly did not approve its filming, since no part of the actual Vatican City State appears on screen. Knowledgeable Romans will be amused that the church’s exterior spaces are represented by the massive columns of EUR (miles away, and built by Mussolini’s Fascists), the French Academy, the nymphaeum at Villa Giulia, and the courtyard of the Chiostro del Bramante, among the dozen locations. Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, the site of the Conclave, is a reconstruction erected in Rome’s famed Cinecittà studios, and one never sees the artist’s “hand of God.” Otherwise, the film has the feeling, at least, of verisimilitude: the bowl/device in which the ballots are deposited is featured, as is the small furnace in which the counted ballots are burned and the appropriate color added to make the smoke emitted black (a ballot with no majority) or white (a new Pope has been elected). Turtles, which appear at least twice, are a rather over-determined symbol of spiritual independence, and maybe more.

As a woman, even the head nun, Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini), left, is not supposed to have a say in the Conclave—except, in another twist in the film, she does.

You’ll see the new Pope selected—a choice at once absurd, overly symbolic, and hardly believable. The new Pope’s identity cleverly and importantly returns the film to Lawrence, who is always at the center of this story, and to a speech he delivers early in the film that arguably articulates the lesson of the morality play. The great danger for those gathered, as Lawrence explains, is in excessive certainty. With certainty there is no doubt, without doubt there is no mystery, and without mystery, no need for faith. Lawrence has doubt aplenty, and just enough faith—in his own skills and values, and in the Conclave process—to be “just” the manager he needs to be.

 

The great danger for those gathered, as Lawrence explains, is in excessive certainty.

 

Despite its flaws, “Conclave” is a highly entertaining film, anchored by a brilliant performance by Ralph Fiennes.

 

He says: I kept waiting for Tucci’s Bellini to say, “best carbonara I’ve ever tasted!"

She says: The “shouters” around Fiennes—Tucci, Lithgow, Castellitto—have the odd effect of making his nuanced performance seem even better.
Box photo at top of review: Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes, front and center) is the manager/detective/pragmatist at the heart of Conclave." Competing for influence are, from left, Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci), Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini), and Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow).

Date: 2024

Director: Edward Berger

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, Isabella Rossellini

Runtime: 120 minutes

Country: United States, United Kingdom

Language: English, Italian, Spanish, Latin; most non-English lines subtitled in English

Other Awards: 4 wins and 2 other nominations

Santa Maria Maggiore - in the spotlight once again for the burial of Pope Francis

We mark the passing of Pope Francis with a re-post of RST's look inside - and outside - of the basilica where he was buried today, April 26, 2025 - Santa Maria Maggiore. The time we visited here - more than 5 years ago now, our eyes were mostly turned to the mosaics in the loggia of the basilica. We did note the great Renaissance sculptor Bernini is buried here. And we saw the (mostly) private Papal rooms, bearing many references to Pope Paul V (1605-21), another Pope - with Francis there are now 8 - buried in the church.

From May 27, 2021:

If Church Lady were in Rome...she would direct you to the loggia of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of only four papal basilicas in Rome. The 13th-century mosaics here are magnificent. They were originally on the facade of the church, but were made more difficult to see from the street when, in the 18th century, a new portico was created, along with the loggia where the mosaics now seem almost hidden.

The top half of the mosaics are traditional depictions. For example, the Christ figure in Byzantine style in the upper half of the mosaic wall. That wall also curves slightly, apparently so that the mosaics were not foreshortened for someone viewing them from the outside (when they were originally the outside facade).

Other mosaics elaborate on the founding of the church - these stories are always fun. The photo at right show mosaics depicting a Pope and a patrician, John, dreaming.

The basic legend of the church is that it was founded on the spot of an August snowfall, a miracle if there ever was one. Mary predicted this snowfall in John's dream, and the patch of snow was found the next morning. So, of course, childless John and his wife then needed to fund the building of the church. This is a 4th century event that was first recorded in the 1200s.

Another mosaic (below) shows the snowfall. The snowfall continues to be celebrated each August 5 with the dropping of white rose petals from the basilica's dome, which we - who avoid the heat of Rome in August (although we might make an exception this year if Italy would get Covid under control and let us in) - have never seen.

One might wonder about the rather odd angel at the side of the photo at left. There are four angels in the loggia by Pietro Bracci. They date from the 18th century and were moved from their positions inside the church where apparently they blocked the view of the apse (another photo of them below). It's almost as though the church decided to use the loggia as a storage place for surplus artworks.

Another oddity from the original positioning of the back wall of the loggia as the outside wall of the church is the "oculus" or round window - that would have been a window on the facade of the church. Bill took the photo below that shows the column topped by the Virgin in the piazza in front of the church - a reflection in the oculus.

The column itself is, like most of Rome's columns, an ancient one from the Forum, moved here in 1614 and then crowned with the statue of Mary and Child. It's also known as the Column of Peace, and it's an archetype for Marian columns around the world. In the photo, there's a mosaic of a column as well, meaning the Colonna family must have been involved in the church's funding at some point.

One can only see these mosaics and the other features of the loggia with a paid tour, which costs very little. Euro 5 a few years ago. Our tour guide was excellent. As a bonus, he took us into the Papal "back rooms" where almost everything has Pope Paul V's (1605-21) name on it. (Photos at end of post.)

A final bonus from the guide was the great sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini's burial site in the church, a modest floor plaque here:

There is much, much more to see in the basilica. This post focuses almost solely on the loggia, itself a taste of what's inside, and a reminder of the richness of art and culture in the hundreds of churches in Rome, or... part of what we miss in Rome.

Dianne (aka, Church Lady)

Shared Houses Make Bad Neighbors: Paint Jobs on the via Casilina

We were waiting in the hot sun for the Trenino that runs along via Casilina, when we saw something that made us wonder how people manage to get along. Across Casilina, in Pigneto, were some substantial palazzi, each with a new paint job. 

Except...except only half of each villa had been newly painted. The other half remained as it was--a trifle shabby. Obviously, the establishments were shared--half owned by one proprietor, half by another. The proprietor who wanted to paint his half wouldn't paint the other half for free, and the other proprietor--one imagines--wouldn't come up with the money, either. Or maybe he, or she, decided that with all the graffiti on the lower floor, it didn't much matter.  

Here's the result:

Bill 

P.S. We found a house in Catford, UK, that's even more "divided." 

Casa Balla: A Visit to the Home of the Futurist Artist - Home in Rome Series #5

Above, a cramped hallway with every surface painted, and light fixtures designed by Balla.

Among its many contemporary wonders, Rome has the home of Futurist artist Giacomo Balla, an apartment Balla made into one of his great works of art, thanks to the contemporary national art gallery MAXXI which restored and manages it. Every surface of the multi-room apartment in the della Vittoria neighborhood (just north of Prati and the Vatican) is covered with the great 20th-century Futurist's art.

The Turin-born Balla moved into the home in June1929, when he was 58, with his wife and two daughters, both painters. They transformed the "clerical" apartment into a work of art in which they all lived until their deaths, the last in 1994.

Every inch is designed and decorated, from chairs and rugs (left) to lights (below).

Clothes, dishware, cabinets, door handles - nothing escaped Balla's desire to shape it, design it, paint it. Below, a small desk and dresser under a loft bed, with Rome the Second time authors taking a selfie in the mirror.

Right, the "Studiolo Rosso" (Little Red Study) where Balla wrote. It's not for the claustrophobic among us.

Left, even clothes were fashioned to the Futurist's design, clothes and the closet doors - inside and out.

When we visited in April of last year, the salone was set up as the artist's studio (above). It also hosted an exhibition of Balla works on paper. The design of furniture - chairs, tables, desks - is, of course, all Futurist.

We've put a few more photos at the end of the post - but you will want to see this for yourself. It's extraordinary. Don't miss it.

Casa Balla's schedule is somewhat unpredictable. It was open this past December and January, and is open now (from March 1) through April 27. After that, who knows? One can visit the home only with a small group tour (in Italian but likely some people will speak some English and it's worth it even if you can't understand the tour leader's talk - a small and informative dual-language pamphlet is available), and advance tickets from MAXXI, get them here: https://casaballa.maxxi.art/en/ - that's the English site. If you scroll down a bit, a bubble will open up at the upper right for conversion to Italian ("IT", if in Italian, do the same and you'll see "EN" for English). Thursday through Sunday, 10-12 and 4-6 on the hour. Interestingly, the building has an elevator (the apartment is on a fairly high floor), but it's generally not available to MAXXI visitors (I suppose they aren't paying for their share of the elevator).

Balla joins our "Home in Rome Series," the other 4 of which were posted in 2011 and 2013: Goethe, de Chirico, Pirandello, and Moravia.

Dianne

A lovely pink and aqua bathroom.

Bottles that would make Morandi proud.

The elevator you can't ride.

The Fascist-era entrance to the building, with no hint of what's inside.