Roman and proud of it

Wasn't going to write a review of the feature film Conclave, and this was not intended to be one. Rather, this piece highlights some of the moments in the movie that I found particularly moving. I guess this amounts to a review but I have not weighed up the good and the bad. Just saying what I liked, and that the experience was much more enriching than anticipated. You can make up your own mind, if and when you go to see it.

Let me say at this point that I am not religious, have no religion, do not subscribe to any system of morality, spiritual belief or anything like. Most importantly of all, I cannot accept the existence of any kind of deity beyond the murky realms of the human psyche. Yet to me, the most captivating scenes in this film were the ones that represented episodes of religious and ethical crisis. You could say that, for me, this summed up the qualities of the film as a whole.

Readers please note that this article is about the artistic and dramatic qualities of a feature film and its cast, and not about religion.

For this reason it surprises me (though I guess it shouldn't) that some Roman Catholics have come out in arms against the film, criticising it for portraying the Church as corrupt and its leaders as power hungry. No doubt this fragment of the faithful sees their high priests and patricians as saints already in heaven, completely lacking in human frailty. I'll say no more for fear of exciting a politico-religious row.

Aside from the lavish sets, stunning photography, and atmospheric use of the Latin, Italian and Iberian languages (all with an important place in the history of Christian religion), I found the story compelling. The sudden and unexpected death of a Pope precipitates a contest, the eponymous 'Conclave', to fill the void left at the head of one of the richest and most powerful organisations in the world. Arguably, for millions of faithful, this also represents an absence of their most important earthly spiritual leader, and a need to replace him.

Photo: IMDB

Who wouldn't expect such a situation to be fraught with intrigue? The way the story unfolds, however, takes such intrigue to a new dimension. Unlike other movies about power struggles, Conclave really plumbs the depths of moral crisis, and the mental and religious struggles of the protagonist. This is brought to stark life at the moment the bomb explodes, just outside of the Vatican. I will not spoil your enjoyment of this moment by explaining what I mean. If you have already seen the film, cast your mind back to what happened a few seconds before the bang and its showering of their eminences with debris, and you will know what I mean.

This, for me, is the real strength of the film. The dramatic action is slow and bubbling under, rising to a climax of mental and moral strife, matched only by the laying bare of deep religious conviction and question. I imagine it must be extraordinarily difficult to portray depth of religious feeling in a cinematographic context (I wouldn't know for sure, as I have never made a film). This one achieved exactly that, and not in a way that was soppy, sloppy or sentimental. Neither were there any clichéd burning martyr moments. This movie showed real men (briefly, two women) in agonising struggle with their consciences, to achieve something that was difficult and perilous to their faith, despite its obvious necessity.

SPOLIER ALERT

So what about those moving moments? Firstly, when Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) talks about the recently-deceased Pope refusing to accept his resignation. The reason, Lawrence says, is that the Pope considers him a 'good manager'. I know only too well what it feels like to be stuck in a role where you are considered too good at your job to be allowed to do anything more interesting or fulfilling. This point really struck home for me, even though Lawrence's ambition was no more than to give up the stresses of running the Papal See and revert to being a Monk cloistered in some remote holy order. There is nothing like being damned by faint praise. For this to come from the most important person in the world to you and your entire belief system must feel truly devastating.

As an aside, I was interested to note the audience reaction to some scenes in the film. The sight of a clutch of cardinals taking a crafty cigarette in the cloisters like naughty schoolboys, for instance, produced some giggles. I thought this reaction funny because (a) this was one of the scenes shown in the official trailer and (b) surely people know that many priests have vices such as smoking and drinking alcohol? Even more amusing was the audience reaction to other vices and surprises uncovered during the film. I'll say no more for fear of really spoiling the treat, and you can work it out for yourself when you see the film, as I would strongly recommend you do.

Photo: IMDB

One of the most moving moments for me was Fiennes's portrayal of his character's reaction to the many setbacks he faced as the one person tasked with seeing the papal election through. These may have started as irritating organisational inconveniences but built up, through the dramatic action of the movie, into crisis points of epic proportion, albeit that they were understated. I would never have thought that seeing one such crisis bring a tear to the eye of Ralph Fiennes (professor of overacting) would bring one to my own eye. This is the Ralph Fiennes, master of the art of the closeup raised eyebrow (presumably learnt from Roger Moore) and the ironic pout. One most notable achievement of this film's direction was to transform a self-parody of dramatic over-emphasis into a saint of understatement.

This is without doubt the real strength of the movie. Monumental world events take place, not on a grand scale, but at a personal level, a human level. I must apologise to those zealots of the Roman Catholic sect of Christianity who may be offended by the notion that human weakness can be shown by the leaders of their religion. I have no personal experience of being a Catholic and make no comment about other people's religious beliefs. And I of course speak as an outside observer. But I have always understood that the role of the Christian Church is to provide support for sinners to seek salvation. This was certainly the feeling I got from the cast of cardinals in Conclave.