secret meetingBased on the novel by Robert Harris, each cardinal is locked in a closed room and asked to vote until a new pope and the future of the Catholic Church are decided. It’s a blatant parable for any election: a hard-right candidate versus a more liberal candidate, and another liberal candidate of a different faith, each with their own complexities to limit and vote manipulation. And then you have the ultimate candidate: a newcomer from an unknown background who enters the picture with a seemingly perfect story, free from the inherent corruption that lingers in every Cardinal. The past is gone and the future remains to be grasped.
Edward Berger directs this pretty intense remake Everything is silent on the Western Front Earning him a Best Picture nomination, the film is based on a thriller that feels like he was auditioning for the role of the Pope for Jason Bourne and James Bond, and since the buzz surrounding The Bourne Supremacy, he has been linked with taking over the reigns of both series over the past few months. secret meeting Put Berger in the running for Best Picture again. His protagonist, middle-management expert Lawrence, is tasked with keeping the church’s most powerful leader in one place, and he begins to realize that his involvement in the new leader’s rituals is greater than previously thought: a conspiracy that could lead to Leading to his downfall, and the downfall of the entire Catholic Church. Ralph Fiennes brings a palpable sense of calm rather than hidden tension to his character, giving a stellar performance and engaging, self-published narrative of a crisis of faith in a classic Catholic church play. This crisis of faith has dominated films about the clergy since the days of Liesson and Melville; if not before.
This is an overly detailed film, as one would expect from an adaptation of a Harris novel, I haven’t read the film yet, but act of forgetfulness Overly detailed, almost to a fault, it thrives on excessive papal election. A suspension of disbelief is required to get to the final ending, but I’m all for the final twist that will make all the right people in your world, the JK Rowlings of your world, completely crazy and unhinged when they finally learn the truth. It ended without watching the movie. It felt like a huge powerhouse waiting to happen, and I commend Berger for not playing it safe and taking the risks he did. The Cardinals’ clever conspiracy is an original and entertaining way to watch, sort of mean girls Highly Remade in the Catholic Church, which at its core is deeply parent-focused in its approach, is the kind of movie you take them to see and you just know they’re going to have a great time. However, its execution is formidable – entertaining and suspenseful, with the shocking tactics Berger uses throughout the film Everything is silent on the Western Front Here he benefits from an equally loud voice, which isn’t exactly War Pigs-esque, but when the bombs fly, they come, they come, and it’s a testament to the power of the film that you can never figure out who’s The New Pope will end in a way that the movie never quite reaches angels and demons The shenanigans of Level, which are utterly ridiculous – a lean and confidently mature thriller, powerfully played by a solid cast of character actors – watch Fiennes and Stanley Tucci thrive on screen together is a treat – a solid cast, especially Isabella Rossellini, and the pace is as fast-paced as Harris’s writing style demands.
Peter Straughan has extensive experience in this area – he was involved in the 2011 tinker tailor soldier spy. Given his background as a playwright, it is no coincidence that this is a similar structure to the play, with each cardinal hoping to become pope and take center stage. The film, which is about to be screened to UK Cineworld Unlimited members ahead of the US election, feels timely and in the wake of the disastrous fallout it has had, it’s hard not to draw comparisons. Watch Sergio Castellitto chew up the set as the paranoid Italian Tedesco plays a Trumpian stand-in and easy villain, but there’s more depth behind the scenes, John John Lithgow’s American Tremblay isn’t as squeaky-clean as his reputation might suggest, and Lucian Msamati’s Nigerian Ademi Adeymi) could roll back decades of church progress. The big unknown is Cardinal Benítez – played by Carlos DiHerz, who has been working on the front lines in Kabul and has witnessed the intensity of the war firsthand. Lawrence plays the Sherlock Holmes character at the center of it all, the Agatha Christie protagonist in James Bond’s spy novels.
There’s a discussion here about politics – whether a black pope can be progressive if his antipathy toward LGBTQ+ communities reaches such an extreme, hostile level that makes him a better candidate than they have been in the past, but not an ideal candidate of? Berger takes the classic airport novel-thriller structure and elevates it into a serious Best Picture Oscar contender—one that’s sure to get a lot of Oscar attention, at least in terms of nominations this season. And based on the strength of his first two pictures; I’d be happy to have him dominate Bond or Bourne, or whatever franchise he wants – he’s already proven what he’s capable of.
