With the opening shot, Edward Berger, director of Conclave (2024), lets us know that this movie is all about secrets. As we follow an agitated Cardinal Lawrence, played by Ralph Fiennes, through a darkened tunnel, secrecy is at the heart of this film. With Robert Harris’s book as well as set-designer Suzie Davies’s replicated and imaginary places, Conclave invites us to step into the Vatican and participate in the choosing of a new pope. By experiencing an almost high-school level amount of pettiness, drama, and secrets, all among the cardinals of the Catholic Church, Berger creates the most unexpected combination of a religious drama that borders on the thriller genre.
The filmmaker lets us into, arguably, one of the holiest proceedings. Berger imagines the thoughts, feelings, spaces and — above all — the interactions that are afoot as the conclave unites in seclusion to vote for a new pope. With memorable supporting performances from Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini, Conclave makes use of its vast cast through a delicately balanced performance from all fronts. Ralph Fiennes, above all, remains the star of the show through an almost unobtrusive performance as Dean Cardinal Lawrence, acting as the leader of the conclave as well as the screen.
Berger is able to maintain a balance between a good measure of these anxiety-filled moments — accompanied by Volker Bertelmann’s score in his fifth collaboration with Berger– as well as perfectly-timed vape-hits from high religious officials. It is perhaps this very smidge of comedy that makes this movie so unique. This film surprised me in its honesty, and detail-oriented craftsmanship, yet no less is expected from the director of Oscar winning film All Quiet on the Western Front (2022). I am eager to see how Berger continues to build his filmmaking in the future!
“Ralph Fiennes from ‘The White Crow’ at Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo International Film Festival 2018” by Dick Thomas Johnson is licensed under CC BY 2.0.