There is white smoke: ‘Conclave’ is one of the best films of the year

Edward Berger was already on the verge of surprising us at the Oscars with ‘All Quiet on the Front’, and two years later he can do the same with his new film, ‘Conclave’. In 2023, his war film was gaining momentum in the awards race and it was even strongly rumored that it would win the Oscar for best film, which ‘Everything at once everywhere’ finally won. Even so, it left the Dolby Theater with four statuettes: best international film, best photography, best soundtrack and best production design.

We don’t know if ‘Conclave’ will get the same recognition, but At the moment he is taking the appropriate steps for the white smoke: Without initially starting out as one of the favorites, it is gaining presence (it is the most nominated film at the Critics Choice Awards) and, in a year without a clear winner, it could be in trouble.

Of course, ‘Conclave’ has everything that the Academy can value positively: strong characters, a solid script, a powerful set design and a very current theme. Because, despite how rigid it may seem, we are facing a modern film that perfectly portrays the present of the Catholic Church with its contradictions, its fears, its duality, its relationship with other beliefs and the double bottom of its most members. honorable.

In ‘Conclave’, the unexpected death of the Supreme Pontiff forces the Church to make valid the great saying about power: a dead king, a king. The procedure for the election of a new Pope will be directed by Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) who will have to face a complicated situation: there is no candidate who gathers enough support to finish the process quickly, which gives rise to several days of confinement in the Vatican in which The favorite cardinals are playing their cards and pulling their strings to be the new successor of Saint Peter.

Meanwhile, issues that affect the Church come up for debate, such as their position with homosexual people, women or coexistence with Islamwhere Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci) and Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) represent the two sectors, progressive and conservative, that have been disputing the power of the Holy See since the mid-20th century.

Based on the book of the same name by Robert Harris, in ‘Conclave’ the words are as important as the gestures, the looks, what is not said. Edward Berger manages to overcome the discomfort that Cardinal Lawrence is experiencing being in charge of a process in which he wishes he had not been involved, as well as the tension in the environment as the election becomes more complicated. Its close-ups, back shots and Stephanie Fontaine’s photography contribute to creating these sensations, while Volker Bertelmann’s music completes the experienceplacing him in the process as a serious candidate to repeat the statuette he achieved with ‘Nothing new on the front’.

This ecclesiastical version of ‘Succession’ sins, however, in what made the series great. They are missing more moments that exploit the plots, the multi-party negotiations, the ins and outs when it comes to getting votes from the undecided. Hence, we are left wanting to know more about Cardinal Tedesco or, especially, about Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow). The narrative weight falls at all times on Cardinal Lawrencewhose boredom with the system and faith is his main weapon to constantly search for light among so much obscurantism and darkness.

Ralph Fiennes takes on the challenge and offers us, without exaggeration, one of the three best roles of his long career. Nominated twice for the Oscars without success (in 1994 for ‘Schindler’s List’ and in 1997 for ‘The English Patient’), his performance, where he manages to make the viewer empathize with the character’s almost comical disbelief and frustration in everything moment, gives us enough reasons to believe that the third time will be the charm.

It would be unfair to highlight the work of Fiennes and not that of the rest of the cast, both the cardinals and Isabella Rossellini who She works in the shadows, the only place reserved in the conclave for nuns like Sister Agnes. When all the pieces fit together perfectly and contribute to the whole, the credit also goes to the filmmaker, who reaffirms himself as an excellent director of actors.

‘Conclave’ takes us down a tumultuous path that breaks with all the sobriety expected in an event of such magnitude. It is about a thriller with its macabre comic veinwhose development will prevent you from relaxing and taking for granted what is going to happen next, although excess is its second sin. So much twist makes the movie too twistedbut what do I know. The ways of the Lord are unsearchable.