An Entertaining Conclave

Yesterday we braved the rain to sit through some horrific and astoundingly loud trailers in the movie theatre. We were there to watch a suspense film about political intrigue. No, it didn't have anything to do with the impending American election. Conclave is about a fictitious gathering of the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church to choose a new pope. This is a well-reviewed, well-acted film with Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, and Isabella Rossellini among the excellent cast. It's fun to see the bunch of them in "liturgical drag", holy and nefarious at the same time. 

Needless to say, Conclave wasn't filmed in the Vatican but there is a sense of those hallowed precincts. The logistics were made a little simpler because when a pope is elected the cardinals are sequestered during the voting process, sometimes for days. No phones, no communication with the outside world.  Ruth checked out the history of these elections later and discovered that choosing a new supreme pontiff by election has a thousand year history and on one occasion took three years!

The NPR summation of the plot is a good one: "Ralph Fiennes plays Thomas Lawrence, dean of the college of cardinals. He’s in charge of managing the vote – as well as the cardinals’ strong and various opinions about the future of the church. They connive, strategize and uncover damning secrets during their deliberations."

How does one go about angling for the job of the best known religious figure in the world? There is a lot of "aw, shucks, I'm not worthy of the honour" stuff but the ambition peeks out from under most of the cassocks. The dean figures he doesn't have the faith for the role and his prayer life isn't what it should be, but never say never. 

We are reminded that there are conservatives and progressives in the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church and while the pope is supposedly infallible this doctrine doesn't silence critics -- we are made aware of this all the time with Pope Francis. 

I loved all the detail stuff about casting ballots and sending up black smoke at the end of each day to signal that the election will continue. The cinematography is impressive as well. And Rossellina plays a nun who has a voice

I think my favourite scene, though, is when Cardinal Lawrence addresses the college of cardinals, beginning with some predictable comments about their sacred trust in choosing a successor to the late Holy Father. Then he goes off script to speak about the challenges of the time and the reality of uncertainty: 

Let me speak from the heart for a moment. Our faith is a living thing precisely because it walks hand in hand with doubt. If there was only certainty and no doubt, there would be no mystery and therefore no need for faith.

I like that theology. I imagine there will be pushback and even outrage about the portrayal of the process but we were both thoroughly entertained by Conclave and there are twists in the plot right to the end.