Sleek, confident, and peppered with delicious portraits of pursuit, deception, and escape, the carnival of papal intrigue known as “Conclave” works like gangbusters. This is the best recent Agatha Christie adaptation not based on an Agatha Christie mystery, because it is based on a book by Robert Harris. I describe it this way, not to play with logic (that’s just a bonus), but to suggest something of the mechanics and payoffs at hand.
Honed, deftly, in screenplay form by Peter Straughan, streamlining the narrative of Harris’ 2016 best-seller, it’s a tasty election thriller with Ralph Fiennes honing his mastery of droning interrogative tricks.
He plays the sane, tolerant and ailing Cardinal Lawrence, tasked with handling the film’s meticulous process of appointing a new pope following the sudden death of the old one. The results, performed with almost comical panache by Edward Berger, make for a very enjoyable two-hour diversion from all the other elections that might be on your mind these days.
Berger has just released his remake of Pieux “Everything is calm on the Western Front” a film that doesn’t suggest immediate comparison to “Conclave.” The way he and cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine roam the halls of the Vatican, tracking Fiennes and his confidants and adversaries, it’s as if we’re back in the trenches of the Great War. While Cardinal Lawrence can argue with someone who calls his conclave a war, Stanley Tucci’s humble Cardinal Bellini is there when we (and the trailers) need him to blow the line: “He East a war! »
With the deceased pope’s quarters off limits, along with any incriminating correspondence they might contain, Lawrence continues his quiet fight against global competitors for the papal throne. “Conclave” arranges its key characters for a wide range of Roman Catholic ideologies and beliefs, from Bellini on the side of the progressives, to the conservative traditionalist Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), who hasn’t been the same since Vatican II.
Chief among the other aspirants to the papacy: From Nigeria, popular candidate Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), who if elected becomes the first black pope. Tremblay, equally ambitious and played by John Lithgow, is among the first to offer aid and condolences to Lawrence. Plus, because Lithgow can’t resist it and the role is written that way to begin with, the second he opens his mouth in an early scene of “Conclave” you know this guy isn’t worthy of trust. Lithgow is so good, so often, and has been for decades. There are times, however, when he’s playing a possibly duplicitous Weasel, that he forgets the “maybe” part. (It’s like the old phrase supposedly said by a Hollywood agent: “Hello, he lied.”)
Right on cue, potential scandals present themselves, ranging from potential sexual abuse to blackmail to the late appearance of an unannounced cardinal with his own story to reveal. It’s in the trailer, and therefore not a spoiler, but “Conclave” also tackles religious terrorism in a way perfectly suited to a middle-of-the-road pulp page-turner: with the most brazen moment of a huge explosion since we don’t know when.
Despite this, director Berger pulls off paradox after paradox with this thing. It’s methodical And propulsive, elegant And shameless, austere And juicy. If there’s still a theater audience for a popcorn movie made for adults, with only “thematic elements” and “smoking” attesting to its PG rating, “Conclave” will find it and probably get an Oscar nomination from up, down and sideways because it’s old-fashioned and reassuring in a way that really works. Fiennes’ responsive genius in small, sideways moments is unparalleled. And as Sister Agnes, who knows so much more than she’s saying, can’t wait for the second half of the film to unfold, Isabella Rossellini dines out and orders seconds.
Berger’s attack on “All Calms Down on the Western Front” was exactly that: an attack on hardware that required more, and less, than brute force. With “Conclave”, a high quality pulp with a nod or two to larger ideas about religion, the Catholic Church and tradition versus the necessary shock of the new, it proves to be perfect for the post, playing into the dreaded formality of the debates and letting Fiennes lead the way through an imaginary election with very real rewards.
“Conclave” – 3.5 stars (out of 4)
MPA Rating: PG (for thematic elements and smoking)
Duration: 2 hours
How to watch: Premieres in theaters Thursday. October 24
Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.
