Human Nature Exposed ? Watching Conclave

Posted on by James Woodward
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This year have been doing some work in the Diocese of Birmingham on behalf of Sarum College. It is both engaged and  fascinating as with my colleagues Keith Elford we have been working with clergy and lay people across Deaneries and Oversight Areas.
I  prefer to arrive in good time  rather than spent too and much time in a traffic jam. This can give me a little time to catch up with friends and the occasional film.
 Last Friday I made a first visit to a large cinema on the south-side of the city to watch Conclave. My first visit to Omniplex had to surprise of the cost of a ticket which was offset by the comfort of the reclining chair. I haven’t read the book upon which this film is based. I was intrigued by the conversation at the end of the film where a couple were enjoying comparing and contrasting the relative storylines. I don’t know how far knowing the end shapes the enjoyment and appreciation of the film. However for this viewer it was both  satisfying and intriguing in equal measure.

Democracy is an interesting and rather complicated reality for us played out in all kinds of different ways. How do we make decisions in families or amongst friends? In a meeting how does the power of persuasion or personality move a group into a consensus? What do we do when we have to live with decisions that others make that challenge, irritate and perplex us in equal measure?
The process of democracy in the Vatican when it comes to choosing a new Pope is slow, laborious and shaped inevitably by a number of concerns and power games between factions.
Of the heart of this story is a group of cardinals who are locked away in a religious house and transported daily into Saint Peters for a process of voting in the Sistine Chapel. This takes place over and over again until a clear candidate emerges. The action takes place here in the ritual of the chapel but also across the dinner tables and quiet corners where no one can hear.
Central is Ralph Fiennes, pictured above, who plays the Dean of the college of Cardinals exercising organisational control over the process. He is the deeply troubled Cardinal Lawrence and sits at the centre of this dark Vatican plot. I loved the steady pace of the just over 120 minutes of drama which manages to combined both humour and excitement.

Like all good films, there is a range of characters. Fiennes is an Englishman, who looks deeply bothered and anxious most of the time. He has to contend with range of ambition amongst some of the key runners for this post. It is quite a cast! Stanley Tucci plays Bellini, the liberal; Sergio Castellitto is the reactionary Tedesco; John Lithgow is the emollient Tremblay, Lucian Msamati is the confident Adeyemi; and Carlos Diehz is Benitez, an unknown figure who was created Cardinal Archbishop of Kabul.
My favourite character is the late Popes confidante, Sister Agnes, who manages to be ever present and indeed not without a significant amount of agency. A certain all pervading tenseness runs throughout the film which holds its pace and leaves this viewer constantly curious about what might happen next. The cinematography is spectacular with a wonderful attention to detail. The acting, particularly by Fiennes, is breathtaking. It is clever in the ways it  holds the attention over quite a long period of time. This is helped by the glorious scenery together with the inevitable colourful ecclesiastical dressing up. 

There is much to ponder here. We are confronted with the complexity and perplexity the lies at the heart of all of our lives.  Our human make up is an extraordinary combination of light and darkness. We do not always operate out of the best of motives. We live with our uncertainties and insecurities. We have moments of doubt and darkness.

In the world, which grows increasingly ambivalent about religion, Cardinal Lawrences crisis of faith seems to be significant. His struggle might mirror ours as we face upto who we are and how we live our lives. It is also, and perhaps especially so for the Church of England at the moment, an expression of spiritual turmoil and struggle. The Church is facing some deeper questions which are both theological and organisational. In this film we see wreckage and the power of human beings to destroy.We experience amongst this group of cloister clerics a number of bombs both literal and metaphoric that explode. 

The ending is of course exquisite, but you must go and see it to discover what emerges at the end of this gripping two hours. Full marks for an evening well spent. I wonder what Robert Harris makes of the interpretation of his book?

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