Director Edward Berger makes one of 2022’s best movies with vivid adaptation Everything is silent on the Western Frontit’s gratifying that the movie is set almost entirely in the Vatican. secret meetingAdapted from Robert Harris’s best-selling novel, it showcases Berger’s versatility and gives Ralph Fiennes one of the best roles of his career, who is supported by a team of experts.
Recent Oscar Nominated Movies two popes It also takes us into the Vatican to explore the true story of the ascension of Pope Francis (played by Jonathan Pryce). This is essentially a documentary, and the film is purely fictional speculation concerning the behind-the-scenes conspiracy to choose a new pope after the death of the previous pope. Fiennes plays the dean of the College of Cardinals, who oversees the elections.
secret meeting
bottom line
A fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of religious power.
Place: Telluride Film Festival
Throw: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini
director: Edward Berger
screenwriter: Peter Straughan
2 hours
Screenwriter Peter Straughan (tinker tailor soldier spy) to make the story move quickly. Fiennes’ Cardinal Lawrence has a cast of interesting characters. He has a close bond with an American cardinal played charmingly by Stanley Tucci. Both are skeptical of John Lithgow’s Canadian cardinal, who is feverishly campaigning to be the next pope, but he seems motivated more by personal ambition than any humanitarian or spiritual impulse.
A surprising contender is a cardinal from Nigeria, played by Lucian Msamati, and many in the Vatican see the possibility of electing the first African pope. But there are other more conservative cardinals, such as the Italian rival played by Sergio Castellito, who will do almost anything to prevent the upstart from dismantling Europe’s class system.
There’s also a mysterious newcomer from Kabul, played by Carlos DiHerz. The cardinals were not even aware of the existence of the priest, who was apparently invited to Rome before the former pope’s death. Many of them are wary of Catholic priests from predominantly Muslim parts of the world. Old prejudices die hard.
As the power struggle becomes increasingly fierce, the nun played by Isabella Rossellini plays an important role in challenging the male hierarchy of the Catholic Church. The film raises timely issues of sexual and racist bias within organized religion, while also acknowledging the sex scandals that have rocked the church in recent years.
Fiennes gives a wonderful performance as a man who begins to doubt his faith because of all these scandals, and whose crisis of conscience intensifies when he becomes a top contender for papal appointment. We can see that he might be the most qualified candidate, in part because of these thoughtfully expressed doubts, but he might not have the stomach to take the job.
Berger does a great job controlling all of these performances, and he also creates a rich atmosphere for the production. The Sistine Chapel and other parts of the Vatican were recreated in the Cinecitta studio and brought to life by photographer Stephane Fontaine and production designer Suzie Davies. As fascinating as the elegant, insular world of the Vatican is, when the horrific bombings in Rome get too close, a more violent world intrudes. Editor Nick Emerson keeps the plot moving forward. Composer Volker Bertelmann won an Oscar for his score Everything is silent on the Western Frontdemonstrating his expertise and the versatility of his work here.
Even viewers who have guessed the identity of the next pope will be surprised by the final twist, which fits perfectly with the film’s ambition to bring the certainties of the past into an unpredictable, dizzying but crucial new future.
