Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence in the film Conclave.
Part of the fun of such intrigues is that while the participants take them deadly seriously,the potential for farce is ever-present – something always feels out of proportion,whether the stakes are absurdly low or absurdly high. That tinge of the ridiculous is the saving grace and the limitation of Edward Berger’s largely poker-facedConclave,a plush entertainment adapted from Robert Harris’ 2016 bestseller about the election of a new Pope.
Berger is German-Austrian,but Harris and screenwriter Peter Straughan are Brits – and the film is an Anglo-American production,which has surely influenced its vision of how behind-the-scenes battles at the Vatican would likely play out. Ninety per cent of the dialogue is in English,explicitly identified as the characters’ preferred language rather than standing in for Italian or another language.
Ralph Fiennes (left) as Cardinal Lawrence and Stanley Tucci as Cardinal Bellini in the film Conclave.
Ralph Fiennes suggests an especially tortured Oxford don in the lead role of Cardinal Lawrence,a level-headed British powerbroker assigned to ensure the election runs smoothly (the character was an Italian,Cardinal Lomeli,in the book). Other familiar Hollywood faces include Stanley Tucci as the progressive American contender for the top job,and John Lithgow playing a querulous Canadian centrist.
I can’t fault the skill of any of these actors,old pros at drama and comedy alike (watching them nattering away in their skullcaps,I could picture them reuniting for a Netflix caper about a team of high-end wedding planners turned spies). Still,the casting has a bearing on my main objection toConclave,which is that I simply didn’t buy it.
On that note,a couple of disclaimers:I’m no authority on Catholicism,nor is literal plausibility what I’m mostly looking for in fiction. All the same,I had trouble accepting native English speakers would play such a central role in this particular power struggle,or that there would be significant support within the conclave for a reformist candidate from the US.