‘Conclave’ is Interesting
Ralph Fiennes in Conclave | Credit: Focus Features
When the Pope dies, the Cardinals are tasked with electing a new Pope… and things get a little wild in the process.
Conclave is an immersive roller coaster. There’s a lot to love about this film, but one of my favorite portions of this film is the way the sound is mixed and edited. I felt like I was there while sitting in the theater.
You hear Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) breathing and the clinking of the cross around his neck as he walks around. The clank of peoples’ shoes striking the stone floors echoes through the large rooms and hallways. These little audio touches help make it feel like we are immersed in this room and situation with these cardinals.
The film is also absolutely gorgeous! These men and the nuns serving them are all locked in the Vatican. The men are all sequestered from the outside world. And if you have to be locked in somewhere, the Vatican looks like a beautiful place to be stuck in.
The walls are gorgeous and ornate. The architecture is absolutely stunning. While watching, I kept finding myself looking behind the characters at the walls behind them. The cinematography helps to aid in the grandeur and beauty of it all.
Everything happening on screen is also perfectly complemented by the score. At times, the music is absolutely haunting and almost ominous. Quiet moments shared between characters are interrupted by the swell of the orchestra or the sounds of a choir, transitioning us from one moment to the next.
All of the technical components come together perfectly to heighten every single moment of this tense roller coaster ride.
Sergio Castellitto in Conclave | Credit: Focus Features
Early on in the film, Lawrence shares a homily as the other Cardinals prepare to take their votes. He is supposed to give something generic and run-of-the-mill to avoid upsetting anyone. Instead, Lawrence chooses to speak from the heart. He shares about faith and doubt and how they can coexist. Lawrence also shares about the sin of certainty. I absolutely loved this point.
I spent a lot of time in Christian churches that were determined to make us so strong in our faith that we would be certain about everything. Their narrow interpretation of the Bible was the perfect view and couldn’t be wrong. The pastor’s worldview couldn’t be wrong. This very narrow way of thinking and being was the only right way.
And there was so much comfort in that certainty. I always wanted to debate other people who believed a little differently than I did because that’s what you did when you were so certain of a point. With certainty comes a simplicity that I don’t think is valuable in every circumstance.
While I still very much believe in God and strive to follow the example of Jesus and the leading of the Holy Spirit, I’m not beholden to the need for certainty like I once was. The more life I’ve lived and the more diverse people I’ve met, the more I’ve come to question some things. I find myself grappling with difficult concepts more often. And I experience a lot more doubt than I once did. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing; that’s a human thing.
I love that Conclave goes out of its way to really highlight this point around the limitations of certainty and the value of doubt in our lives. Lawrence has his own type of conscience of faith, and it’s really interesting to watch him process some of these things throughout the film.
Of course, there’s also plenty of political maneuvering and in-fighting between these men who all want to be the next Pope. As a non-Catholic, I found it really interesting to watch. I’ve never been part of a church or a denomination that elects leaders like that, so it was a dramatized look at a process that I had never given much thought to before.
Isabella Rossellini in Conclave | Credit: Focus Features
Conclave is quite the rollercoaster ride. Throughout the film, we learn more about each of the people at the center of the story and the lengths they will go to get and keep power. It’s also an invitation to look at how we make decisions, what we believe, and how that affects how we live.
Plus, it’s a really gorgeous film to look at. It’s worth seeing in a theater if you are able, just to be immersed in this really beautiful place for a couple of hours.