Conclave

Okay I feel like an ass for not seeing this when it came out. Granted I never saw a poster or even a trailer, only through some preliminary buzz on the interwebs was the movie brought to my attention. And this is truly an interesting film if not for the plot itself, because for lack of a better word this concerns the "business" side of the Vatican, with the plot revolving around the election of a new Pope. I'm guessing from a very ignorant, uninformed, and straight up uncaring point of view that this is information not readily available to the public, I mean I doubt they let observers into the conclave for the voting process. So it is fascinating to watch because it's a very realistic, very humble, very unglamorous window into a religious sect that has existed for nigh a millennia with little rites or even spirituality. Funny to say regarding the cast is entirely composed of the various hierarchy of priests and nuns, but I very much appreciated such notions, with even certain scenes pointing out that the church should be used for worship and not power. Ralph Fiennes is our lead as Dean Lawrence who is essentially the head honcho in charge of the conclave, keeping the event and it's participants in line and the man can clearly play anything bringing emotion and yet unswerving power to the role. Stanley Tucci as Cardinal Bellini certainly had my vote for next pope, bringing a sense of world weariness and self awareness with very progressive ideals that I think many not even of Catholic faith could stand by, plus the guy is just a great actor and it's been too long since I've seen him last in a movie. Our fabulous lady Isabella Rossellini though in a minor role as Sister Agnes has a part to play, and David if you can hear me pull some strings and get this girl an Oscar win just for the hell of it! Carlos Diehz is certainly the outlier in the cast as a newly appointed cardinal pretty much thrown in the deep end head first but is kinda the dark horse of the conclave, and they do some bold stuff with his character but he plays it beautifully. It was surprisingly difficult to get a grasp on what story this was going to be, causeI read the synopsis and at the word 'conspiracy' I was expecting almost this thriller style story and while it does wiggle it's toes in the mystery pool it kinda sticks to this simple story of just electing a new pope, with some political machinations which comes with any kind of vote. I will say the movie looks beautiful, and not just simply down to the extravagant sets or lavish costuming, the cinematographer knows how to use color, they know how to linger on a shot or place the camera in an engaging way. For a 2 hour movie it was flying by and I honestly wanted it to be longer, it certainly wasn't dull or tedious which in and of itself shows the crafting of this movie to be in strong capable hands. Also I attribute that to the score, it is...intense, you could say and knows how to punctuate a scene. Props to the composer Volker Bertlemann! I mean the movie has to be good if even someone such as myself, who isn't religious and actually holds contempt for organized religion was thoroughly invested and easily can say it was a great movie. Shit it got a whole point for just acknowledging and admitting the public facts that a previous pope was a youth in the natzi party and the massive cover up of priests with their choir boys en suite, I have to have respect for just calling that out! But it was super engaging, very well made, has a story that may ruffle some feathers but the status quo needs a shakeup now and then, and I could easily have seen it on my top 10 even if it was in the bottom five. 4 stars from me, 8.5/10!