Review - Conclave
Released 2024, 120 Minutes, Directed by Edward Berger
It’s hard to tell these days what is political commentary and what is not. Surely, I thought, my own bubble of disjointed political turmoil was projecting itself onto this drama thriller, but then you stumble onto director Edward Berger’s wikipedia having not known his other work and discover he is a child of West Germany and has directed such anti-nationalist and anti-fascist films as All Quiet on the Western Front, and you realize this was, indeed, that exact type of commentary.
Was it so against the right that Harrison Ford was up there literally punching Nazis in the face? No. But Berger had lines of dialogue that seemed directly pulled from those on the left about the state of the American union and the recent presidential election: from “lesser of two evils” to “erasing 60 years worth of progress.” While Berger continues to explore these themes inconspicuously, the twist he reveals for the viewers in the final few scenes is, I believe, the rawest form of the overarching moral of the story: we must judge others by their character, intentions, and choices, and not look for complete divinity in those around us.
Ralph Fiennes, unsurprisingly, was so enthralling throughout the film. He was such a perfect casting choice for a movie whose dialogue likewise shines. There were a couple moments, however, of slight overacting. Specifically a handful of scenes where his character moved from being this stoic being to becoming suddenly enraged, and this juxtaposition slightly took me out of those moments. Who is to say if this was acted as written in the script, if it was direction from Berger, or if Fiennes explored this himself. As Fiennes’ character put it, “only god can know now.”
I would have liked Berger to explore Fiennes’ character more too. We do come to know him as this troubled, emotional, and faithfully conflicted man, all of which I found very captivating out of a character whose role is to manage the selection of the world’s most powerful religious figure. But when they discuss his issues with faith and the church, they only explore so far. I wanted to see more of this: just what was his issue with the church? Why was he having trouble praying? The understanding further of this dissonance could only have served the story better and given us a more powerful contrast between his inner world and the world he was coordinating.
I was relatively content with the acting from the rest of the cast, with Isabella Rossellini and John Lithgow also shining, but feeling like Stanley Tucci felt a little out of place. His character’s initial meek and humble demeanor I thought he served very well, but it felt like when his role changed to a more intense, vibrant personality, he just wasn’t holding his own anymore with the rest of the cast. From a direction standpoint, this sudden shift in his personality at the midpoint of the film was a little lost on me, and could have better been served by a gradual exposure of his true beliefs and desires instead of this radical one.
Besides the powerful acting and incredible dialogue pushing the film forward, the sound mixing and editing was otherworldly. Truly, I will be shocked if it does not receive a nomination for Best Sound. Fiennes’ character’s breathing throughout the film was such a powerful way to ground the viewer in his experience, and the unsettling sounds of the dead pope’s rigor-mortised hands and the near-violent noises of them moving his body establish very early on a diabolical undertone to set up our understanding of this not-so-divine world.
Overall, Conclave was a wonderfully captivating and intriguing showing from Edward Berger, with powerhouse acting to highlight the incredible dialogue of the film. Its political commentary balances the emotions of a conflicted man, but could truly shine if some of these feelings were explored more deeply, and if some of its characters more gradually revealed their rawest inner workings.
