NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Robert Harris had just completed a trilogy of novels about Cicero when he watched the election of live on television. As a chronicler of power and its mutations, the scene 鈥� the Sistine Chapel smoke signaling a decision, of course, but also 鈥� fascinated him.
鈥淛ust before the pope comes out onto the balcony and reveals himself, the windows on either side fill up with the faces of the cardinal electors who had come to watch him,鈥� Harris says. 鈥淎nd the camera pans along the faces 鈥� elderly, crafty, cunning, some benign, beatific. And I thought: My god, that鈥檚 the Roman senate. That鈥檚 the old men running the whole institution. I thought: There must be stories here.鈥�
That stoked Harris to write 鈥淐辞苍肠濒补惫别,鈥� a 2016 novel that went inside the Vatican to imagine how 鈥渢he ultimate election,鈥� as he calls it 鈥� with the added intrigue that the contenders must pretend they don鈥檛 want to win 鈥� might unfold.
As page-turning as Harris made his novel, it might not have seemed the stuff of Hollywood. A bunch of old men in robes sitting inside and picking a pontiff is not your average elevator pitch. But director Edward Berger鈥檚 adaptation, starring as the cardinal leading the conclave, manages to be that rare thing in today鈥檚 movie industry: a riveting, thoughtful, adult-oriented drama acted out through dialogue by a sterling ensemble.
鈥淵eah, we used to have 鈥檈m. A lot. We don鈥檛 really have 鈥檈m anymore,鈥� says who co-stars as Cardinal Bellini. 鈥淵ou have people who have been doing this for a long time, so it鈥檚 a very mature film. If you take all of our ages and add them up, well, I don鈥檛 want to know what the number is.鈥�
which Focus Features releases in theaters Friday, has already been drafted into a runoff of its own. The film, Berger鈥檚 follow-up to his Oscar-winning is considered , including Fiennes for what would be his third nomination. (He鈥檚 never won.) In a Hollywood that years ago lost belief in the mid-budget adult drama, can 鈥淐onclave鈥� restore the faith?
鈥淐onclave鈥� wasn鈥檛 made with the Vatican鈥檚 involvement; it was shot at the legendary The film, made for about $20 million and scripted by Peter Straughan, is primarily a procedural, albeit one with a spiritual dimension.
鈥淚 wanted to make it like 鈥楢ll the President鈥檚 Men,鈥欌�� says Berger. 鈥淚t was my opportunity to make a film like a political thriller from the 鈥�70s 鈥� for Ralph to feel claustrophobic, to sit in a dark room and all we hear is the hum of a fluorescent light and his breath."
To a large degree, it鈥檚 a movie that resides on Fiennes' face. His Cardinal Lawrence spends much of the film listening, strategizing and searching 鈥� himself as much as anyone else 鈥� as he weighs rapidly shifting allegiances and uncovered secrets. The smoke of 鈥淐辞苍肠濒补惫别,鈥� you might say, is in close-ups of Fiennes, a master of the subtle shifts of expression.
鈥淲hen you know the camera is on you and it鈥檚 close, that鈥檚 when you know your inner world has to speak,鈥� Fiennes says.
It鈥檚 a talent that Fiennes has honed through genuine investigation. He recalls watching BBC鈥檚 鈥淔ace to Face鈥� to study how faces shift when asked probing questions. For an acting workshop, he once told students to interview themselves, and watch the facial responses. 鈥淲hat does the human face do in real life that an actor can learn from?鈥� Fiennes says.
Tucci and Fiennes have sporadically worked together (鈥淢aid in America,鈥� 鈥淭he King鈥檚 Man鈥�), but after plans fizzled for Tucci to direct Fiennes in a film about George Bernard Shaw, they sought a more substantial collaboration. Tucci鈥檚 scenes are almost entirely with Fiennes. The rest of the cast includes Isabella Rossellini, John Lithgow and Br铆an F. O鈥橞yrne.
鈥淚t made me really love acting again,鈥� Tucci says, speaking from home in London. 鈥淣ot that I didn鈥檛 love it, but you sort of start to burn out after a while. After 42 years, you鈥檙e like, 鈥榃hy am I still doing this?鈥� You have those times where you question. And then this is like, 鈥極h that鈥檚 it. There you go.鈥欌��
Doubt, itself, is a major theme in 鈥淐onclave.鈥� When Lawrence first speaks to the assembled cardinals, he makes the case that doubt, not certainty, should guide their search for a new pope. As the film continues, Lawrence鈥檚 predicament weighs increasingly heavily on his faith in the church. It鈥檚 the aspect of the character with which Fiennes most connected.
鈥淎s you get older, I have more doubts,鈥� Fiennes says. 鈥淲hat does anything mean? I don鈥檛 know what anything means. What is the value of what I do? I don鈥檛 know. I have an impulse to follow a scene, to choose a project 鈥� what鈥檚 its meaning?鈥�
鈥淚 just think: Things emerge and I like to let things come to me,鈥� he continues. 鈥淟et accident be apt, you know? There are people in this business who develop stuff. 鈥業 want to play this part. I want to make this film with this director.鈥� That鈥檚 fine. I鈥檝e done that and I may do that a bit more. But I feel more and more: What鈥檚 round the corner that I don鈥檛 know about?鈥�
But sliding into Lawrence proved a natural fit, even when it came to the vestments. In preparation, Fiennes was allowed to try on a real cardinal鈥檚 clothes. He liked the feeling.
鈥淭he truth is skirts are quite comfortable,鈥� Fiennes says. 鈥淥ur clothes in the film are made of a heavier fabric and quite a lot of skirtage to maneuver."
鈥淵ou feel quite strong in them," he adds. 鈥淵ou feel quite powerful.鈥�
The 61-year-old isn鈥檛 inclined to indulge in the Oscar talk, though. When asked, he gently demurred, agreeing instead with Berger, who sat beside him during a recent interview in New York, that he鈥檇 let the film speak for itself. That is, of course, the way Lawrence might respond to someone saying he should be pope.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think many actors, movie stars, can convey intelligence and a kind of suffering humility quite the way he can,鈥� says Harris.
The film is also laced with quandary over the role of women in what Berger describes as 鈥渢he oldest patriarchal institution in the world.鈥� The twists and turns of 鈥淐onclave鈥� ultimately arrive at what would be an earthquake of a development for the Catholic Church.
鈥淚 would absolutely love to screen it for the Vatican. We鈥檝e shown it to Catholic organizations and priests,鈥� says Berger. 鈥淚 know from the cardinals we spoke to, they all said, 鈥榃e鈥檙e all going to be watching your movie.鈥欌��
As Harris neared publication, he received a letter from the then British cardinal, the late . Having recently rummaged through his office, Harris digs out the letter and reads it. (In the book, the main character is called Cardinal Lomeli.)
鈥淏efore the reviews come flooding forth, I wanted to write and say how much I enjoyed 鈥楥onclave,鈥欌�� Harris reads. 鈥淵ou certainly did your homework. I particularly admired your depiction of Cardinal Lomeli as a cardinal the likes of which all we cardinals would wish to be: holy, subject to doubts, intelligent, humane and totally loyal to the church. Well done.鈥�
He concluded: 鈥淎s to the startling ending, I said to myself: After all, it鈥檚 only a novel.鈥�
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
