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‘Conclave’ Review: Ralph Fiennes, Looking Tortured, Leads a Tense Search for a New Pope
Few writers delve into the bowels of power quite like Robert Harris, whose smart Vatican-set drama brings out a less bombastic side of Edward Berger.
They’re all men, of course, since the Catholic church remains stubbornly sexist, even as other religions have embraced female leaders — a point that’s definitely not lost on Harris, Berger or screenwriter Peter Straughan (the same brain who adapted “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”). The unenviable task of trying to corral these strong-willed men for the all-important vote falls to Fiennes’ character, Cardinal Lawrence, who reluctantly serves as dean of the process, relieved to know he will soon be reassigned far from the Holy See. Straughan’s script acknowledges as much, and while it’s not as philosophically satisfying as the imagined conversation of “The Two Popes” a few years back, it does articulate — in no fewer than four languages, including Latin — how the church must evolve in order to remain relevant to a fast-evolving world, allowing Benitez (Carlos Diehz), a soft-spoken cardinal from Kabul, of all places, to enlighten the others.
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