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If the impeccable Ralph Fiennes isn't up for an Oscar... I'll eat his scarlet cardinal's cap! BRIAN VINER reviews Conclave
There is no puff of white smoke, except possibly from a celebratory cigar, when the Best Actor is announced at the Academy Awards.
Berger uses mod cons such as phones and iPads as a visual counterpoint to all the centuries of tradition enshrined in the conclave process, and there is a sense (stronger than in the book) that the sequestering of the cardinals, as they are cut off from the outside world for the duration of the voting, is a kind of metaphor for the Church itself being out of touch. So hats — or even zucchetti — off, not only to Berger (whose last film was 2022’s garlanded All Quiet On The Western Front) but also to the writer, Peter Straughan, composer Volker Bertelmann (who uses strings to tremendous effect) and cinematographer Stephane Fontaine. That Christmas is a jaunty children’s animation written by Richard Curtis, with an illustrious voice cast led by Brian Cox (as Santa), plus Bill Nighy, Jodie Whittaker and Fiona Shaw.
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