Screenplay: Peter Straughan and Robert Harris
Director: Edward Berger
Starring: Isabella Rosselini (Sister Agnes), Ralph Fiennes (Father Lawrence), Stanley Tucci (Father Bellini), Father Benitez (Carlos Diehz), Father Tremblay (John Lithgow)
Dear Students of Life,
So many people want to make movies. So many people want to act in movies and produce movies and direct movies and write screenplays. What is their “why”?
Gosh, do I sound like Simon Sinek? I liked Simon Sinek years ago before his reels kept coming up on my screen and he was called a “thought leader” or something like that. The algorithms on my phone insist—“Listen to the intuitive man in glasses and a blazer who knows everything about leadership and your workplace.” But I bet our grandmas could tell us the same thing while serving us pie, and we’d discount it.
I think there is nothing more ambitious in art and film these days, than to wrestle with stories of the institution of Catholicism. Seriously, I believe that in order to see a future that is brighter than the one we have, we must look at the fabric of our current institutional frameworks, and how we got here. These institutional frameworks are hierarchical, and rooted in religious philosophy and doctrine. Those philosophies and doctrines are—we hear, or we trust—from an elevated authority who is closer to God and God’s wishes. But that God is white, male, and adorned in gold, pomp, and theater. Jesus was none of these things. How must we proceed?
Conclave is a film I immediately had respect for, in the trailer, but did not feel compelled to see. The reason I didn’t feel compelled to see it, is that I see Conclave everywhere. I see the machinations of hierarchy, politics, and power. What is the difference on screen, or in a U.S. election, or in an office? The motives, the divides, the concerns—they are mirrors. Yet I did feel a tug that said I had to watch it, and so I did.
What I remember most in this film is the close-up spotted forehead of actor Ralph Fiennes, who plays Cardinal Lawrence. Cardinal Lawrence is the facilitator of an election process to select the next pope. Something about the softness and humanness of his forehead in shot after shot, with his anguish perfectly captured, helped me understand better what it would feel like to be a conscionable Catholic priest. And second, what I remember most, is a dynamic moment with the Latino Cardinal, Father Benitez (played by Carlos Diehz). His monologue is the most influential scene, in my opinion, and I don’t want to give it away—other than to say that we all need a wake-up call sometimes from someone who encourages peace instead of war.
Peace, I suppose, isn’t “sexy.” It may seem—to those who like stimulation and noise and distraction—rather boring. In peace, one might imagine having to sit with themselves in silence for long periods of time. Most people fear that. When I began going to Quaker meeting 17 years ago, I realized that there was a lot of fear in sitting in silence. Why? Because we have to face who we are. We cannot be self-righteous as easily, or cling to “right” and “wrong,” when we are shown visions of our own vulnerability. When we submit to the recognition of a higher law or force of truth in the universe, we are forced to reflect on the decisions we make, the world we are creating from within ourselves. We have culpability. Where and how do we participate in what we consider to be “wrong” or “bad”? What most people choose to do is keep ignoring, suppressing, and distracting themselves with whatever comes at them, rather than seek internally for truth. Therefore, they either have no root, or dissolve the goodness and strength of any root that was planted inside them.
A priest, it would seem, has a lot of sitting and breathing to do. Sitting and breathing, and paperwork, does not make him holy. Many grandmothers and mothers and sick people, and dying people, sit and breathe and have wisdom they share with us. As do meditators all around the world. Yet in a red robe, and in a beautiful cathedral, and with the crowning of importance from a centuries-long history, a priest may appear to have more prestige. What matters is not his garments, but what is in his heart.
What Conclave does so well is give honor, dignity, and appreciation for Catholicism’s history, while also showing the humanity of people doing the best they can within the frameworks and constraints they are subject to.
We are all placed in mazes, like these cardinals. We are put upon by various expectations—society, family, culture, duties. And within those constraints, we must find our gold. We must trust and have faith in an eternity, and in an eternal source of abundance. That is the work of the soul. The soul is infinite, and connected to all things. The human body and mind, on the other hand, is encumbered by material life. It is a blessed thing to live in this paradox, and to know it, and to go forth and prosper in joy.
This film, Conclave, helps renew a concept that Jesus spoke of, which we may all take to heart. Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Things and people are not often what they seem. I know the challenges you will face in doing my work. Take heart. I am here for you, nonetheless.
It is Cardinal Benitez (played by Carlos Diehz) who steals the show in Conclave. It is a beautiful and wonderful film, and I suspect that the way people respond to it reflects what is already in their hearts, the way that our interpretation of scripture reflects the vibration of love we hold within ourselves.
May we have hearts of purity, so that we can see God.
Namaste,
Ms. Wonderful
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