Fírinne McIntyre ✒ writing in Being Human.
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“Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance." - Dir. Edward Berger
On the eve of my father’s 68th birthday, my family and partner sat down to watch Conclave. A film about the Catholic, or moreso, political process of electing a new pope.
Coming from a very atheist and very political background, my viewing of this film was initially hindered by two things: firstly, a notable lack of understanding of the Catholic hierarchy and the subsequent need to pause the film at multiple intervals, much to my father’s annoyance, to inquire as to who was who and what was up with the little hats they were wearing; secondly, I have a natural aversion to politics, like any child of political parents might, having had little interest or tolerance for political discussion for most of my youth. All of this is to say that Conclave was a film I would not have expected myself to enjoy, particularly in that it was also 2 hours long and I am a regular slave to the 6 inch screen.
The film was brilliant. Once it had been explained to me that I couldn’t refer to all of the priests as Popes because there was, in fact, only one Pope (and kind of the point of the film), it had a story that never quite faltered or failed to be interesting at every point. Sometimes a great film can fall a little flat when introducing its emotional arc, where a fine balance exists between emotion and pure cheese. But no fromage in Conclave, even where disasters strike at moments too obvious to be anything other than a sign from God. I saw myself and my father agreeing with the Catholics for perhaps the first time in our lives as they spoke of ‘certainty being the enemy of tolerance’.
I am the modern atheist who praises Conclave to high heavens. If there is one thing I am certain of, it is that Conclave is worth the watch, but it certainly requires one’s full attention.
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| Fírinne McIntyre of synth-pop duo “mischa and the bear” . |
Good review Firinne, I went to see it at the cinema with my wife who was brought up in very religious Catholic family of Irish background and was baffled at the deference to these blokes in frocks ( frocks is a Australianism for dresses rather fittingly!) in the film. I asked her about it and apparently the Priests held (still hold?) considerable authority over families. So, so strange to me. After all these years she's still pretty disgusted by it.
ReplyDelete"..subsequent need to pause the film at multiple intervals, much to my father’s annoyance,"
As a father of a teenage daughter....I agree with your Da! LOL