Conclave (#612)


I was amazed by the number of people in the theater yesterday.  It was obviously a religious movie, and it was very likely that everyone in the audience was not Catholic.  But despite all the odds, CONCLAVE was a very good movie, with more twists and turns than a roller coaster.  It takes us into the inner sanctum of the Vatican following the death of a pope and the intrigue of electing his successor.  CONCLAVE is as complex as any murder mystery and much better than most.  We are treated to the machinations of this heretofore unrevealed process, and the individual cardinals involved in the voting process are as intense and competitive as our current pre-election carryings on.  One after the other, dark secrets are exposed as the cardinals appear unable to choose a viable and acceptable candidate.  I realize that my failing eyesight is limiting my ability to fully follow everything that is going on.  Because some of the dialogue is in Latin or Italian, I realized I was unable to read any of the subtitles but the acting, led by Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow, was so good I was able to comprehend most of what was going on, including the biggest surprise at the end when a new pope is finally elected.  The settings looked incredibly accurate, and the cinematography was as good as everything else in the film.  Thumbs up was awarded to Conclave by 92% of critics and 82% of audiences.

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