A thriller powered by prayer
BUZZY NEW FILM CONCLAVE TESTS THE FAITH OF RALPH FIENNES. DOMINUS!
WORDS NICK DE SEMLYEN
Top to bottom:
Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Lawrence; Isabella Rossellini as Sister Agnes; Stanley Tucci, right, plays Cardinal Bellini; Director Edward Berger, left, on set.
AT ONE POINT in Vatican thriller Conclave, a cardinal does about the least cardinal-y thing a cardinal could do. He whips out a vape pen, then takes a puff. “It’s just so important to find these moments of levity,” laughs director Edward Berger of the unlikely sight. “But also, I was trying to find the contrast between this archaic world and modernity. Thus the vape, thus the cell phones, the photocopier, the Pope in a funny plastic bag… We’re just like them, you know? We’re all the same. We all end up in a body bag, basically.”