The Two Popes

First Hit: Very engaging film about the Catholic Church’s 2012 shift towards being more liberal.

I had basic knowledge about how the Catholic Church choose a pope and that the Pope is chosen for life. But that was it. This film opens this door a little more, and it was interesting.

This movie tells the exciting and unusual 2012 story of Pope Benedict’s ascension after Pope John Paul ll passed away, his subsequent resignation, and the ascension to the papacy of Cardinal Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce), Pope Francis.

The film points out that Benedict really wanted to be Pope, and his chief rival, Cardinal Bergoglio didn’t want to be Pope. From a philosophical point of view, they were diametrically opposed to the direction of the church. Watching the interaction of all the Cardinals before and during the selection of the new Pope was impressive.

When Benedict became Pope, his plan was to move the church back towards its more traditional values. However, these values were in opposition to increasingly more liberal ways Catholics around the world who were embracing like gay marriage and women having a more active role in the church.

Benedict didn’t understand or support these things. He wanted the church to go back to Latin services and for the church to be opaque in its operations. He also liked the old fashion adornments of being the Pope, and he struggled with the sexual assault suits being brought against the church, and the financial improprieties perpetuated by his right-hand man.

Bergoglio decided he wanted to retire because he felt the church wasn’t heading in the right direction. He wanted to quit being a Cardinal and go back to being a simple priest so that he could be closer to his followers in Argentina. When he flies to Rome to present his resignation letter to Pope Benedict, his letter is rejected; actually, more like his letter keeps getting ignored.

The two spend time together talking about their differences, and eventually, these discussions bring them to a point at which they are able to share their deepest secrets and failings as priests. These stories are deeply touching and when Benedict asks Bergoglio to hear his confession, the beauty of how these two different men find their genuinely humble priestly roots is remarkable.

The filmmakers make great use of the Vatican itself as scenes there are elegantly shot. There are some amusing moments when Bergoglio tries to get the Pope to sign his letter of resignation, but the Pope just ignores each request.

When Benedict shares with Bergoglio his plans to retire and hope that the Cardinals select Bergoglio to move the church in a more positive direction, Bergoglio’s plaintiff pleas to Benedict to stay in power are real and sweet.

This film does a great job of providing an honest glimpse of how the Pope selection process works and how seriously the Cardinals take this responsibility.

Pryce was sweetly sublime in this role as Cardinal Bergoglio and Pope Francis. The sweetness and humbleness of the real Pope Francis’ beliefs were wonderfully shown. Hopkins was excellent as Pope Benedict. His firmly held beliefs of how the church should work, versus what was actually happening in the church was perfectly presented. Anthony McCarten wrote a fantastic screenplay that felt real and honest to these two people. Fernando Meirelles got excellent performances from these two great actors and was able to make the Catholic Church both interesting and attempting to fix the Vatican ship.

Overall: This story brought the Catholic Church to life for me.

360

First Hit:  At times interesting and other times aimless.

Directly, indirectly and poorly connected stories about desire, life and love.

The film begins with Michael (played by Jude Law) married to Rose (Rachel Weisz) wanting to hook up with a prostitute named Mirka (played by Lucia Siposova) while on a business trip. All the while Rose is having an affair with a photographer who is cheating on his Brazilian girlfriend.

The hurt girlfriend heading back to Brazil, runs into an older recovering alcoholic man (Anthony Hopkins) and their spontaneous meeting and possible interlude is interrupted by her meeting a convicted sex offender (played by Ben Foster) who is trying to find the right path, yet she puts temptation in front of him. 

There is also a Russian mobster who’s driver becomes smitten with the prostitutes sister while his wife wants out of their marriage and longs to have a relationship with her boss a Muslim dentist, who is conflicted about his feelings because she is married.

Does this film sound confusing and a mixed up? It is but is tied together enough to follow the disparate plots. What didn’t work is a cohesive story on which an audience member could become interested in.

There were moments of possibilities, but the way it is shot there is a distance between the director, the story, the camera and the audience.

Law seems only slightly engaged in his role because there isn’t enough meat for him to fully expand the role. Weisz is in the same predicament and her talents were wasted. Hopkins made the most of his role as did Foster whom I thought provided a powerful edginess and an unpredictable component to this film. Peter Morgan wrote a partially disjointed screenplay. Fernando Meirelles didn’t create a compelling film but more of a light comment on relationships.

Overall:  Promising cast was let down by the script and direction.