'The Two Popes' is a film in need of a reality check
Pope Benedict XVI, played by Anthony Hopkins, and then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, played by Jonathan Pryce, in the film “The Two Popes.” Photo courtesy of Netflix.
(REVIEW) What happens when you get a pope and a cardinal together? In real life, you’d get some interesting discussion. In the movie The Two Popes, you get lots of made-up conversation cloaked as a behind-the-scenes look at the current state of the Catholic church.
The film, directed by Fernando Meirelles and adapted from a script by Anthony McCarten, examines a real moment in church history — but puts on a fictionalized twist just to tell a story. Unlike past successors to what Roman Catholics believe is the Chair of St. Peter, Benedict XVI isn’t dead. Instead, the pontiff has decided to retire, giving the College of Cardinals the go ahead to elect the man now known as Pope Francis.
It was in 2013 when Benedict XVI, played by Anthony Hopkins in the movie, resigned his post, becoming the first pope in 600 years to do so. In The Two Popes, the film takes place before that decision. The movie is about Benedict calling Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (played by Jonathan Pryce), his eventual successor, to the Vatican for what the film portrays as an intense series of conversations about God, faith and the role of the papacy. There is a genuine feeling here that the filmmaker wanted to make a movie that helps tell the story of these two men. Instead, Meirelles woefully misses the mark.
Where does the movie go wrong? Benedict did summon Bergoglio to Rome after the Argentine cardinal had resigned, as is custom when someone in that position turns 75. No one knew at the time how the cardinals would vote, except maybe former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Therefore, the movie imagines what a dialogue between Benedict and Francis would be like. In taking us behind the secrecy of the Vatican, Meirelles creates a work of fiction.
“Change is compromise,” Benedict tells Bergoglio.
“Nothing is static in nature,” Bergoglio replies.
Benedict, in response, argues: “God is unchanging!”
The invented dialogue, like in the example above, aims at trying to convey the doctrinal divide that exists between these two men. Benedict is the traditionalist and Roman Curia insider with a thirst for red shoes, while Francis is a regular guy from Buenos Aires and a modern-day Saint Francis. Benedict is the unfunny German and stickler for rules; Francis the progressive man of the people who wants to help the poor and change the church.
The only things that seems to unite the men is pizza and orange soda. No fava beans here for Hopkins, who made his appetite for them and human flesh a much-quoted line from his days playing Hannibal Lector. Instead, when in Rome, even a German and an Argentine can cast aside a few moments of intense theological debate over a quick Italian bite.
Amid the Vatican splendor and news reports about a brewing scandal, the film clearly favors the bespectacled Francis, whose portrayal by Jonathan Pryce aims to cast him as a saintly man with little need for material goods. Don’t be shocked if Hollywood decides to reward that with a Best Actor nod. Benedict, on the other hand, comes across as a crafty CEO-type and Rome insider. Largely ignored is his massive intellect and theological side. That’s a shame since Benedict’s writings have been some of the most important to come out of the Vatican in recent decades.
The film does have dialogue that is enjoyable — at times Hopkins’ dry humor gets a chuckle — and a setting that looks as if it was actually shot at the Vatican (it was not, although the streets of Rome play a prominent role). The cinematography over the course of the film’s duration at two hours and five minutes is superb, reminiscent of Angels and Demons. If anything, Rome plays a part of the main character along with Benedict and the future Francis. The flashback scenes are also well done — but only added to help the audience understand Bergoglio’s life in Argentina. Played by Juan Minujin, the younger Bergoglio loves helping the poor and watching soccer. Benedict gets no such treatment. After all, he’s on the way out.
Past films about the papacy have been much better. The TV miniseries on the life of Pope John Paul II in 2005, played by Jon Voigt, is one such example. The Two Popes, in limited theaters now and on Netflix starting Dec. 20, doesn’t mock Catholicism. Instead, it fails the truth test. This fake friendship and imagined dialogue may work as a dramatic play – of which the film was originally adapted — but leaves you wondering why not make a movie based on real events.
The warning “inspired by true events” is something you just can’t look past. Like the conclusion of a failed papal conclave vote, this film largely goes up in a puff of black smoke.
Clemente Lisi is a senior editor and regular contributor to Religion Unplugged. He currently teaches journalism at The King’s College in New York City.