For someone who identifies as extremely agnostic, something about this screenplay, the actors, the score, the editing, and directing did something to my soul. Bruh, the emotion of this narrative drove me to a late-night deep dive into the history of Catholicism and its most notable institution, the church.
Jonathan Pryce is an actor’s actor. And a critic’s best bet that no matter which role he picks because he is always consistent and thorough. My Lord (figuratively, of course)! He’s amazing to watch. It’s almost petrifying to watch him because you know he’s ACTING, right, but it’s so damn good you can hardly believe the fearlessness in his performances. I can’t. I digress. In sum, he killed this role.
And equally, an actor’s actor’s inspiration, Sir Anthony Hopkins—the Welsh God.
Bruh, Anthony Hopkins made me tear up in this. That game of chicken he plays as Pope Benedict alongside Jonathan Pryce’s portrayal of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio/Pope Francis, is some masterful acting and a lesson in how you don’t need a bunch of words in a screenplay to exercise the power in a performance.
Not only was this film a great lesson about the current and ongoing controversies in one of the world’s most renowned religious institutions, the film highlighted just how important and monumental it was for the papacy to elect its first Pope from somewhere other than Europe. I wasn’t familiar with Pope Benedict’s German nationality, or how there was resentment from religious followers who openly criticized him as a Nazi and deemed his leadership as a roadblock to the progressive times the world’s culture had found itself—slowing moving away from religious conservative values. Or that the Argentinian Cardinal who would ultimately replace him would be the figure to bring about a social and moral shift to the highly-regarded institution in hopes of restoring faith in believers across the world.
More than anything else, for me, this film drove home the importance that religious institutions bring to the lives of millions, or even a billion faithful followers. And even in moments of controversy, followers of the faith look to the leaders of the institution for their guidance and political strength to help make society better, even amongst all of our cultural, societal, racial, and ethnic differences.