The Two Popes (Fernando Meirelles, 2019, UK/Italy/Argentina/USA)
The
Two Popes is a perfectly entertaining albeit workmanlike film exploring a
fictional series of meetings that occurred between Pope Francis and Pope Benedict,
prior to Benedict’s historic stepping down from his role in 2013. The film – while
not particularly deep – is anchored by two charming performances from veteran
actors Anthony Hopkins as Benedict and Jonathan Pryce as Francis. Watching
their bromance unfold over the course of the film – even if fictional – is worth
the price of admission.
That
being said, The Two Popes is not a particularly deep film. For one, it
gives very little investigation into the scandals in which Benedict’s papacy
was embroiled. These scandals are shown only on a surface level. Secondly, anyone
vaguely familiar with the Catholic church will generally understand the progressive/conservative
dialogue at the heart of the film – it isn’t terribly complex. Anthony McCarten’s
script manages to stretch this conflict for all it’s worth.
The
Two Popes is remarkably soft on Benedict as a whole, instead devoting much
of its attention to the life and story of Pope Francis. While this retelling of
Francis’s story sometimes verges on the hagiographic, it at least relates the
moral dilemmas Francis faced while working with the military junta in
Argentina, and the trouble this caused for his reputation among the Jesuits and
others in Argentina. The film also shows Francis’s early decision to enter the
priesthood, retold in black and white.
While
the bond that emerges between Benedict and Francis is somehow contrived, it is
made believable through Hopkins and Pryce. Meirelles does his best to keep the
proceedings lively, placing the two characters in beautiful settings, or cutting
between various camera angles. But Hopkins and Pryce do most of the work.
Hopkins’ gradual warming up to Pryce is played very well, and Pryce’s reluctant
desire to take on the role is also delivered convincingly.
6/10
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