Directed by:
Fernando MeirellesScreenplay:
Anthony McCartenCinematography:
César CharloneComposer:
Bryce DessnerCast:
Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce, Juan Minujín, Luis Gnecco, Cristina Banegas, María Ucedo, Renato Scarpa, Sidney Cole, Achille Brugnini, Federico Torre (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
The year is 2013. Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce) could not be a less conventional candidate for the papacy. Dodging pomp at every turn, he prefers walking or biking to limousines. He likes to tango and watch soccer with ordinary people. In an amusing early scene, we hear him whistling "Dancing Queen" in the Vatican men's room. Most importantly, he believes it is the Church's obligation to respond to the shifting needs of its followers — which makes him the opposite of Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins), who regards any change as a perilous compromise to the Church's integrity. Nevertheless, Benedict realizes that momentum is building for Bergoglio to succeed him, so the two men meet, break bread, and engage in a debate that reveals much about their respective pasts and divergent visions for the future. (Toronto International Film Festival)
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Reviews (8)
The advantage of this film is that even if no one is particularly interested in the subject, there is a pretty good chance that everyone will enjoy it. Why? Because Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce could very well be explaining how to peel potatoes and their rendition would still make it an acting tour de force. Their Oscar nominations rank among the most well-deserved ones. The sentence that comes to mind, "it didn’t happen but could have," rings true in every scene. This film almost felt too short, which has not happened to me in quite some time and I consider it to be the biggest surprise of 2019.
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I haven't seen such a civilian film in a long time. Up to this point, I still could not quite understand why both lead actors received Oscar nominations for supporting roles. Now, I can’t say a word against them. Such outstanding performances are rare these days. Both Anthony Hopkins, as the conservative Benedict XVI and Jonathan Pryce as the Pope who enjoys watching soccer, tackled their roles in a truly otherworldly manner. One might think that such contrasting characters couldn’t possibly share the screen at the same time, but the filmmakers paid meticulous attention to their dialogues, resulting in conversations full of wit. You’ll savor every line. Discussions about everyday life have never been so entertaining. Add to that the attractive, fresh setting of the Catholic Church, excellent editing with perfect cinematography, and the two mentioned lead actors, and it’s a top-notch film all around. I recommend it to everyone, as there’s something here for everyone to enjoy. I give it 85%.
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In this pleasant conversational film, you will see the pope watching Inspector Rex and enjoying a slice of pizza. Meirelles wins viewers over with his depiction of the pope as a man who also needs to confess and who may also have doubts about his mission. The friendship that is gradually established between these two priests, who are incompatible from the start, becomes the film’s main storyline. Both of the lead roles are very well cast. Hopkins portrays the German radical with his typical gusto and Jonathan Pryce’s naturalness is absolutely sufficient for playing his gentler opposite.
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I liked the way it was filmed, acted, voiced, performed. I don't care that it's a movie about Catholic bigwigs. Overall, I don't even think the film had aspirations to be a faithful historical reproduction. I think it wanted to show two gentlemen getting on in years and becoming friends, even though they root for different teams. The fact that they both tried out for the papal chair is simply taking advantage of the alluring setting. An enjoyable film, it flows very nicely; the two hours passed like a breeze. I just walked away satisfied, absolutely not wanting to think about everything the Pope symbolizes, how much that circus costs to maintain, what all he's covered up. For me, it's a nice film with no critical overlap.
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An amazing humanization of two characters about which you may hear but it is almost impossible to get a little bit closer to. The closest I was able to get was when Pope Benedict XVI came to Stará Boleslav 10 years ago. But even that is nothing in comparison with this movie, which is humorous, enjoyable, interesting and mainly full of dialogues between two completely different people that have, precisely thanks to their differences, a lot to say to one another. The movie has great dialogues that may be unnecessarily long in the 2nd half; otherwise it would have been good enough for 5 stars.
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