The Two Popes
There are a handful of great things that “The Two Popes” does that makes us feel even more engaged and enlightened by this two-day conversation that goes on between Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, soon to be Pope Francis, at a key point in the Catholic Church. The premise of this film sounds like a snoozefest, but writer Anthony McCarten and director Fernando Meirelles make it about ideas, both visual and intellectual, and give Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins plenty of room to work, flesh out these characters, and give us a lot to think about in terms of faith and the flaws of men we consider to be infallible.
The film begins with Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (Pryce) trying to make a phone reservation for a flight out of Vatican City. He has just been elected Pope, and the person of the other line thinks it’s a prank, and then hangs up on him. We then cut to 2005, and Bergoglio is preaching to people on the streets in Argentina when a citizen informs him of Pope John Paul II’s death. He is then on his way to Rome, and the vote to elect a new Pope behind closed doors. Although there are votes for reform that go towards Bergoglio, but the Cardinals ultimately vote for the more hardlined, conservative choice in Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Hopkins) to succeed the beloved Pope John Paul II. We then cut to 2012, and Cardinal Bergoglio has written recently to Vatican City- he is wanting to resign his post. Pope Benedict XVI has written Bergoglio, as well- he wants to meet with him in private, to get to know the Cardinal to see what he thinks of someone whom is on the opposite spectrum, and could be his successor in the event he were to leave the papacy.
Meirelles (“City of God,” “The Constant Gardner”) gives us an interesting visual experience in how he frames this meeting of minds between the present Pope, and the future Pope, and also in how he gives us flashbacks to Bergoglio’s early life, namely, when he realized he was being called to be a priest, and his time in charge of the Jesuits in Argentina during a politically-turbulent time in the country. It’s not just flashbacks, but the way he and cinematographer César Charlone frame Benedict XVI and Bergoglio during moments of the film, which takes place over two days, in a handful of locations. What engages us further are the ideas being espoused by Benedict and Bergoglio, as these two men, with a wealth of spiritual guidance and knowledge in their minds, discuss issues of faith and politics within the Church. Each one pushes against the other, and what looks like it could be a battle of wills is simply a convergence of ideas, primarily the idea that people from different ideological paths can come together and, even if they don’t believe the same way, see the perspective of the other person with compassion and humanity. Pryce and Hopkins dig into this material beautifully, making these men feel down-to-Earth and heartfelt in their love of people, and the Church, even if they don’t see it the same way. It’s a richly satisfying experience.
