Few recent Oscar juggernauts have been quite as perplexing in their forward momentum as Edward Berger’s 2022 adaptation of “All Quiet on the Western Front.” A handsomely assembled but ultimately overproduced and hollow contribution to the increasingly thinning “War Is Bad” sect of cinema, it was more than a shock to see the film steamroll its way as the annual international film to break through in Hollywood that year, especially due to Berger’s undoubtedly competent but anonymously workmanlike approach at the helm. It makes complete sense, then, that Berger’s next gig—amid swirling rumors that he’ll be the next studio whipping boy for franchises like James Bond and the Bourne series—would be one more squarely positioned in the awards race, without that pesky obstacle of subtitles that Americans hate so fervently.
“Conclave” positions Berger rather comfortably at the Hollywood table, for while the film is, qualitatively speaking, not all that distinct from its director’s prior outing, it’s here that Berger’s ambitions of scale and shortcomings of scope prove most advantageous. Where “All Quiet” was never more than adequate due to a necessary insistence on self-seriousness that its tonal grasp could never quantify, “Conclave” is far more amiable to the director’s bluntness when it dives head-first into its pervading aroma of cheesy thrills.
The Holy Father has died, and now, the time has come to elect the new head of the Catholic Church. Amid a group of scheming cardinals with their own competing agendas on where the institution should head, the responsibility of facilitating this vote—this conclave—falls upon Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes, sorely missed in a meaty leading role the likes of which we haven’t seen since “The Grand Budapest Hotel”), a member of the church facing his own crisis of faith within the institution.
Lawrence’s misgivings and hesitations ostensibly make him the perfect candidate to oversee what’s supposed to be an objective process—sequestered within the ominously vacant space of the Casa Santa Marta, these cardinals must be shielded from all outside influences that may affect voting—but his doubts only strengthen his need to look deeper into where certain corruptions might complicate matters. Among the bevy of potential candidates vying to become the new pope, each one seems in a position at least somewhat compromised, in part by the secretive actions of the recently deceased Holy Father himself.
It’s actually quite impressive how easily Berger’s shortcomings as a filmmaker on one project can be translated into strengths on another, for while the films are, again, not all that distant as far as overall assessment, nearly every element that held “All Quiet on the Western Front” back from greatness works to make “Conclave” about as successful a playful thriller as one could expect. The overbearing sets, the polished camerawork, Volker Bertelmann’s simplistic and bassy score—all elements that felt like quicksand for the intended atmosphere of dread for “All Quiet” serve perfectly well for a film that seems at least somewhat aware that it only works if we’re meant to revel in the mischief rather than gawk at the horrors of society.
Of course, “Conclave” isn’t entirely immune to bouts of self-seriousness, as Peter Straughan’s adaptation of Robert Harris’s novel does, in invoking the notion of the crisis of faith, make attempted plays at greater commentary on the corruption at hand and the intolerance embedded in the Church as an institution. Such moments would probably strike harder in a different film, in which Bertelmann’s deep cello notes didn’t ring with the same effect as a classic “dun-dun-DUN!”, or where a quiet argument suddenly punctuated by a momentary Fiennes outburst seems primed to conjure gasps from the audience rather than gleeful snickering.
Fiennes himself is walking a dangerously thin line in that respect, imbuing Cardinal Lawrence with a required sense of strait-laced dedication that would lend itself to some of the histrionics of his castmates when things go awry—John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, and Isabella Rossellini seem to have signed on off the promise that they’d either get to chew every scene or deliver one critical monologue before dipping. At the same time, as the most objective and cool-headed at the table in spite of (or perhaps due to) his crisis of faith, Lawrence must exude in that straightforwardness an iron will that only shatters behind closed doors, when the lack of guidance of his mentor is felt most. Fiennes, behind all his smooth, democratic dialogues, excels most in these moments in the dark corners of his chambers.
What allows “Conclave” to succeed in the face of its tonal deficiencies—such as a final reveal right out of Harris’s novel that feels a bit too… “House, M.D.” when piled on top of every other swerve that has made up this rollercoaster ride—is the permeating notion that, even among its infrequent attempts at genuine commentary, this is a film intended to be enjoyed in all of its excesses and considered as merely a starting point for greater discussion on the religious institutions we all know to be flawed. This is the mode in which Edward Berger operates most capably, and if his own crisis of faith takes him down the road of giving established franchises or novels some dignified craft with no delusions of grandeur, then we can all rest well in the knowledge that he’s found a suitable vocation.
![Visaranai [2016]: A Riveting and Meaningful Cinema](https://www.highonfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Visaranai-1.jpg)
![Fading Petals [2022] Review – A psychoanalytic albeit convoluted look at loneliness](https://www.highonfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Fading-Petals-Official-Still-1-768x384.jpeg)
![Effigy: Poison and the City [2019] Review – 1800s set serial-killer thriller fails to engage](https://www.highonfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Effigy-Poison-and-the-City-1-768x415.png)