『CONCLAVE』 was too good! - "Certainty" and "Doubt"
I was shocked that I missed the "beautiful evil" performance by actor Kumi Takiuchi—who played the endlessly cursing Akiko in "Dear Radiance"—at the movie theater, so I renewed my resolve to "make time to properly go see movies I'm curious about." With that, I finally went to see CONCLAVE.
The most impressive movie for me last year was "The Zone of Interest," and I felt a similar sense of awe and excitement with this one. I'm really glad I watched it.
I recommended it to my father and he was moved by it too, so I'm going to scribble down my thoughts regardless of the sake I've had!
By the way, if possible, I want you to go see it with zero prior knowledge!
I went in with such shallowness that I thought it was set in the Middle Ages, only to find out it was modern day~♪
The "Conclave" held in isolation from society
The beginning of the movie is simple, starting with the passing of the Pope.
Without enough time to properly mourn the death of the Pope he trusted, Lawrence, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, gathers the cardinals (the highest-ranking clergy) from various countries in Vatican City for the conclave, or "papal election".
Incidentally, Lawrence feels that his job as an administrator doesn't suit him, and he had actually requested to resign before the previous Pope passed away. That's the kind of character he is.
I have never been to Vatican City, but this film captures the local atmosphere and worldview with sharp, lean cinematography. I had the impression that many of the shots were framed linearly and pictorially.
In terms of sound, the early stages were particularly thrilling, with many dark sound effects. It made me a little nervous.
In the early stages, it is expressed throughout how heavy this election is, and (especially from Lawrence's position as the person in charge) how stressful it is is expressed throughout.
From the start of the election until a new Pope is decided, the cardinals are "isolated."
They hand over their digital devices, including smartphones, sleep in the same dormitory, and do nothing but cast votes. The meals looked luxurious, but since it seems mentally exhausting, they might not have tasted very good.
On the eve of the conclave, Lawrence, out of tension and frustration, struggled to open the zipper of his toiletry case he brought for his stay and ended up breaking it.
Additionally, there was a shot of cigarette butts (probably about 20 of them) discarded on the premises, which the cardinals had smoked incessantly before the conclave began, knowing they wouldn't be able to for a while. Thinking about whether a sister would clean them up, I felt that was also part of the story.
And even though the top Catholic leaders from various countries are gathered, they differ in race, native language, and official language.
Lawrence has a very trusted aide who mainly delivers the latest information to him, but even he, in the middle of the film, reveals that "partly because I'm not fluent in Spanish," there is a language barrier to varying degrees in obtaining information.
Beyond the situation of being cut off from modern society, I think it is quite difficult for us born in Japan to understand the atmosphere and tension of a place where people who all differ in language, cultural background, lifestyle, and ideology gather together.
The progress of the election is easy to imagine, as "multiple candidates are narrowed down for various reasons*," but the conflict between the conservative faction and the reformist (liberal) faction is clear from the first half.
Among them, triggered by trouble that occurred between a certain cardinal and a sister, the story accelerates all at once.
*In a conclave, it continues until one candidate's vote count exceeds a majority. Therefore, candidates who were full of spirit at first saying "I am the one!" and people who were convinced "That person is the right one!" change their votes due to the shifting winds of the election & prolonged stress.
Many famous quotes that I couldn't help but ruminate on while watching
(I will talk about it below, but I won't give any real spoilers)
"Certainty" and "Doubt"
The theme of Lawrence's sermon, "Certainty" and "Doubt".
It left a deep impression on my heart. I wanted to remember it absolutely and write it down here, so I was ruminating on it periodically while watching. lol
I don't remember every word, but I will introduce the nuance.
In his sermon before the election, Lawrence says, "Now, the Church should acknowledge diversity." On top of that, he preached,
" We must not be 'certain.' Faith exists precisely because we are anxious about our own righteousness. I want a leader who continues to have 'doubt.'"
No, it's too good no matter how many times I think back on it! I want this sermon scene alone to be released on YouTube!
By coincidence, this film was introduced on Atsushi Tamura's radio show "Atsushi Tamura's NewsCLUB" that I listened to today, and the guest, Tsunehira Furuya, also said that this sermon was the theme. I'm happy. Well, I suppose so.
Maybe it resonated with me because I had just read the section on Enlightenment and Religion in "100 Minutes on Classics: Hegel's 'Phenomenology of Spirit'" that I encountered on E-Tele the other day.
(Religion is,)
We are not being deceived by priests into believing in wine, bread, or wood; rather, we intentionally use them as a kind of metaphor to feel and express things that we cannot perceive in our daily lives.
To digress slightly, "absolute" is a word that connects to "conviction." When you clearly define something, something that falls outside of it will inevitably appear. This is called "alienation," and it is written as follows in the same book:
Hegel, citing the French Revolution's descent into the Reign of Terror, states that the ultimate destination of modern "alienation" is "absolute freedom."
(omitted)
Under "absolute freedom," nothing remains that has meaning or value in itself for self-consciousness. Not only tradition, but honor, wealth, language, and law all lose their meaning. In the end, even human life.
People and things can move instantly, and the information flooding the internet often lacks credibility. Individual ways of life and ideologies are fragmented, making it difficult to group them together; in fact, it even seems nonsensical.
In such a dizzying modern age,what kind of Pope is appropriate? For whom is that ideology freedom, and for whom is it justice?
It felt like all the things I had recently seen and heard that left an impression on me were rushing back at once, and I realized again what an incredible film this is.
By the way, when I hear "absolute freedom," I am reminded of Hobbes's "war of all against all," so if you are interested, please check out the democracy episode of COTEN RADIO! lol
"We are just humans pursuing an ideal, not the ideal itself."
There was one other line that stayed with me.
It was said when Lawrence and two others were talking on the landing, just when they finally had to narrow down who to vote for.
It was a somewhat compromising statement, like "Ideally, this is how it should be, but given the current situation, it can't be helped" (sorry, I'm a bit fuzzy on who said this),
but even if it seemed like they were giving up on their ideals in the film,it also sounded like they were saying we should remain beings who continue to pursue ideals.
"(This is how I truly want to be (how it should be), even if I can't)" — I really love this emotional sense of things. It's about "How to be."
Beyond just learning what a conclave is,it serves as a catalyst for thinking about the society we live in. There is also a plot twist waiting, soI think it's a film that won't bore you as a storyeither! "Conclave" has become one of the films I want to watch again. I even bought the pamphlet.
