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Fallible Human Beings Bless ‘We Have a Pope’
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CHICAGO – It’s getting harder and harder to satirize something as über-holy as the Vatican, given their preferred state of reality, but director Nanni Morretti gives it an absurd cinematic try just by highlighting the humanity behind the state of grace. Michel Piccoli portrays the title character in ‘We Have a Pope.’
This Italian film has caused a bit of pique from its storytelling source, and given the Vatican’s famous sensitivity to any form of commentary upon it, that’s not surprising. By telling the story of an elected pope, who refuses to complete the given assignment by appearing before his faithful, Moretti injects a natural emotional element to the often cold power play of papal politics. The pope presumably is infallible in decision making, but as long as there is a human being representing those decisions, the concept of infallibility is corruptible. Moretti illustrates this deftly in the film, without overtly criticizing the “holy” process.
Cardinal Melville (Michel Piccoli) gathers with his fellow cardinals to select a new pope, after the current one dies. The selection conclave is well scrutinized by the outside world, and the church anxiously awaits the decision. After a few split votes, the compromise candidate becomes Cardinal Melville. The announcement is given, but the ritual is not completed until the new pope appears on the Vatican balcony to bless the faithful. Cardinal Melville has a panic attack, and refuses to step into the role. So by church law, the cardinals must remain inside the Vatican until the new pontiff takes the reins.
![]() Photo credit: IFC Films |
The Vatican spokesman (Jerzy Stuhr) concocts a story that the new pope is deep in prayer, reflecting on his mission before he appears. In the meantime, the church hires a psychiatrist (Nanni Moretti) to analyze the situation. The doctor is perplexed by Melville, and he sends the pope-elect outside the gates to his wife (Margherita Buy). Melville escapes to the streets of Rome, where he becomes enamored by the day-to-day life, rather than his burden. This change of circumstance might just complete the proclamation, “we have a pope.”
What becomes remarkable about such a situation is that it cannot be imagined within the confines of the devotional Catholic Church, but it can be absolutely imagined within the context of being human. The bigger questions start to pop up – what obligation does one have to an institution over his own soul? What or who becomes the best representation of God on earth? Is it the castles, the rituals or more astutely an individual’s better angel? Through an atmosphere of panic-driven intensity, Moretti breaks down the emotions within a shepherd’s soul.
Michel Piccoli is staggering as the conflicted pontiff-elect. The panic attack also signals a wider meltdown – it is unclear whether he’s completely lost his marbles, and because of an arcane set of rules, the church hierarchy is left to fend with their own dogmatic failure (which in reality has tripped them up again and again). Piccoli is particular in how he expresses the various modes of fear that grip the character in associated with the election. This is a one-of-a-kind interpretation of the role of the pope, the potency of the mental breakdown matches the severe expectations of the job he is being asked to take.
Director Moretti claims that he’s not commenting on religiosity, but the actions of the Conclave of Cardinals, and the bureaucracy that represents them, borders on surrealism. In fact, he takes it a step further by placing the so-called holy men into a playground game. This is combined with a surrogate pope – actually a Vatican guard – who occupies the papal chambers and occasionally throws a bone to the outside world by ruffling the curtains. Both these absurdities play well against the larger story, and reduces the perceived importance of these religious leaders to that of ordinary fellow travelers.
![]() Photo credit: IFC Films |
There is also a significant comparison to stage acting, and playing the role of a pope – Cardinal Melville ends up in a theater while escaping his captors. The church asks mortal men, every several years or so, to take on an almost voodoo-like assertion that they represent a god. Going back to the playground reference, it’s almost like school kids making up an imaginary game, or at the least, actors on a stage playing a character. Yet is it overwhelmingly important to the faithful.
This film happens to be about the Catholic Church, which has more complexities and strange rituals than most other religions, especially when it comes to the veneration of the pope. Stripping it of the pretensions, as “We Have a Pope” does, allows an opportunity to step back and contemplate what the pope represents. In the end, we are the arbiters of our own spirituality, and the pope has no exception or exemption in that life-affirming transition.
![]() | By PATRICK McDONALD |
Just review the movie!!
Can’t you just review the movie without slipping in little jabs at the Church? Talk about agendas…