The Two Popes (2019)
Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict. Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church.
- Fernando Meirelles
- Anthony McCarten
Rating: 7.5/10 by 2827 users
Alternative Title:
Два Папы - RU
Los dos Papas - ES
Country:
United States of America
Language:
Español
Deutsch
English
Italiano
Português
Français
Latin
Runtime: 02 hour 05 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $232,638
Plot Keyword: vatican, pope, based on true story, catholic, catholicism, cardinal, conclave, papal conclave, sistine chapel
Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce deliver two award-worthy performances, elevating a surprisingly humorous story about religion. Not a fan of the editing and the film goes on for a bit too long. Rating: B
This is quite a clever piece of work. Both performances demonstrate a complex, sometimes conflicted, humanity in a touching and thought-provoking way. Hopkins, as the scholarly Benedict XVI coming to realise that he no longer feels capable - for various reasons - to remain Pontiff and Pryce as Cardinal Bergoglio with whom he has little in common, and who has come to Rome to seek his permission to retire. The story focuses more on the trials and tribulations of Bergoglio as he rises to prominence in the Jesuit order and navigates the political turmoil of Argentina in the 70s and 80s where he develops a much less "conservative" approach to the issues facing the Catholic Church than his Pope. By the conclusion, however, both men appear reconciled to the honesty and integrity of the other. The extent to which the detail is true is anyone's guess - but by using humour, sport and even ABBA, this proves to be an intimate observational film that is certainly one of Netflix' better commissions.
