Mark Reviews Movies: THE TWO POPES

Become a fan on Facebook Follow on Twitter

Review by Mark Dujsik | December 5, 2019

When Pope Benedict XVI resigned from the papacy in 2013, less than eight years after his election to a role that traditionally lasts for the person's life, the event came as rather a shock. Popes don't resign, or at least one hadn't in over 700 years before Benedict. The previous pope's renunciation of his title arrived at a time of great scandal, not only for him and his associates, but also for the Catholic Church, which was being widely and justly criticized for its decades-long practice of covering up child sexual abuse among its ranks.

Other popes had faced scandal, but this was different. It was now. It was worldwide. It marked a steep decline in church attendance and people's willingness to continue to call themselves Catholic.

The fact that Benedict was even more conservative in his views than his predecessor John Paul II certainly didn't help with the reputation of the Church, which seemed to be recessing into itself as a holy and morally infallible institution. The rest of the world was becoming more liberal in terms of social and economic issues. Benedict argued against the social changes and seemed indifferent to the economic burdens of so many.

This background is communicated quite clearly in The Two Popes. It may even be communicated too clearly by Anthony McCarten's screenplay (an adaptation of his play The Pope), which has characters and news broadcasts filling in the political details of the controversy surrounding Benedict's views and papacy. That's necessary, though, because the film is entirely about the debate of the future of the Catholic Church, just before Benedict's announcement of his resignation.

It's an intelligent and, surprisingly, sometimes playful film about two intelligent and faithful men, who can't agree on anything except that something is clearly wrong with the Church. Neither one of those men believes he is the right man to fix those problems, but in an institution with millennia's worth of hierarchical history, somebody has to be the one to try.

The film begins with some church-based politics, following the death of John Paul II. The College of Cardinals has been summoned to Vatican City, where they'll decide who will serve as the next pope. Among the frontrunners is the German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Anthony Hopkins), who will become the 16th Benedict. He desperately wants the job, talking with his fellow bishops in between votes.

A few argue that this approach shows he is the wrong man for the job. One of the signs of a potentially great leader is the person who doesn't want that role.

Such a man is Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce), who comes from Argentina and has been a vocal opponent of systems that create economic insecurity and inequality. He will eventually become the first pope to take the name Francis, after the saint renowned for his simple life, his love of nature, and his compassion for humanity as a whole.

If Ratzinger is a representation of the Church as an institution that holds its moral and political power over the world, Bergoglio is the representative of a Church that acknowledges the changes of the world and tries its best to exist within them. The Argentinian bishop, beloved by many and feared by a good number of his peers, even whistles some ABBA as he runs into Ratzinger (The film itself follows suit, cheekily setting a precession of bishops to an orchestral arrangement of "Dancing Queen").

After Ratzinger becomes Benedict in 2005, the story jumps ahead to 2012. Benedict is surrounded by scandal. Bergoglio, no longer feeling at peace with the hierarchy of the Church, wants the pope's permission to retire—to begin living a humbler life as the priest of a local parish. They meet at the papal "summer home," a palace in Italy, and later, after Benedict is called back on urgent business, the Vatican. All the while, the two men simply talk—discussing and debating their ideas about the role of the Catholic Church in this modern age.

The film, unobtrusively directed by Fernando Meirelles, is thoughtful about these ideas, simply letting the two men speak openly and debate with the conviction of their beliefs and their faith. Bergoglio argues that the Church, like him, must change if it is to survive and thrive in the world, while also caring for those who need the love championed by Jesus. Benedict, still married to his beliefs, all but calls the bishop a heretic, although he has called Bergoglio to meet him for a reason that demands the bishop remain in his position within the Church.

The filmmakers, of course, are sympathetic toward Bergoglio, played with affection and humor by Pryce. Their hearts clearly rest with the man and his ideas, and a lengthy section of the film, after Benedict informs the bishop of his intentions to resign, serves as a hasty but pointed biography of the man who will become pope—as a young man, uncertain if he is meant to become a priest, and as the head of a Jesuit order, determined to protect his priests during the tyranny of a murderous military dictatorship.

That doesn't mean, though, that they're dismissive of Benedict. He is flawed, for certain, in little ways—such as his inability to catch a joke—and in significant ones—such as is revealed in a silent confession of a notable failing involving sexual abuse. He is also wise enough to listen to his doubts, and Hopkins' performance presents him as a contemplative man who has come to realize his shortcomings.

Listening to these men debate throughout The Two Pope is a worthwhile experience unto itself. Seeing that debate played by the two leads and written by McCarten with such intelligence and conviction is all the better.

Back to Home

Buy Related Products

Buy the Soundtrack (Digital Download)