"The Two Popes" is a film not directly about Christianity, which is an historical institution, but rather about how to be compassionate and to serve what is right in a world that will torture and kill. Creating this film is a brilliant concept and it is glorious to watch. But the real value is in thinking about it later.
This is the official trailer.
Pope Emeritus Benedict did not think about the implications of his chosen "Pope name" in America -- either breakfast treat (eggs benedict) or traitor (Benedict Arnold who was a general in the new United States army until he betrayed his role and reverted to the old British Empire). Though the real man is seen in small glimpses through the film, as is Pope Francis, Benedict is softened for the film. In fact, some consider him a fascist and he himself admits he is 90 with the usual frailties including Alzheimer's dementia. Nor did he keep his promise to stay quietly out of events so there would not be two Popes. His love of glamour and luxury is clear and his ethnic heritage in a Germanic seed bed of attempted dominance is not avoided. But Anthony Hopkins at least gives him a bit of likeable sentimentality and regret. As a mandarin in an ivory tower, he is unavoidably obtuse. No red loafers can redeem him.
"Jonathan Pryce plays Jorge Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, who has been called to Rome by Pope Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins), to discuss the latter’s decision to renounce the papacy."
https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2019/12/20/whats-it-play-pope-francis-interview-jonathan-pryce-two-popes This is a little informal since it's a sound blog, a "podcast:" It explains one of Pope Francis' major contributions, abolishing the rule that imposed silence on sexual offences like pedophilia among clergy. He fights the Vatican Bank, which is much more difficult than fighting old theology. Linking to this shows my sympathy for Pope Francis as does the film. But there is a lot of other news about Catholics in the podcast that isn't common knowledge. The interview starts 12 minutes into the program.
The explanation of why and how Bergoglio, Argentinian, becomes Pope Francis is explored at length. Argentina has struggled to escape dictators and historic willingness to shelter WWII monsters. Bergoglio was confronted with this real world dilemma of how to escape, how to protect others, how to survive the self-accusation of betrayal and inadequacy. His compatriots were tortured and murdered. One forgave him finally; the other did not.
In more broad philosophical terms, this film addresses the problem of every community: how to reconcile the values of the past with the necessary new ways of the future. Peter Raible, past minister of the Seattle University Unitarian Church, now deceased, used to say that a congregation was an institution of "memory and hope." He meant the accumulated experience of everyone plus their envisionment of a future together. The work of the denomination is keeping both alive.
My own metaphorical version of that is that everyone carries three "narratives," little stories to use as guides. I like the idea of a little railroad with an engine being the identity. Behind it is the line of events leading up to where the engine is going along. Ahead of it is the line of expectations. The story told by the religious context is the rails that guide the wheels. Overhead is the trail of smoke, which is fantasy about what has happened, the narrative one tells oneself while ignoring the carloads of convictions one is dragging behind. This formulation is sharply crucial as we face these days. Our headlight has gone dark.
Pryce has an ability to embody what is grave and "high" while at the same time suggesting what is mystic. This means he plays a lot of religious figures, but I hardly noticed him until he became a key player in "Carrington" (1995), a movie about that little English knot of artists called The Bloomsbury Group, in which he plays Lytton Strachey. (Dora Carrington is an actual female artist portrayed by Emma Thompson.) In it Pryce is a writer so intense, complex and atypical that he is like some religious eccentric who wanders the world. In "The Two Popes" Pryce leaves all that but preserves the sensitivity to the inner life of others. Through the film Francis we become forgiving to the film Benedict.
Pryce is discussed most often right now as "The High Sparrow" from "Game of Thrones" which does address ideas about whether one can be an ultimate authority, drawing on the supernatural, without becoming corrupt and bought off by the government. Trump and the Evangelicals come to mind. I haven't seen the whole GofT series, so I can't comment, but maybe the younger viewers of "The Two Popes" will be interested.
Both Popes, one very old and the other who has had disabilities from before his election, are obviously mortal and coming to the ends of their "scripts" which makes the film that much more poignant. The strong political impact of this film is on an institution that has historically claimed to be as unchanging as "God" but has in fact always adapted to the times, just as God has. If leaders are inadequate, the Catholic church is in danger of extinction, just like God. But the world moves on without any care for vapor floating over the progress or many clues to what will be around the next curve -- perhaps a void, an abyss, a black hole, at least from the point of view of people who count on life being predictable. It is not. But themes repeat and anguish demands compassion.
I recommend this 3 part sequence of art history to throw light on what the film is showing, particularly that long room full of images where so much dialogue was filmed. Waldemar Januszczak, the art professor, is not dry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DHHWMOC-ZI
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