Ralph Fiennes: 'Conclave isn't a cynical takedown of the Catholic church'
Fiennes stars alongside Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini, John Lithgow and more in the Oscar-tipped papal thriller.
Ralph Fiennes is being tipped as a major Oscar contender for his starring role in new film Conclave – a 'papal thriller' which tells a fictional story about Cardinals assembling in the Vatican to elect a new Pope.
Although not based on a true story, director Edward Berger and screenwriter Peter Straughan – who adapted the script from a novel by Robert Harris – did plenty of research into the Catholic Church, and many relevant debates between the liberal and conservative factions of the faith are reflected in the film.
But speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Fiennes said that although the film does point out some controversies, it is by no means a "cynical takedown of the Catholic Church".
Speaking about playing the lead role of Cardinal Lawrence, he said: "A lot of these Cardinals are in positions of authority. And to keep hold of those vows, particularly ones of poverty, I think they have to be quite... very disciplined. I think that the temptations to have a nice car or have a nice food, and obviously other temptations too.
"But I think it made me think about what it was to commit to that life, and then to be holding true to those principles, where you are in positions of some kind of power or control. Because the Vatican is, as you know, it's a huge structure, it's this bureaucracy, it's a civil service, it's a foreign office, it's got its own Exchequer, you know.
"So you're having to deal with structures that have to interact with the world, and so how you hold on to the simplest principles of your vows is probably a challenge."
He added: "But what drew me to it was not just the great writing of the screenplay, but I think the spirit of Robert Harris's book is it's not a cynical takedown of the Catholic Church. It's actually asking quite important questions about who is worthy of this position.
"The position exists. The Catholic Church has huge influence over the world. So who is the right candidate to sit? And I think it asks that those questions very intelligently.”
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Later he expanded that "it's not an attack on the Catholic Church," even though "if you wanted to make that for them, you probably could".
And he continued: "But I think it asks questions about faith. And there is this very interesting speech that Robert Harris gives my character, about doubt, the importance of doubt, which shocks a lot of the Cardinals.
"Other Cardinals see the wisdom of Lawrence's provocation. Without doubt, there is no mystery. Without mystery, there's no faith. So the sense of mystery, the unknowable, this is the theme."
Conclave is released in UK cinemas on Friday 29th November 2024.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
