The recent passing of Pope Francis’ led to 283% and 417% spikes in viewership of the films Conclave and The Two Popes respectively. What better opportunity to check out both critically acclaimed films and to satisfy a personal curiosity: how is the selection of the next pope aka papal conclave depicted in the big and small screens? It takes up nearly the entirety of Conclave, while two of such is shown in The Two Popes.
At the time of this entry, Conclave is available on Amazon Prime Video, and The Two Popes on Netflix. Searching through the other apps, I found the TV series The New Pope on Max. According to its synopsis, it contains two papal conclaves. With that, the trinity is completed.
I will attempt to detail each show's depictions of the most secretive papal election process. If it is not shown, it won't be included here. This entry will cover The Two Popes and The New Pope, while Conclave will be covered in a separate entry.
If you're looking for a fact vs. fiction critique, there are already plenty of articles out there including this one. There are potential spoilers in here and in the linked URLs. Do not read any further if you do not want to know.
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The film's title is misleading given that only one of the (two main) characters is the pope the entire time, and Cardinal Bergoglio does not become pope until the end of the film. Bergoglio is the focus of the story with flashbacks of his priestly journey. Being the supporting character, Pope Benedict XVI's backstory is only mentioned in brief snippets of dialogue. Had it been about Pope Francis II and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, then it can be accurately called "The Two Popes".
The first conclave occurs at the beginning of the film. The death of Pope John Paul II is announced by a news outlet at 3m:57s. Numerous news coverages are shown of the pope's funeral and cardinal electors arriving at the Vatican. Voiceover reporters describe the legacy of the pope, and outline the process of choosing the next pope. The latter is described as "deeply spiritual, but nonetheless very political”. There is a brief shot of workers installing a chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel.
The next scene shows the electors gathered inside the Vatican. Cardinal Ratzinger meets them and receives compliments for his sermon, which is presumed to be the pre-conclave homily. The procession of the electors into the Sistine Chapel occurs at 7m:7s (ends at 7m:51). After the Chapel main doors are shut and locked (8m:15s), the ballots are handed out to the seated electors. This is followed by a series of shots in an almost montage form showing:
• multiple shots of pens clicking, candidate's name written on ballot
• Ratzinger first to cast vote
• first ball placed in large silver bowl bears his name
• each elector approaches scrutineers' table at altar, raises ballot, takes Latin oath
• ballot placed on small plate on top of large urn
• plate raised and tilted towards mouth of urn, dropping ballot into it
• increasing number of balls in bowl
• ballot placed on small plate on top of large urn
• plate raised and tilted towards mouth of urn, dropping ballot into it
• increasing number of balls in bowl
• red thread enters eye of needle, pierces each ballot read
• first scrutineer picks ballot from urn
• second scrutineer writes down candidate's name
• third scrutineer reads name aloud
• red thread is cut when all ballots are accounted for
• partial vote tally announced in descending order [Ratzinger 47, Bergoglio 10, Martini 9, ...]
○ the only part subtitled in English
• white canister with black top (Nero Bianco) picked up and lighted
• first ballot round ends at 11m:01s
• ballots being burned followed by black smoke from chimney
○ this sequence of shots occurs twice
• final ballot round, white smoke appears from chimney at 12m:57s
The second conclave occurs towards the end of the film. At 1h:47m:57s, Pope Benedict XVI reads a declaration in Latin inside the Vatican, while Cardinal Bergoglio and a friend in Argentina watches it broadcasted 'live'. The two scenes cuts back and forth for 1m:7s until Bergoglio mentions that the pope has resigned. Then numerous news channels report the resignation, and Bergoglio approaches the Vatican in rear angle shot. A montage – with each shot of much shorter length than the one in the first conclave – shows:
• electors enter Sistine Chapel and sit down at 1h:49m:47s
• main door is closed and locked (from inside)
• docket opens, documents taken out, pen clicks
• elector raises ballot, takes Latin oath
• multiple intercuts of:
○ candidate's name written on ballot, ballot is folded
○ plate tilts to drop ballot in urn
○ ball bearing voter's name taken from tray
• red thread enters eye of needle
• multiple intercuts of:
○ ballot pierced by needle
○ shots of Bergoglio's face
○ voiceovers of scrutineers reading the votes aloud
• final ballot round in multiple intercuts of:
○ elector applauds followed by others increasing in volume as
○ Bergoglio's name mentioned more frequently
○ his face showing increasing displeasure
○ all-white canister (Nero Bianco) picked up and lighted
• ballots being burned, white smoke appears at chimney
• final shot of Bergoglio in conclave at 1h:51m:31s
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TV series created by Paolo Sorrentino, The Apartment Pictures, Wildside, Haut et Court TV, Mediapro, 2020. (HBO) Max.
The first conclave takes place in episode 1 while Pope Pius XIII is in a coma, beginning at 20m:51s with the (long) procession scene of cardinal electors into the Sistine Chapel. It includes nuns holding baskets for electors to surrender their electronic devices, numerous shots of the Papal Swiss Guard in ceremonial uniforms, and flash photography of the procession at the entrance of the Chapel. When all the electors are seated, the order is given aloud for everyone else to leave. The closing of the Chapel main doors is shown in a wide shot at 23m:22s. Two of the electors are shown in split screen casting their votes. After the votes are read aloud, a tally is announced in the order of candidates with the least to the most votes:
Sabatini 1, Pavloski 1, Henderson 2, Paoletti 6, Brannox 15, Voiello 37, Hernandez 50
The first ballot round ends at 26m:02s. Cardinal Voiello stands in the center of the chapel and rubs the sides of his forehead with his fingers. Subsequent ballot rounds are shown in a montage with numerous intercuts of:
• elector reciting the oath while holding up his ballot
• ballot placed on small plate on top of large urn
• plate raised and tilted to drop each ballot into urn, and
• tallies of two ballot rounds are announced
[Paoletti 6, Brannox 25, Voiello 25, Hernandez 60]
[Paoletti 6, Brannox 20, Voiello 25, Hernandez 65]
The ballots are then burned and black smoke appears from the Sistine Chapel chimney. Different trio of scrutineers read and count the ballots aloud – four such trios are shown. Next is a 2m:20s scene of individual electors expressing what each looks for in a pope. Another ballot tally is announced [Paoletti 2, Brannox 15, Voiello 32, Hernandez 67].
Cardinal Voiello is informed that he does not have enough votes to win, and that the next ballot round will be decided by a simple majority since 34 rounds have passed without an election. In the final ballot round, the camera pans slowly across the faces of the seated electors as the votes are read, and comes to rest on the eventual winner [Hernandez 49, Viglietti 67]. The camerlengo, flanked by non-voting clergy members, approaches Cardinal Hernandez to ask him if he accepts. The conclave concludes at timestamp 38m:19s when he chooses his papal name: Francis II.
In episode 3, at 25m:01s, the camerlengo gently taps the deceased Pope Francis II’s head with a silver hammer and asks if he is sleeping. When the pope does not reply, the camerlengo repeats the tapping and the asking two more times with the same no-replies. The pope is pronounced dead at 26m:13s. It is not shown if a confirmation is made immediately after his death from a heart attack in episode 1, but it is formally confirmed in episode 3 to allow his eventual successor Cardinal Brannox to attend. The second conclave starts three minutes later at 28m:31s showing the ballot tally being announced [Brannox 115, Belardo 1], and concludes at 29m:47s with the choosing of the papal name: John Paul III. Then it's fast-forward to episode 9 (finale) to discover that the conclave that elects Cardinal Voiello as the pope (after Pope Pius XIII's death) is not shown. Instead, there is a post-credit scene of Voiello in pontiff outfit berating a child – representing Pope Pius XIII – for hitting him while riding on a tricycle.
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Being a feature film, The Two Popes' conclave scenes are shorter than those of The New Pope. The first conclave runs at 5m:50s – including shots of cardinal electors having lunch between the ballot rounds – and the second conclave at 1m:44s, with the first one having a 0m:44s procession scene. At 2m:46s in length, the first ballot scene takes up nearly half the length of the first conclave. All the fact vs. fiction articles mention little (if at all) about the conclave process, focusing exclusively on the (fictional) meetings between the titular characters.
In The New Pope, the first conclave scene runs at 17m:28s, and the second conclave scene at 1m:16s. The 2m:10s on-screen procession in the first conclave scene is longer than The Two Popes. (Conclave does not have one.) At 2m:40s in length, the first ballot scene is shorter than The Two Popes. Unlike the The Two Popes and Conclave, I did not watch The New Pope in its entirety. Despite being critically acclaimed, Sorrentino's satirical approach does not interest me. I was not into the characters' absurd and irrational mannerisms, and had enough after the third Neon Nuns' opening credits sequence. Being entirely fictional, The New Pope is the only one of the three shows that has no fact vs. fiction articles on the story or the conclave process.
I did look at episode 1 of The Young Pope, also on Max, of which The New Pope is the sequel to. Unlike the The New Pope, The Young Pope does not show the conclave as the titular character is already the pope from the start. According to Reddit users, there are no conclave scenes in the other nine episodes of The Young Pope. Since both shows have very similar styles, being made by the same creator and production companies, I pass on The New Pope for the same reason. That and no reports of similar spikes in viewership of either shows after Pope Francis' passing.
The Papal Conclave series concludes with Conclave.
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