LFF 2011 Diary, Day 14 - WE HAVE A POPE

LFF 2011 Diary, Day 14: We Have A Pope (Rating: ***) A rich blend of absurdist comedy and sharp satirical edge, We Have a Pope is yet another fine creation in the career of writer/director Nanni Moretti. Never shy to take on something challenging or controversial, Moretti has gone from an all out political attack on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with The Caiman, to tackling the pressures and archaic traditions of the Roman Catholic Church with his latest venture. Shy is certainly a term you wouldn’t apply to Moretti’s work.

That’s not to say however that Moretti’s new film is without nuance or compassion. Quite the opposite, besides the comic aspect of We Have a Pope there is a very personal human story at the core. Themes of regret and longing run right through the film, actually transcending the religious connotations that may be present. Like the all the best satirical comedy, the situation or setting does not confine the overall themes of the film.

Take Sidney Lumet’s classic film Network, a film about the emrging power of television and the backhand dealings of the media. As relevant as ever, Network also spoke of the pressures of the work place and the corruption within. Though We Have a Pope is largely inferior to Network, there is a similar sense of larger meaning in the way that a film that is about being forced into a situation against your will, something that is applicable to more than those who work for the Catholic Church.

Set in the run-up to the election of a new Pope, the ‘honour’ finally falls on a French Cardinal, sweetly played by the legendary Michel Piccoli. When the time comes to announce the new Pope to the baying public, our gentle and clearly frail Pope has a sudden breakdown and a crisis of confidence. After sending for a psychotherapist (played by Moretti himself) in order to cure the ailing Pope, the remaining Cardinals begin to fear this crisis could ruin the Church. After the Pope escapes on a journey of self discovery, his psychotherapist remains at the Vatican to ‘life coach’ the aged Cardinals. As a result there are many entertaining exchanges and set pieces as the cynical psychtherapist reveals a more human side to the perceived archaic image that Catholicism is labelled with.

In the end Moretti doesn’t settle for a more melancholic or pleasing conclusion to We Have a Pope. Some members of the audience may be a little bemused and unsatisfied by the end, but it all the more fits the tone of the entire film by maintaining a harsh satirical edge. So why spoil it? JJ