The Two Popes (2019)

I love director Fernando Meirelles' City of God and his underrated Blindness. But as his story of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis began I struggled to see how my interest in watching these men talk was going to be able to be sustained when I do not value either's view and in fact may believe their impact on the world is less than positive. It is a testament to Meirelles' skill as a film maker that I was entertained throughout despite feeling that he is a bit soft on them. I still came away thinking he was too kind to these men, the film wears its rose coloured glasses devoutly, but yet it still gave me a glimpse into the humanity of two very powerful people as well as into some of the inter-workings of the Catholic hierarchy in the modern age.

This isn't all do to Meirelles. Hopkins and Price (to no one's surprise) are masterful. Yes Price looks remarkably like Pope Francis but it is in the way they both make their Popes into real people that they bring a feeling of connection for the audience. Hopkins especially. The film posits Francis as the flawed hero of the story. Reform is the message of the movie and each of these to men is held up as the symbol of either tradition or progress meaning Benedict has the burden of overcoming our bias against his position. He handles this by giving one of his amazing, full performances. Price does so as well, getting into what makes his Francis flawed so he isn't just the perfect progressive voice of the future. The film ends on this rather gleeful moment of the two friends watching football together.

But I think this is emblematic of what I struggled with watching The Two Popes. The film is overly optimistic about this organization which controls so much wealth and so many people's lives, being on a good path and I worry the film doesn't explore how untrue that is. Francis' flaws are romanticized and much of what makes him truly problematic isn't explored, partially because to do that would make us also see those flaws in the Catholic Church itself. And this film is too much of a love letter to that institution, reframing it as a more human creation for sure, but ignoring much of what makes it a problem. Instead this film, in its loving portrait of these men, lulls us into a sense of comfort. I wish it had just been a bit more honest.

But what it does do is remarkable. Meirelles proves he can tell me a story I have little to no interest in and make me enjoy it and the two leads give outstanding performances which show they both still have it. So in that the film is a blessing.

The Two Popes
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Price
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Writer: Anthony McCarten