For non-Prime members it’s $5.99 to rent. When it first came out, it was $19.99 even for Prime members to rent.
If you’ve been planning to see it, or want to see it again like me, now would be a good time.
Just saw it like 4 hours ago. Great movie.
Thank you! Been wanting to see this for a long time.
Very good movie and timely but not free for Prime in Australia…
I saw it a year ago and thought it was good enough, but they could have gone without the Hitchcockian plot twist at the end. That twist strained credibility and marred an otherwise good film.
Yeah but made a delicious point, shifting the movie from a documentary to a strong diversity statement.
The real one or the movie?
It is based on a novel, so not much wiggleroom, plotwise.
The novel (by Robert Harris) is also very good if anyone’s interested. I gave a copy to my aging mother a couple of years ago, and she, too, wasn’t crazy about the plot twist, but I rather enjoyed it.
It’s £4.99 to rent in the UK. Which is galling considering I paid £20 about 3 months ago.
Fair point and the director is off the hook. It’s the author that I have the beef with, in my opinion it was too unrealistic to be believable, might has well have had aliens bursting from someone’s chest.
Fair point and the director is off the hook. It’s the author that I have the beef with, in my opinion it was too unrealistic to be believable, might has well have had aliens bursting from someone’s chest.
We have to agree. The twist ending just came out of nowhere. Nothing that had been said up until that point would have led you to that conclusion. At its basic level, it was a mystery, and a writer should give the reader (or viewer) at least some clues as to how it may all turn out. Me and the Mrs shared that same opinion. Others may disagree but we felt that was cheating the audience.
Otherwise, a pretty good film, though for some reason I just couldn’t buy John Lithgow as a Cardinal.
The surprise twist should have been revealed when all the other dark secrets were being revealed, leaving the College to wrestle with the dilemma of choosing between candidates with obvious moral flaws, or the one with the confounding secret. Instead, the movie went for “Oooooh, surprise twist!” which, to me, wrecked the whole movie.
Unless, of course, they’re setting up for Conclave II- Should We Undo?
As a mystery, I had figured out who would be elected pretty damned early. In fact, the entire movie was a beautifully photographed, well-acted red herring.
My neighbor who has read the book says there’s a whole lot more background and detail on all aspects of the plot, including the twist. The movie did kind of spring it on us.
I watched it again last night and noticed stuff I didn’t before (not surprisingly).
One thing that struck me-- and I wonder how this will play out in the real Conclave that will start on May 7. Seeing the Cardinals in a group, whether in the Chapel or the dining room or just milling about in the various courtyards, in such a large group of fairly elderly men, not one of them used a cane, walker, or wheelchair. I’m guessing verisimilitude was deemed less important than keeping a clear focus on the proceedings. The camera shots were all so clean and streamlined, to have someone dealing with a walker would have pulled focus and diminished the overall artistic impact. Director’s choice, and I’m good with it. I’m around old people and there are plenty of canes and walkers here at The Home, so it just struck me as odd in the movie.
Here’s an interesing 11-min video that analyzes the film as a work of art.
So I know in pectore Cardinals can’t participate in Conclaves in real life, but can an intersex person be validately ordained as a priest under canon law?
I remember a cool shot from the movie Conclave of all of the Cardinals entering, each carrying identical umbrellas.
Spoilers follow
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Question:
How does the Catholic Church view intersex people? May they be ordained?
Answer:
While some persons may exhibit aspects of both male and female reproductive organs or have physiological “intersex” characteristics of another sort, the Catholic Church recognizes that every person is intrinsically either male or female. Fr. Tad Pacholczyk, the Director of Education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, addresses the matter well in this article.
In addition, all such individuals should be accorded respect as persons made in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen. 1:26-27).
Finally, any intrinsically male person is eligible to be considered as a potential candidate for the priesthood.
From:
The question WRT the movie is did Benitez have male sex organs? If he did, then he would be designated as male in spite of having internal female sex organs (unbeknownst to him). A little research tells me that intersex people wouldn’t have two fully developed sets of sex organs. Maybe the book covers that. The movie left it vague. His reference when telling Lawrence his story to “the seminary setting being intrinsically modest” (or words to that effect) implied that maybe he didn’t have a penis but if the boys didn’t shower together, nobody would know. It was pretty ambiguous. I certainly have questions.
Given how Benitez’s physical condition was explained and that according to the RCC you are male or female with no third option, under those circumstances he could receive Holy Orders.
I remember thinking that the umbrellas might make a good shot for a still or maybe an sfx/battle/action scene but was too staged for this film: That’s not how people move in the rain.
But I’m picking nits, I think Conclave is a great film.
The film was very clear that just looking at Benitez he would be considered male. From the script:
But the truth is, there simply was no
reason to think I was different
from the other young men. Then, in
my late thirties, I had an
operation to remove my appendix.
And that was when the doctors
discovered that I had a uterus and
ovaries.
Yes, but would he be obviously male naked?
Back to his comment about life in the seminary being very modest.
I think I’m going to need to read this book and then come back to this thread.