Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce in ‘The Two Popes’.
Pryce and Hopkins deserve praise and Oscar nominations for their ‘The Two Popes’ performances
Directed by: Fernando Meirelles
Written by: Anthony McCarten
Starring: Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins
“The Two Popes” – Pope Francis (Jonathan Pryce) became The Pope in 2013, but he had a chance of being The Pope eight years earlier!
You see, Pope John Paul II passed away in 2005. The Church needed a successor, and the cardinals pondered choosing a reformer. They had Cardinal Bergoglio (a.k.a. Pope Francis) in their sights. In the end, they took a more traditional path, and Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins) became the head of the Catholic Church. After several years, however, the glare from the Church’s sex scandals were white hot, and the Vatican found itself at a crossroads yet again.
Director Fernando Meirelles (“City of God” (2002)) finds 2013 as a backdrop for his insightful, engrossing conversational film that features three key discussions between Popes Francis and Benedict during their transition of power. Meirelles’ films don’t usually dive into comedy, but he surprisingly does here.
Now, “The Two Popes” is a serious film, but it has many truly fun moments, which make this movie part-“My Dinner with Andre” (1981) and part-“The Odd Couple” (1968) with Pope Francis taking the Oscar-title, while Pope Benedict gravitating towards Felix.
More surprising, however, is that the three lengthy conversations portrayed on-screen in “The Two Popes” are not exactly real. Six years ago, screenwriter Anthony McCarten did not follow the two men around with an audio recorder. Instead, McCarten gathered and adopted various writings, interviews, speeches, etc. from both Francis and Benedict and penned a script for his play “The Pope”, which then was adapted for Pryce, Hopkins and Meirelles.
Now, the substance, views and insights spoken by Popes Francis and Benedict in the film are real, but McCarten depicted them into three meetings that feel one thousand percent natural and authentic. Actually, in a Phoenix Film Festival interview with Meirelles at TIFF in Sept. 2019, he mentioned that Pryce was an obvious choice to play Francis, partially because he looked authentic.
“If you Google the Pope and Jonathan – one next to the other – they look alike. I also watched an interview with Jonathan, and I felt that he has a warmth and a (great) sense of humor, and I saw the Pope,” Meirelles said.
With Hopkins playing opposite Pryce, these two Welsh actors (who both deserve Oscar nominations for their work here) share the screen and seize the moments to explore their characters’ diametrically different beliefs, perspectives and personalities.
Many times, and most notably in the first act, Meirelles’ camera captures large closeups, and Hopkins’ or Pryce’s face will occupy most of the screen, so their disagreements are even more pronounced. At first, Benedict feels very defensive and becomes combative, but when he does soften his stance, these scenes are both a relief to Francis and to us.
Meirelles does explore the church scandals and has opportunities to truly drive the point home with a sledgehammer, but instead, he takes a lighter approach and shows Benedict’s regret for overseeing such a difficult time in the Catholic Church’s history. Both men have their struggles or crosses to bear, but they share their vulnerabilities too, and possibly a true friendship.
“The Two Popes” serves friendly and substantial insight into these icons, and Pryce and Hopkins embrace their characters who share the same job title and therefore, are card-carrying members of a most exclusive club. As an audience, it’s easy to feel that we are part of these sacred, exclusive conversations. In a way, we are, and who knew that Pope Benedict enjoys Orange Fanta soda, and Pope Francis follows soccer like a religion? Well, not a religion…
(3.5/4 stars)
Jeff – a member of the Phoenix Critics Circle – has penned film reviews since 2008, graduated from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and is a certified Rotten Tomatoes critic. Follow Jeff and the Phoenix Film Festival on Twitter @MitchFilmCritic and @PhoenixFilmFest, respectively.
