50/40
When Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with presiding over one of the most secret and ancient events in the world—the election of a new Pope—he finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could shake the very foundation of the Catholic Church. This is the first major appearance of Carlos Diez in the cinema. He was an architect until 2020, when his last child left home, and he decided to take online acting courses and go to auditions. Adeyemi is said to be the first African Pope. There were three African Popes in the Roman Catholic Church: Victor the First (189-199 AD), Miltiades (also known as Melchiad, 311-314 AD) and Gelasius the First (492-496 AD). AD). However, it is quite likely that he means an ethnically African pope, since all three popes who were born in Africa were of European ethnic origin. Lawrence: Our faith is a living being precisely because it goes hand in hand with doubts. If there were only certainty and no doubts, there would be no mystery. And, therefore, there would be no need for faith. Let’s pray that God will grant us a doubting Pope. And let him forgive us the Pope who sins and asks for forgiveness and who continues.. Presented in The 7PM Project: Episode 10 December 2024. (2024). Allegri: Miserere Performed by Capella Musicale Pontificia Sistina, Massimo Palombella Courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon GMBH Licensed to Universal Music Operations Ltd. This is a political thriller. With a little refinement, this kind of vaguely labyrinthine plot continues wherever there is a desire for power and control. The main actors – Fiennes, Tucci, Lithgow, Rossellini and Msamati, demonstrate a powerful performance, and the film is worth watching just because of them. The script is well written, although in some places it is formulaic, but it provides tension, dynamics and intrigue. The setting plays an equal role and, given the scale, adds seriousness and authenticity, rather than just a backdrop. Having said all that and not giving anything away, the ending feels tacked on and doesn’t fit in properly with the rest of the film. While the message was somewhat well-intentioned, it undermined the build-up in the rest of the film – it felt simplistic and a la mode – unnecessarily so. It’s a pity, because if this part of the film had been given as much attention as the rest, the film would have been better.