Habemus Papam: The Middle Path as redemption in The Conclave

Abstract

Cinema has the potential to bring narratives to life and to ensure their longevity in public memory. If art was the visual medium of memory making in the pre-cinematic days, the voluble, animated, audible medium of cinema has captured the imagination of human beings world-wide. The soft power that cinema exudes has ensured that it wields social-political-economic agency and carries the responsibility of disseminating a certain point of view. The magic of cinema is such that it can be used to tell a story from any angle and with the right techniques of narration, music, characterization, the viewers also become partisan to the stated views. The paper seeks to discuss the film The Conclave in the light of the gendered notion of religion. Released in 2024, The Conclave presents the intricacies of the Vatican as they set out to elect a new pope. The Cardinals present a cross-section of the world as we know it today, hypermasculine, conservatives jostling for space alongside vacillating moderates and ‘woke’ individuals who look for diversity and inclusivity. As war and violence rages all over the world, what sort of a voice is needed to head one of the most powerful and influential institutions in the world? The Conclave presents a resolution that is bold and visionary- it brings forth the idea of an individual who encompasses a deep understanding of humanity from living in the most troubled areas in the world but also from a lived reality. The Conclave presents a perspective that is revolutionary, healing and androgynous- much like Christ.