The Netflix film about Pope Francis who won three Oscar nominations: “It's like looking at two eras.”

“The Two Popes”- “The two Papi”, a Netflix movie about Pope Francis and his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, is brought to attention by The New York Times after the death of the 88 -year -old Pontiff. The film with veteran actors Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins in the two main roles was widely appreciated at the time of its launch and received 3 Oscar nominations.

Directed by the appreciated Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardener) and released in 2019 on Netflix, the film The two popes It depicts an imaginary meeting between Benedict, in a crisis of faith and which takes into account the withdrawal from the Pope, and Francisc, at that time the cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who spends a day discussing faith, doctrine and history.

The film, which places the meeting between the two in 2012, is “often fun and deeply humanizing, including a sequence that explores Bergoglio's doubts related to an episode of his past. But the biggest force of the film The two popes It is in the way in which it succeeds, by fiction, to shed light on the divisions within the Catholic Church between a traditionalist and a more progressive wing. It's like looking at two times, then, praying for each other, ”notes The New York Times.

The feature film practically captures the period that preceded the moment of Benedict XVI's withdrawal from the Pope's position in 2013, in an unprecedented gesture, and the discussions he would have with his successor.

The film is based on the play of the same name of the author and Swozenanda screenwriter Anthony McCarten, known for signing the scenarios of films as The Theory of Everything, Darkest Hour or Bohemian Rhapsody.

The two popes He brought McCarten in 2020 an Oscar nomination for best adapted scenario, while Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins were nominated for the Oscar for best actor in a leading, secondary role. Even though the prizes for the best actors finally went to Joaquin Phoenix (Joker) and Brad Pitt (Once Upon A Time in Hollywood), Pryce and Hopkins' interpretations were widely praised by film critics.

How The two popes It is an original Netflix movie, it can still be seen on the American streaming platform. He has an approval rate of 88% from both film and public critics, on the Rotten Tomatoes reviews, while on the popular IMDB site has a solid average note of 7.6 / 10 out of almost 140,000 reviews.

Netflix movie about Papii Francis and Benedict should not be regarded as a documentary

The magazine Vanity Fair has been emphasized since 2019 that the film directed by Meirelles and written by McCarten based on her play assumes more creative freedoms than the events that have taken place.

Although the 2012 meeting is a fiction, it is true that the two met at Castel Gandolfo, but this happened in March 2013, after Benedict had resisted and Bergoglio had become his successor.

Another major difference is related to the discussions around Marcial Maciel Degollado, the founder of the priestly order the Legion of Christ, a pedophile in a series favored at the Vatican during the period when Benedict, before becoming a pope, was the head of the Department for Doctrine of the Holy See. “We are clearly insinuated to deduce that Benedict has missed the hearts of an important abuser among the clergy, and an indignant Bergoglio apostrophes Benedict for this shocking failure,” notes Vanity Fair.

But things have been otherwise. Once the Pope came after the death of John Paul II, Benedict took measures against Marcial.

Also, in the Bergoglio film he actively opposes the idea of ​​becoming a pope. In reality, he had a well-developed set of policies prepared before his choice, which he expressed in a speech sustained before the conclave: the unconditional acceptance of the LGBTQ communities, the rejection of the clericalism-the intervention of the church in the political life-, the collaboration with other religions, the admission to the Eucharist, the admission to the Eucharist. Married, emphasis on sins against the environment rather than sexual or related to “life”, and others.

“Conclavul”, a movie about the Vatican tool to choose a new Pope

The New York Times now reminds of another papal themed movie, the thriller Conclave appeared last year directed by the German filmmaker Edward Berger. ConclaveThe UL is also a feature film, based on a novel published in 2016, 3 years after the start of Francis's pontificate.

But a key character in the film is a Mexican archbishop who works in Kabul, a reformer who asks the Church to focus on the marginalized and historically excluded by the institution.

“Between the character in conclave And the current Pope – who died on Monday, on the day after Easter – were many differences. But such a simple and eloquent activist on the screen could not not remember Francis, the first Latin American cleric who climbed the papal throne. He aroused both admiration and controversy, mainly through his care for the poor, immigrants and refugees; his calls to protect the environment; and his efforts in support of gay and lesbian Catholics. These actions have inflamed the more conservative wings of the Church, but they have brought it close to many people-Catholics or not-who have seen in his life and teachings a new way to follow, ”notes NYT.

The American newspaper also notes that, with the choice of Francis's successor in the coming months, it is likely that the film will become popular: a drama full of suspense, with Ralph Fiennes in the role of a cardinal trying to do what is correct, in the middle of a struggle for power around the papacy.

Although conclave highlights the same as The two popesthe divisions in the leadership of the Church in terms of gender and sexuality, of the dynamics of power and the meaning of faith, is also a true thriller, with a surprising end. “It's a little absurd, sure. But it's also exciting – and a reminder of what is at stake for the church now,” concludes NYT.