The Two Popes

Fernando Meirelles builds almost the whole film out of two men talking, and the shooting plan makes that feel unrehearsed. César Charlone kept two cameras tight on the faces at once so that no reaction would be missed. Jonathan Pryce opens up to improvisation while Anthony Hopkins holds to the written line, and the second camera catches what each does while listening. The Sistine Chapel was rebuilt full size at Cinecittà in Rome over roughly two months. Painters remade the wall frescoes, which were printed and transferred into the plaster so the pigment sank in like a real fresco; the ceiling was added digitally instead of built. Charlone studied how the sun moved through the real chapel, then refused to light the set dramatically. The film closes with the two watching the 2014 World Cup final side by side. Pope Francis has said he gave up television in 1990, after a promise made on the night of 15 July. Anthony McCarten’s adapted screenplay, Pryce in the leading category and Hopkins in the supporting one all drew Academy Award nominations, and none won. A good fit if you accept a written duologue in place of a documented one and want the camera on faces. Not for anyone who takes the piano, the football and the dancing as minutes of a meeting.