By Steven Weintraub & Jake Weisman
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The Big Picture
- Collider's Steve Weintraub speaks with Conclave director Edward Berger and co-stars Ralph Fiennes and Isabella Rossellini
- Conclave is a thrilling drama about the clandestine ceremony to select a new pope and the conspiracies uncovered that shake one cardinal to his core.
- In this interview, Berger, Fiennes, and Rossellini discuss the challenges of casting and filming the complex themes in Conclave.
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After honing his craft in his native Germany, director Edward Berger helped bring life to hit shows like Your Honor with Bryan Cranston and The Terror with Jared Harris. In 2022, Berger blew audiences away with his monumentally powerful adaptation of the seminal war classic All Quiet On The Western Front, winning Berger an Academy Award for Best International Picture. With films firmly in the "anticipated directors” category, Berger has introduced a new religious drama called Conclave, primed to pique interest worldwide.
In this mystery-thriller, Ralph Fiennes’ Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with organizing the election of the successor to the deceased pope. While doing so, he discovers the former pope had a secret that must be uncovered, concerning those in line to succeed to the papacy. The film also stars the exceptional Isabella Rossellini, who plays Sister Agnes in the film, as well as John Lithgow, Lucien Msamati, and Stanley Tucci.
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Collider’s Steve Weintraub sat down with stars Fiennes and Rossellini and director Berger to discuss Conclave. Together, the three discussed casting the best actors and nailing the film's thematic choreography—piecing together shots and elements while also introducing the characters, their emotions, and complexities to theater audiences. Fiennes also shares how Danny Boyle captured 28 Years Later on an iPhone. Check out the full interview in the player above or in the transcript below.
Edward Berger's "Cheat Code" for 'Conclave'
"Sidney Lumet said, '90% of directing is casting.'"
COLLIDER: I just want to say again how much I love this movie, which is why we are all talking again and adding someone new to the mix. Edward, I'm gonna start with you. How many years do you think it's gonna be before someone wears a bootleg t-shirt of your face to interview you?
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EDWARD BERGER: Oh, that's a very nice question. I don't think that'll ever happen. I think that honor belongs to him. [Points to Steven Spielberg on Steve’s T-shirt]
I wouldn't say that. I would say maybe a few more years, but you never know.
RALPH FIENNES: Great T-shirt.
Thank you. Another individual question for you. Is putting the two of them in your movie like entering a cheat code in a video game?
BERGER: What's a cheat code?
It's when you're basically cheating the game. You push B, B, A, A...
BERGER: And then you win? Yeah, absolutely! Sidney Lumet said, “90% of directing is casting.” You spend a lot of time thinking about who should be in your film. I was so lucky that these two agreed to be in the film. And then, what is it? We're going to talk about what we want to do, and then I watched them do it. [Laughs] Then, I hopefully put the camera in the right place.
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You did. We mentioned before how cinematic this is, which I thought was fantastic.
Ralph Fiennes on Acting: "Be Open and Embrace the Unknown"
I am such a huge fan of both of your work. What is it like for the two of you now before you step on set, getting ready for a role? How has that process for each of you changed as a result of all your experiences? Do you still have the same process or have you refined it through the years?
ISABELLA ROSSELLINI: The more you do it, the more you learn. I was very afraid, my heart beat very fast. Now, it's not that I can control it; it might still beat very fast, but I still know how to memorize the lines so that no matter what happens, my lines are memorized as you memorize “Hello. How are you?” So, no matter what your state is, you can still use whatever emotion you have for your character. I think you learn. Was it for you, too, the more you do it, the better?
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FIENNES: Yes. I think you're probably subconsciously or unconsciously refining the energies you need to bring to the set, which is, to me, somewhere between being really prepared, knowing your lines, having thought about a way into the scene, and at the same time being open to something you hadn't thought about from your director or the other actor. So, you'll go, “I'm ready, but I've got to be open. It may not be the way I've imagined it. I've got to be open and embrace the unknown.”
BERGER: By the way, we're all afraid on each day. Isabella has one big speech, and I remember hearing her heartbeat in my headphones.
Wait, is this true?
BERGER: Absolutely, it's true! And I think that's so lovely. Even Isabella, her heart beats faster because she's in a room full of men, and she has to deliver this two-page monologue. It's gotta be on the money because she has just one day, and she bares herself. I go in each day with my heart beating fast, like, “Oh, I hope I get the scene right. I hope I get everything.”
It's refreshing for a lot of people out there who are watching to realize that, no matter if you've done this so much, you're still nervous.
'Conclave's Most Complicated Visual and Thematic Scenes
“You're hoping that what is being seen in the face is giving the audience the right amount of information”
Which scene or sequence ended up being the toughest one to shoot in this film? Whether because of the blocking, camera moves, or dialogue.
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ROSSELLINI: I don't know which one was the toughest one. The one that I remember the most was one of the first few days of the film, where Edward photographed us like dots — red dots to cardinals, blue dots to the nuns. Just by the way we moved, it was clear the hierarchy. We were these blue dots that crossed the frame very fast, probably with a destination, probably the kitchen. The cardinals, instead, took their time, breaking up into this group and that group. Just that shot told about the hierarchy — male and female never mixing, nuns being busy serving, and men talking, discussing, socializing. It was incredible that it could be just visual.
As I said, it's a little cinematic. Just a touch.
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FIENNES: Two scenes that come to mind have been challenging in different ways. One was, quite near the end of the shoot, we shot a very early scene in the story, which is work is being done on the Sistine Chapel, and I am walking around with my colleagues, the two bishops, preparing. I'm in an organizational state of, “I've gotta get this right.” It was a steadicam shot, but it took a while. Obviously, it had many elements that Ed was looking for. Those are always shots when actors have got to hit it and the director's waiting for all these things to fall into place. Often, you might have peaked on take three, but they've still got to finesse other things, and you go, “Oh, I've got to peak again!” [Laughs]
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Then at the end, there's a last scene with Carlos [Diehz], which is a listening scene mostly. But the way one has to listen, and how one listens, you feel is important. You're hoping that what is being seen in the face is giving the audience the right amount of information, or they've got enough to lean into. Again, I would rely on Edward to guide me.
Related
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ Director Edward Berger Is Back With Another Potential Oscar Best Picture Nominee
The 'Conclave' director is joined by Isabella Rossellini to discuss on-set fears, future projects he is (and is not) doing, and more.
BERGER: For me, it was probably actually one scene I rehearsed. I always rehearse the scenes that I'm really afraid of, that I worry that I don't have enough time for or a lot of people. In this case, fairly early on in the film — I don't think I'm giving anything away if I say the pope dies — a pope dies because it's about a conclave, it's about a papal election, so Ralph and his colleagues all gather around the bed of the dead pope. I have five great actors in the room, including a dead pope and Ralph, and I want to introduce all of them in there and I wanted to say something about their characters. At the same time, Ralph is sitting there, and he's silent, and he takes in all these things: his friend, the pope, his friend Stanley Tucci, he listens to the prayer, he has to do prayer, he sees details of the dead pope. It's a lot of shots to get. It's a lot of elements to film, piece together, and make sure it's told through his eyes and ears. To get that emotion right, to introduce everyone properly, to do justice to everyone's character was a big challenge.
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I have to go, but I'm very curious how Danny [Boyle] shot the movie using an iPhone. He shot 28 Years Later using an iPhone.
FIENNES: Yeah, the iPhone attached on the back of huge lenses! [Laughs]
I can't wait.
Conclave comes to theaters Friday, October 25
910
Conclave
PG
Thriller
Drama
Mystery
When Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with leading one of the world's most secretive and ancient events, selecting a new Pope, he finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could shake the very foundation of the Catholic Church.
- Release Date
- November 1, 2024
- Director
- Edward Berger
- Cast
- Ralph Fiennes , Stanley Tucci , John Lithgow , Isabella Rossellini , Lucian Msamati , Carlos Diehz , Sergio Castellitto , Brian F. O'Byrne , Merab Ninidze , Jacek Koman , Rony Kramer , Joseph Mydell
- Runtime
- 120 Minutes
- Writers
- Peter Straughan , Robert Harris
- Interviews
- Movie
- Conclave
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