where you seek comfort, you will only find pain.

A moment of silence. No Pope has derived a title from one of the virtues for generations. Then applause of approval builds again. Holding the table for support, Lawrence sinks to his knees before the new Holy Father. Benitez stares down at him, smiling, thinking...

liking conclave a normal amount <3

let god grant us a pope who doubts.

once again my favorite movie of the year has gone home without a best picture oscar and i am once AGAIN making it everyone's problem

Eligo in Summum Pontificem

details under cut

CONCLAVE 2024 | dir. Edward Berger

Pulling up this movie I completely expected to only encounter Sister Agnes as the one woman we see in the trailer, the conclave a space that has been kept from the female members of the church. Now, color me surprised when I started the movie and most of the establishing shots we got were focused on all the women working in the Vatican.

And it is such a deliberate choice, it does the film a disservice not to talk about it.

Because while Cardinal Lawrence is having his fifteenth breakdown during sequestering and Bellini finds the ambitious asshole within himself, Ray does all the leg work, and Bel---- we see the women work.

We see the kitchens, we see them cook, we see them stand aside. Most of the time when the Cardinals are conspiring it is the women who interrupt because they are busy working, walking, running errands.

And there is power in that.

I think it is very deliberate how often (and with such lingering gaze) the camera shows us the lives of the other half - partially to connect to the wider themes of the movie, on how Bellini asks for women to get more power but never thanks them, and how Benitez stumps them all by thanking the women preparing their meals when asked to say the prayer (considering his own probably tumultuous relationship to gender within the church).

But it also stands in direct opposition to a long tradition in story telling: servants don't exist. How often the heroes of a regency romance are "alone" because the two hand maidens and three maids don't really count.

Conclave doesn't do that.

It doesn't let us look away.

Between all the petty drama, the politics, and the real life consequences of the conclave, we never stop looking at the people doing all the work.

Yes, we follow the ups and downs of Lawrence and Co, but in doing so the movie reminds us again and again of the women working the kitchen.

okay they released the full cover without the watermark. KISA TACHIBANA YOU LOOK SO COOL

part 2 (there's a lot of neji lmao)

other parts: 1 | 2

bcrn yuri saves lives