Rent We Have a Pope (2011)
3.2 of 5 from 85 ratings
1h 41min
- General info
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- Synopsis:
- Disaster strikes the Vatican when Cardinal Melville, the newly elected Pope, suffers a panic attack just before addressing the people of Rome and is unable to face his public. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and a brilliant (and atheistic) psychoanalyst is brought in to help the Pope confront his fears. With stunning imagery and an outstanding lead performance from French legend Michel Piccoli, We Have a Pope puts a hilarious spin on the inner workings of this notoriously secretive order.
- Actors:
- Michel Piccoli, Nanni Moretti, Jerzy Stuhr, Renato Scarpa, Franco Graziosi, Camillo Milli, Roberto Nobile, Ulrich von Dobschütz, Gianluca Gobbi, Margherita Buy, Camilla Ridolfi, Leonardo Della Bianca, Dario Cantarelli, Manuela Mandracchia, Rossana Mortara, Teco Celio, Roberto De Francesco, Chiara Causa, Mario Santella, Toni Laudadio
- Directors:
- Nanni Moretti
- Writers:
- Nanni Moretti, Francesco Piccolo
- Aka:
- Habemus Papam
- Studio:
- Soda Pictures
- Genres:
- Comedy, Drama
- Countries:
- Italy
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We Have a Pope (aka Habemus Papam) review by Melissa Orcine - Cinema Paradiso
What happens after the Pope at the Vatican dies? In ‘We Have A Pope’ (Habemus Papam), we are given a much-detailed peek at the conclave of Cardinals who congregate to vote for the next Pope. Directed by Nanni Moretti, a known political film maker who has taken jabs at the Catholic Church in his previous works, ‘We Have A Pope’ still takes jabs but this time, it’s surprisingly funny.
When Pope John Paul II dies, the opening credits of ‘We Have A Pope’ bombard us with news images of his funeral, the mourners, and the next move of the Vatican. The Cardinals isolate themselves from the world within the Sistine Chapel to choose who will succeed the late Pope. This is a very important vote and the one to be chosen will have great power and equally great responsibility – he is the leader of the Catholic Church, after all.
But already, most of the Cardinals fret being picked, some don’t even write down a name unless they copy it from the one seated next to them, and the one who was chosen – Melville (Michel Piccoli) – is not ready for it. Upon being told to greet the Catholics on the balcony as their new Pope, Melville actually freaks out. What to do? A Vatican solution for a distraught Pope? Have him meet a psychiatrist (played by director Moretti) who just happens to be an atheist!
The laughs in ‘We Have A Pope’ are organic enough that at times you forget that its director is actually making you cringe at the rituals, spectacle, and practices of the Catholic Church just to elect its next spiritual leader. It also humanizes the Vatican; most of us see it as this historic and religious entity, a small country and theocracy in itself, and the site for unexpected pageantry (those red and white vestments are quite eye-catching and fashionable), but ‘We Have A Pope’ will reiterate that it’s still run by human beings. The film even shows us that priests take their volleyball tournaments seriously.
‘We Have A Pope’ isn’t blasphemous; even Catholics can be funny.