Dois Papas

It is a very engaging film. I particularly like the scene where the two popes talk in the garden, as it is intense. I am not religious, but it still captivates me.

I just watched this at TIFF, and thought it was a very charming film. The performances by Pryce and Hopkins were exceptional - very humorous, and the subtleties of there characters made for a fascinating chemistry. Highly recommended!

Much has been made of the brilliance of the two title performers, and deservedly so. Both Hopkins and Pryce are absolutely convincing as German and Argentinean pontiffs who converse in English (conveniently for viewers) as their common language. Each actor is so fresh and alive within the personality of his "character" that I was easily persuaded they may be truer to the souls of these men than the living originals. Not enough credit has been paid to Anthony McCarten, the writer of this complex, layered conversation. It is the kind of dialogue great men wish they had spoken. What courage and skill it takes to undertake such a verbal tour de force. (Imagine if world leaders couldn't hire speech writers. Could Shakespeare's kings and queens really speak as well as he wrote for them?) McCarten has written the scripts for three Oscar-winning actors; isn't it time he was recognized? And Fernando Meirelles is the masterful director who brought all the elements together. This is a renaissance man, adept in many fields, from architecture to cinema--and organic farming as well. He has been nominated for one directing Oscar (for "City of God"), and here he shows his ability to maintain both visual interest and intellectual fascination through two hours of what amounts to an intense, extended talk. That the movie never felt "talky" is a tribute to all four great artists.

I'm not a Catholic, and this movie is very, very Catholic. But beyond that, it's one of the deepest cinematic examinations of faith I've ever seen. Sir Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce, playing Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (who later becomes Pope Francis) respectively, both deliver brilliant, finely crafted lines with stellar performances. (It's somewhat ironic that two Welsh actors are playing a German and an Argentenian, but most of the film is spoken in English, so it works out in some strange way.) I really didn't follow the most recent transition between Popes, so I had not expected to be so deeply involved with this movie, but I am very glad to have watched it. Highly recommended for its insightful look into the human condition and the underpinnings of faith with its sometimes wavering texture, even for the most religious of us. Beautifully filmed on location in Argentina and the Vatican. If you subscribe to Netflix, then I suggest you watch this movie tonight.

..... how a dialogue-based movie could make me sooo immersed in it, i cried three times during the movie. I am not a Christian but OMG their acting and the camera ..... they're soooooo good you must watch it coz I have no words to describe it!