The Two Popes

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!

..... 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!

Many have started with 'I am not Catholic' as if that is a prerequisite for enjoying the movie. I am not a female and have enjoyed many movies about women. I never served time in prison but have certainly received rich rewards from dramas about prison.

I am not British but I enjoy English actors, who have far more formal training in classical drama than Americans. And these two actors are among the very best ever. The drama may be accurate or not, it does not matter. It is clear that one pope had a different style than the other. Both were sincere on their beliefs and both were men of faith.

I am an atheist but loved the film. That is because I am a skeptical atheist and as I age I think about what a person of faith might feel at my age that I do it feel. Above all,else it is a movie about things we have never seen or thought of, philosophical differences at the highest rank of highest ranks of the Church.

Bravo Netflix!

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.

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.