The Two Popes
Short description
The Two Popes is a drama centred on a meeting between two men who lead the Catholic Church. Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, unhappy with the direction the church is taking, asks Pope Benedict XVI for permission to retire in 2012. Instead of accepting the request, the pope invites the cardinal, who has been one of his sharpest critics, to Rome. What begins as a formal conversation becomes a long exchange about faith, tradition and change, and about the personal histories each man carries. Benedict also has something to disclose, and the encounter between the two takes on a significance beyond their own disagreement.
Fernando Meirelles directed the film, which sits between Rio, I Love You (2014) and Beast Race (2026) among the six features he has made to that point. Anthony McCarten wrote the screenplay, and Jonathan Pryce plays Bergoglio alongside Anthony Hopkins as Benedict. Juan Minujín appears as the younger Bergoglio, with Luis Gnecco, Cristina Banegas and María Ucedo in supporting roles. The production, from Rideback, credits a large ensemble of 65 cast members and 55 crew.
On IMDb, the film holds a rating of 7.5 out of 10 from more than three thousand votes. A critics' rating of 7.3 out of 10, drawn from 229 reviews, is close to the audience figure, suggesting the two groups responded to the film in broadly similar terms.
What's left behind the scenes
- Fernando Meirelles was initially planned to direct the future film. When he was first offered the project, he declined, as he was preparing the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. This took two years. Once the Olympics were over, the film's script was fully ready, and Meirelles accepted the offer.
- Director Fernando Meirelles discovered actor Jonathan Pryce while browsing photos of Pope Francis online. Pryce's and Francis's pictures constantly appeared side-by-side in search results. Meirelles studied Pryce's acting career and read his interviews, after which he offered him the role in the film.
- The filmmakers were not granted permission to film in the Vatican, so no scenes from the film were shot there.
- Anthony Hopkins is actually an excellent piano player. He plays himself in the scene shown in the film where a musical improvisation is heard.
- A full-scale replica of the Sistine Chapel was created in the pavilions of the Cinecitta studio in Rome (in fact, it was even slightly larger than the original – to accommodate the placement of filming equipment inside). The construction of the replica took 8 weeks.
- The film is based on real events, including public speeches and published debates on religious matters. As for the private conversations between Bergoglio and Ratzinger, they are generally based on artistic fiction.
- The song Cardinal Bergoglio hears when the Pope's helicopter lands in the Vatican is called “Bella Ciao.” Originally, it was a folk protest song of Italian hired workers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Later, it became the anthem of the Italian anti-fascist partisan movement in 1943-1945, in which communists mainly participated. “Bella Ciao” has remained the anti-fascist anthem of the Italian left, and especially communists, to this day.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
