[The Pope is born] Habemus Papam
Director: Nanni Moretti, Nanni Moretti Starring: Michel Piccoli/Nanni Moretti/Nanni Moretti/Margherita Buy
Genre: Drama/ Comedy
production: Italy 01 Distribution
Length: 104 minutes
Media comment: [The Pope is born] emphasizes the success of humanity under the system, but Moretti's narrative structure needs to be improved. "The Guardian"
[The Pope's Birth] The real awesomeness is the performance of Michel Piccoli. At the age of 85, he instilled an extraordinary sadness, disappointment and seductive pity in the eyes of the Pope. "Movieline"
[Birth of the Pope] proved Nanni Moretti's ability to make good-looking mainstream movies, but what is commendable is that he did not lose his persistence. "Watching Movies"
Italian director Nanni Moretti’s new work [The Birth of the Pope] is a movie full of little wisdom. In this more than an hour of knowing smiles and sighs, Moretti revealed that he had Single-handedly hit half of the strength of the Italian movie arena. This contemporary leftist filmmaker, known as Pasolini’s successor, proved that even if the stage is set at the rigid and dogmatic Vatican, there is no need for any real problems of bitter feud, even if no exaggerated body language is used. Jokes, you can also take easy and fun realism masterpieces. If [Son’s Room] represents Moretti’s deepest thoughts, and [Dear Diary] represents Moretti’s most authentic self, then this [The Birth of the Pope] is a good one between the two. The balance is enough to be called the most mature Moletti movie to date.
Two Moretti
There are definitely not a few European writers and directors, but those who can master their own creations like Moretti is absolutely rare. As the first Italian filmmaker to have his own production company, Moretti has absolutely abnormal level of control over his own work. Although his acting skills have remained the same for thousands of years, he is extremely enthusiastic about starring in his own movies. In this [The Birth of the Pope], he played Blaze is a continuation of many of its movie roles.
Like [Son’s Room], Moretti in [The Birth of the Pope] is still a slightly embarrassing psychologist. In the face of the many dogmas of the Vatican, the cynical character of this character seems extremely inappropriate, with one by one shocking remarks, impacting the Vatican's saintly rate that has been misunderstood by generations. In the mouth of an atheist, Moretti, every word in the "Bible" coincides with psychoanalysis. In his opinion, the Christian civilization, which has spread for thousands of years, should actually be humanized from a different scientific perspective. Interpretation. Compared with the various bishops of the Vatican, in fact, the contemporary psychoanalysis advocated by Moretti in many previous films is not scientific in this film. In addition to the mockery of the system, Moretti is also a little bit more this time. Self-deprecating, in his opinion, "all problems should be attributed to trauma at the age of three or four" is a nonsensical joke like the entire Vatican. It is this kind of wisdom and humor to entertain others, so that Moretti in [The Birth of the Pope] has the feeling of Woody Allen.
Moretti in front of the camera is somewhat low-key by the authorities, while behind the camera he is more of a malicious cynicism. In his opinion, authority is nothing, and dogma has nothing to do with him. Compared with the crowning of the pope, who cheered by thousands of people, Moretti himself is more willing to use deep ink to talk about the somewhat surreal Bishops Volleyball World Cup, the wanton sweat in the sun, with elegant editing and slow motion. The old man running around, Moretti’s humor does not lie in irony, but more in his meticulous observation and reasonable design of everyone.
An off-line Vatican
Unlike Allen's middle-class Wen Tun, Moretti clearly has his own value orientation. In the oolong world where the church lights are turned off at the beginning of the film, Moretti utters the finishing touch "Does the people outside know that the lights inside us are off?" Indeed, it shows that the Vatican is not known to outsiders. The other side is the theme of this [The Birth of the Pope]. However, as mentioned above, Moretti does not want to be ironic, but prefers to show real humanity. During the extraordinary period of the election of the Pope, the entire Vatican was in a closed state, and the nature of each individual began to be revealed. If it is placed in the hands of other directors, the Game of Thrones is bound to be intriguing, making the entire Vatican indissoluble, but Moretti will not show off the dramatic conflict in this way.
In this film, the bishops are more like a group of children living in a paradise. They are afraid of being restricted to their freedom and of taking on too heavy a burden. At the polite election scene, all they think in their minds is just "Lord, don't let me be the pope." But once they leave the venue, they will be jealous because their odds are inferior to others, so that some off-site audiences jokingly call it the "Vatican Kindergarten". Quite different from the images of bishops, corrupt and depraved (such as [The Godfather III]) or morals ([Man and God]) in most movies, Moretti’s off-line Vatican portrays real people with blood and people. . Their emotions are normal and complicated, with no extraneous thoughts, and they are always doing their part. After reading their lunatic quips, "cute" is definitely the most true summary of these not-so-superior priests by most viewers. However, having said that, letting the bishops step down from the altar clearly embodies a lot of Moretti's humanistic spirit similar to the Renaissance. Moretti expressed his disdain for authority. As a servant of God, the well-dressed man in the Vatican has no privileges in his films. In reality, they can express their will, but in the movie, they must be treated equally by the director. The leftist spirit of equality for all is the true footnote of Moretti's personal beliefs.
Half Inspirational Hollywood
If Moretti has always adhered to the great creed of Brecht's alienation effect and must keep the audience away from the movie. The film symbolizes the 90-degree turn of Moletti's artistic technique. For most of the film, the whole story is like a Hollywood movie. As if watching the beginning, the audience can think of the direction of the whole film. But slowly, we discovered that those who are actually led by the nose are those of us who think they are smart.
In the first half, before the Pope took office, a sudden mental illness broke out and he fled. The church hired a psychological expert, Moretti, to diagnose him. Seeing the director himself went into battle, everyone thought that the story would be like [the king's speech], and entered the story of how two people who are also teachers and friends overcome the difficulties and obstacles in their hearts and won the pope's crown. But with the pope’s abandonment, the duo of mentor and friend suddenly collapsed in half, and Moretti became a bystander in the second half of the film who did not develop a visual story.
The psychological pressure of finding oneself fell on the shoulders of the Pope alone, and the story has also entered another Hollywood stereotype. Like the director in [Sullivan's Journey] who does not want to make a comedy and finds material for tragedy, the Pope himself in this film also embarked on a journey of self-salvation. Although the Pope was determined to return to the system, he gradually became farther and farther away from our expectations. When I consulted a psychologist, all I got was some nonsense. Although the TV was beckoning him to go back to take office every day, he played and disappeared unhurriedly, even willing to regain his youthful dream, thinking about being an extra. . In the end, the Pope made the most difficult decision-to return to the Vatican. Everyone thought that the expected ending was finally coming, but as a result, he came to a public resignation and finally decided to stick to his inner self.
Although the director Molletti has put his name first on the cast list, but the pope played by French veteran actor Michel Piccoli is the undisputed male protagonist of the film. This actor who has come all the way from the [contempt] of the New Wave era does have similar qualities to the Pope in this film. Although he has the honorary title of the honorary chairman of the French official film association, Piccoli still has many free and wild sixties factors in his bones. His unruly acting skills in this film are proof. This kind old man, after experiencing decades of life ups and downs, also truly understood the true meaning of rebellion back then. And a wise rebellion is the best gift Piccoli can give Moretti and this movie.
Through such a movie, it is not difficult to discover the growth of Moretti himself. From the radical consciousness of the year to the objective face of today, although he has made films for the elderly, he has just entered the middle-aged creative period. Moretti is not detached, he just finally found a better way to make a movie. Although the film did not win the award again as expected in Cannes this year, it is undeniable that the affirmation of various film critics is still He continues to improve his motivation. In fact, being too subjective has always been Moletti's culprit. This film has retained Moletti's old problems of self-talking, but also explored the possibilities of his film. [Birth of the Pope] and the cooperation with Piccoli are a signal that Moletti is moving closer to the mainstream. There is no doubt about his talent, but whether he can jump out of himself and shoot a truly masterpiece is yet to be considered.
★★★★(文_西帕克)
(Originally contained in "Watching Movies", special extra screen)
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