ADFF 2011 Review: Habemus Papus

The premise of the Italian comedy/drama ‘Habemus Papam’ is certainly one of the most promising ones I’ve heard in quite a while – what if a newly elected Pope doesn’t want the job? Working with such a brilliant and creative premise, the film definitely has a lot of funny and clever moments with some excellent acting, but unfortunately loses its focus as it goes along and reaches an admittedly odd ending.

The film follows a cardinal who is appointed as the new Pope after the current one passes away. But just before the public announcement and proclamation, he decides that he’s not up for the job and shies away from it. As the entire Vatican remains dumbfounded with how to deal with such a situation, media all around the world is covering such an event. It’s then that they decide to bring in a psycho-analyst in order to alleviate his fears and bring him to publicly come out as the new Pope.

The strongest parts of the film are undoubtedly the first thirty minutes. The film starts off with the death of the current Pope and follows it up by an election process that’s hilarious to see as every cardinal is wishing they aren’t chosen. It’s truly fresh to see a film with this storyline since we get to see a new perspective that almost no movie has told a story from before. As the elected cardinal has a panic attack and retires to his room, the film ramps up the comedic elements as the Vatican remains confused and brings in a therapist. The basic plot-line is pretty close to ‘The King’s Speech’, but the film after it is nothing like it despite the therapist element and the royal setting.

And that’s the problem with the film – after a strong first half, the film takes a very odd plot decision. The cardinal escapes the church and wanders out into the streets. Instead of a promising face-off between the therapist and the Pope that the movie had set itself up for, we now get two very conflicting storylines – one is a drama about how the Pope interacts with people outside and learns more about himself and the other is an oddball comedy with the therapist teaching the other cardinals how to play volleyball among other things. The comedic bits are infinitely more interesting and the exchanges there are witty and lead to some great scenes, but the plot wears thin from this point on as the film loses its focus and just moves along without any structure.

And then comes the ending, which is definitely one of the strangest endings I’ve seen on a movie of this sort. Anyone expecting a triumphant and inspiring finale reminiscent of ‘The King’s Speech’ (which is something the film hints at many times) will be sorely disappointed as the actual ending of the film is shocking and pretty downbeat. I wonder whether the director wanted to defy expectations and create more of a controversy, but then he had plenty of opportunities to do so during the film considering how many topics there were to dig into the whole Papacy storyline but instead he opted for a light-hearted drama that doesn’t offend.

Thankfully, there’s some excellent acting to be found here especially by Michel Piccoli who plays the conflicted Pope to brilliant effect. It’s a layered performance by an excellent actor who elevates himself above the sometimes weak material that he’s given in the second half. Director Nanni Moretti himself plays the therapist and gives himself ample amount of screentime with some of the best dialogue in the film.

‘Habemus Papus’ seemed like the intentive and highly marketable film that could break into mainstream the way ‘The King’s Speech’ did, but some odd plot decisions and an unfocused narrative means it’s probably going to remain in the arthouse circuit only. But moments of great humor and acting make this worth the watch.

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