When acclaimed screenwriter Peter Straughan (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “The Debt”) received the call to adapt Robert Harris’ novel “Conclave” for the big screen, he knew he had a unique opportunity to breathe new life into the political thriller genre. The film, starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, and Isabella Rossellini, centers on the election of a new pope after the current one suddenly passes.
In this exclusive Q&A, Straughan explains the journey of the story to the screen, the flawed humans who inhabit this world, and how the project felt like a homecoming of sorts.
What was your journey in taking this novel to the big screen?
I got sent the book by producer Tessa Ross, who I’d done a film called “Frank” with, and another producer called Robyn Slovo, who I’d done a film called “Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy” with, and they sent me the book. I read it pretty much in one sitting. I loved it. Robert Harris is a wonderful writer, very elegant. It’s intelligent. I was surprised by how gripping it was. I thought that he did something really clever, which was all those sort of political thriller tropes that we know and love from those great 70s political thrillers. He made them new and fresh because they were in a world that we’re not so familiar with, yothis sort of secret of alien world that we don’t only get to go into. So, everything felt reinvigorated by that. I love that. Obviously, when you’re looking at a book to see if it could be a film, essentially what you’re doing is you’re looking for conflict. And the election is a gift in that sense, because it’s about as naked as you can get in terms of conflict between two or more warring parties. Sports movies and elections are an absolute gift for screenwriters. So, there was that.
It’s sort of a world I’m familiar with. I was brought up Catholic. I’m not a believer now, but it sort of felt like home in a way. And I thought it was useful that I had one foot in that world because of my childhood, and one foot out because I’m not a believer now. And then, the last thing was, I remember reading the book and reaching the point where Lawrence is giving his homily. His character is called Lomeli in the book. He says, basically, “God grant us a pope who doubts.” And I was really sort of electrified by that moment. I thought, “That’s what I love, that’s wonderful.” This was a few years ago, but already, we were living in a very polarized world, and as I get older, I’m much more suspicious of certainty and where that can lead. Sadly, as we see in the world, so much more violence and contempt for others. So here was this, almost like a Capra character, this kind of common sense, quiet, ordinary, decent man, that kind of character. So thought,
Oh, I like this. This is a hero I can get behind.”
I remember the other line that really struck me is “Certainty is the enemy of unity.”
Oh, well, I’m glad you like that, because I came up with that line. So, to me, that was sort of what it is to exist between certainties. We threaded that all the way through this sort of notion that maybe the safest place to be and the most humane place to be is when you’re not certain, when you are prepared still to listen to others. So, yeah, it just felt like something I believed in.
Peter, you touched on the uniqueness of this movie versus the political thrillers, is that this takes place in a place where people are not supposed to have ambitions. They’re supposed to be servants. I am a believer, and the Scripture says take the low seat and wait to be moved to the high, so that’s what I thought was fascinating. Even in this place that people consider the holiest of places, there’s still human ambition.
Absolutely. There’s a line by Kant, which I think I put in at one point, and then I took it back out, which was, “From this crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever built.” I kind of thought that’s what this is about. There’s a line in the film as well, where he says, “We serve an ideal. We can’t always be ideal.” And that also felt central, essentially that all of these people are imperfect. But the other thing I liked about the book was that it felt kind in a way. It wasn’t contemptuous. Nobody was cast out. They were flawed humans, as we are all flawed humans, struggling to be better than themselves. I found that very attractive,
I enjoyed the character of Cardinal Lawrence so much. I know this is not the type of movie that would lend itself to a sequel, but he would certainly be somebody worth revisiting.
We should do a TV series (laughs). Yeah. I like him very much.
“Conclave,” directed by Edward Berger and starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, and Isabella Rossellini, releases on October 25 through Focus Features.
DEWAYNE HAMBY has covered faith-based music, movies, television, books, and the retail industry for more than 30 years. He is a film member of the Critics Choice Association and the author of the book Gratitude Adjustment. Connect with him at on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or InstaGram.
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