Two Popes (Netflix, 2019)
When you are young, you think you are unique. You think you are God-sent and has some set of things to do. You perceive things that happen around you as living proof that these are signs from the Divine. You carry on convinced that it is the right thing. Challenges come and go. You win some, and that doubles your certainty that you are on the right track. You go into it knee-deep.
Soon the initial euphoria dies down. Pretty fast, the miracles that were supposed to trickle in fail to materialise. Decisions are harder to make. Things are not so black or white anymore. With age and wisdom, you realise, you cannot change everything. Somebody is sleeping on the job.
Perhaps you were wrong all this while. But then, it cannot be. All of life's work go to zilch? Cognitive dissonance sets in. You cannot falter. Right or wrong, you have to soldier on. You march on questioning everything. Answers do not come, but you make your own anyway. You finally realise that you are just passing through. Nothing you do is going to change anything. You come, you go. You are merely a spectre in the scheme of things. Everything in between is just life lessons. You understand that you cannot change the world. The world has its own trajectory to follow. You compromise, and you switch to suit the times.
This film centres around the fictionalised private conversations that took place between the ageing Pope Benedict XVI and the soon-to-be elected Pope Francis. It starts with the election of Pope Benedict XVI. Amidst the secret ballots, we see much politicking and running down of each other by the candidates.
The movie brings us the full glory of the Vatican City and the interiors of the Sistine Chapel.
The Holy See is going through some trying times. Exposure of misconduct fo the clergymen does not augur well with the public. Real debates go on within the confines of the four wall of Vatican. Pope Benedict from Germany and Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio from Argentina, in a fictional meeting, discuss each other's past, debate their ideological differences and finally find common grounds in football and pizza.
When you are young, you think you are unique. You think you are God-sent and has some set of things to do. You perceive things that happen around you as living proof that these are signs from the Divine. You carry on convinced that it is the right thing. Challenges come and go. You win some, and that doubles your certainty that you are on the right track. You go into it knee-deep.
Soon the initial euphoria dies down. Pretty fast, the miracles that were supposed to trickle in fail to materialise. Decisions are harder to make. Things are not so black or white anymore. With age and wisdom, you realise, you cannot change everything. Somebody is sleeping on the job.
Perhaps you were wrong all this while. But then, it cannot be. All of life's work go to zilch? Cognitive dissonance sets in. You cannot falter. Right or wrong, you have to soldier on. You march on questioning everything. Answers do not come, but you make your own anyway. You finally realise that you are just passing through. Nothing you do is going to change anything. You come, you go. You are merely a spectre in the scheme of things. Everything in between is just life lessons. You understand that you cannot change the world. The world has its own trajectory to follow. You compromise, and you switch to suit the times.
This film centres around the fictionalised private conversations that took place between the ageing Pope Benedict XVI and the soon-to-be elected Pope Francis. It starts with the election of Pope Benedict XVI. Amidst the secret ballots, we see much politicking and running down of each other by the candidates.
The movie brings us the full glory of the Vatican City and the interiors of the Sistine Chapel.
The Holy See is going through some trying times. Exposure of misconduct fo the clergymen does not augur well with the public. Real debates go on within the confines of the four wall of Vatican. Pope Benedict from Germany and Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio from Argentina, in a fictional meeting, discuss each other's past, debate their ideological differences and finally find common grounds in football and pizza.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Comments
Post a Comment