When “ All Quiet on the Western Front” director Edward Berger first read Peter Straughan’s script for “Conclave,” his adaptation of the 2016 Robert Harris papal bestseller, it wasn’t the nasty cardinal intrigues and the luxurious Vatican settings that most appealed to him. It was the conflict inside the character of Cardinal Lawrence, the man in charge of running the elaborate process of picking a new pope. That’s also what lured in Ralph Fiennes , who could finally score his third Oscar nomination after his stellar early career performances in “Schindler’s List” and “The English Patient.
” “ Conclave ” marks a contrast from Berger’s intense German war movie “All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix), which nabbed three craft Oscar wins along with Best International Feature Film . You could call the English-language “Conclave” a crowdpleaser, having played well at Telluride and Toronto with an 80 Metascore, followed by audience awards at both Middleburg and Mill Valley. In other words, “Conclave” could prove a popular hit as well as a European-flavored Oscar contender.
“It is a very international film,” Berger told IndieWire during a recent interview. “It has such an international cast. The story is international.
That political or religious gathering is followed by 1.6 billion people around the world.” Already an admirer of Straughan’s from his work on “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and “Wolf Hall,” Berger jumped on boa.
