Nanni Moretti
Habemus Papam

THE REVIEW

This morning on raiplay I was looking for something by Moretti and the only film available was this one. Since I hadn't seen it yet, I seized the opportunity and dove right in. I watched it without researching or reading anything about it. I remembered though that back in 2011 it had stirred quite a bit of controversy, both positive and negative (criticisms that usually only increase the number of viewers, as we know, it's logical). I must say that I liked it a lot for various reasons, first and foremost because I didn't expect it; it's crafted in a diverse manner, shifting from serious to semi-serious with touches of comedy to moments almost moving (perhaps also prompted by the song "Todo cambia" sung by Haydée Mercedes Sosa), and for the foresight in predicting the papal resignation (as eventually did happen with the German Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger of recent memory).

In short, it begins with a funeral followed by a white smoke and ends with a retreat from papal duty.

The acting was excellent, both by Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli and by Giovanni Moretti himself (but that was already predictable anyway), and that's that...

PS La Repubblica, Il Fatto Quotidiano, Famiglia Cristiana have favorably criticized the film's release while the circles close to the Holy See, Radio Vaticana praised the fidelity of the conclave's reconstruction and judged Michel Piccoli as "very good," though they expressed some perplexity over the story's ending.

Negative criticisms were expressed by L'Osservatore Romano which, however, praised the rest of Moretti's filmography, and on Avvenire by a Vatican expert from Agenzia Italia. It was suggested to boycott the film, claiming it offends the figure of the head of the Catholic Church.

Instead, a blockhead from Il Giornale, even before the film's release and without having seen it, bless his heart, harshly criticized the work, claiming that "the pope is too grand for Moretti."