Was finding Volker Bertelmann's music over-emphatic and annoying (he also scored the director's All Quiet on the Western Front) but soon was caught up in the intrigue, helped along by marvellous performances initially from Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci. The screenplay by Peter Straughan won BAFTA and Oscar - it appears to be very true to Robert Harris's novel with all the same twists and turns.
BAFTA also awarded the editor Nick Emerson for sensible choices, and gave it Best Film and Best British Film, which seems a bit unnecessary. Stéphane Fontaine's photography was also nominated - I found it too dark - but that could be the way Amazon streamed it. I just can't tell any more. Might have to stop watching films streaming. Good sound mixing '# design Ben Baird.
Funnily enough I am reading Ingrid Bergman's autobiography and when I saw Isabella Rossellini I thought 'There's Ingrid!'
Rest of good cast: John Lithgow, Brian F O'Byrne, Sergio Castellitto, Carlos Diehz, Lucian Msamati (The Good Liar).
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"It is a war!" |
It was weird timing as Vatican City has literally just had a conclave and a new Pope elected.
Tucci in his second book 'What I Ate in a Year' reports that Cinecitta (where it was filmed) was in the same sad state of misrepair that it was 25 years ago and that the catering was 'disgusting. Really. Disgusting.' - which is not what you'd expect at all.