Nobody loves Rome more than Paolo Sorrentino. In his video world, "Eternal City" always presents an indescribable charm, ancient and modern, decadent yet energetic, and hopeless in depression. From La grande Bellezza (La grande Bellezza), Italian-born Sorrentino brings Rome back to the world's gaze. Even in the later "Youth", which has nothing to do with Rome, each character seems to live in the city of Rome all his life, fighting between young minds and aging bodies with pious beliefs, seeking The balance between life, death and art.
Of course, Sorrentino, who loves Rome so much, will never give up the most fascinating and mysterious part of the city - the reclusive popes and cardinals living in the Vatican. So in 2016, he brought The Youth Pope. In this ten-episode series, Pius XIII, played by Jude Law, becomes the sexiest and most modern pope in history. Always wearing white underwear and topless, he strolled in the bright sunshine of the Vatican, looking back on his childhood while pondering the relationship between God, religion and the world. This is not an act of provocation. From a certain point of view, the existence of Pius XIII is a provocation.
Three and a half years later, Sorrentino is back again to continue the provocative story. The show's title changed from "The Young Pope" to "The New Pope," and the handsome Jude Law is still there, only with more gray hair on his head, most of the time. Lying in the ward, dying. God will not let the earth lack his spokesman, so a new pope was born from the power struggle.
The new pope, played by John Malkovich, declared himself John Paul III. Compared with his predecessor, he is more in line with the traditional image of people. He is old and rigorous, speaks slowly, and always dresses meticulously. Before taking over as pope, he lived in seclusion in Branox, far from the Vatican, and said he was not interested in fame or power. But everything is superficial. This kind-faced old man used to be a punk rocker and was tortured by the mysterious death of his twin brother. What a huge irony.
Sorrentino's approach to power is ironic, especially in presenting the Vatican's struggle for power. The pope's nominal power comes from God, but the process of his election was fraught with compromise. Even high-ranking secular people in the city are involved. This is more of a political struggle than a discussion of religious ideals, and the final choice is just the product of compromise on all sides. So where is the will of God? If he really exists, he is just watching this farce silently in heaven.
During the first half of "The New Pope," the entire Vatican felt like a grand farce. The silent nuns decide to strike in exchange for the long-lost respect. The people in the square were still mourning the former Pope and were reluctant to leave for a long time. The new pontiff wants to solve these tedious problems in order to establish his authority. Obviously, he is incapable of doing it all. So he was often confused, and he tried his best to pretend to be calm and confident.
The biggest threat facing the new pope remains his predecessor, Pope Pius XIII, who is on a ventilator in a hospital bed. He is like a ghost, even if he has no body, he is watching everything secretly, so that everyone can't ignore it. This put enormous pressure on John Paul III. Charlie Manson, who came to visit, bluntly said that he could not tell the difference between the old and the new Pope, which made him extremely embarrassed. And when he decided to meet his ex on the hospital bed, he was even worried that the media would take pictures of the two of them in the same frame. In the end, he chose to escape and temporarily left the Vatican full of disputes. This is not what a pope should do.
The second half of the episode is decidedly more religious, at least on the surface. Pius XIII, like Jesus Christ, rose from the dead as described in the Bible. He was expected to perform miracles and solve problems as before. This is exactly what he has done before, such as impregnating infertile women.
From "The Pope of the Year" to "The New Pope", the identity of Pius XIII is mostly ambiguous and elusive. Even as Pope, he has always been an outsider, outside the Vatican's Holy See. An American, whose parents were a hippie couple, was so troubled by a tragic childhood that he had to turn to God and the power of faith. As the Pope's extreme religious conservatives, the expulsion of homosexual clerics has also caused widespread controversy. Identity anxiety has never left the Pope, nor the Vatican. In this sense, Pius XIII was no different from his successors, both seeking his true self.
In Sorrentino's stories, self-seeking is an eternal motif, and his protagonist is always in a free state. In "City of Beauty," Toni Servillo plays an indifferent reporter. The audience observed the prosperity of the city of Rome through his eyes, but in the end no one knew what this day's travel really brought to his life. In Young and Young, the musician, played by Michael Caine, goes on vacation to a nursing home while pondering the problems of his past life. Often there are no answers to these questions, and Sorrentino is more concerned with the process of thinking.
How to express the process of thinking, this is the greatest charm of Sorrentino's films. The silent thinking of the protagonist often forms a sharp contrast with the bustling world around him. The characters walking in it are unconsciously attracted to those absurd and beautiful worlds, but they cannot really immerse themselves in them. The sense of alienation has always enveloped them, and it has not dissipated for a long time, and finally passed on to the audience. Sorrentino likes to use images to convey emotions, whether it is the magnificent city of Rome or the tranquil nursing home, all have a quality that transcends the earth. A group of smiling nuns locked in a fence in Rome city, naked women with water hibiscus in a nursing home, the images with strong contrast and huge impact make the audience intoxicated, and then they are puzzled, does such a world really exist? ?
When it comes to "The New Pope", similar pictures are still emerging one after another. The cross in the nun's dormitory turned into a huge neon sign, and the nuns who were about to go to bed began to twist their bodies in an instant, dancing provocatively to electronic music. Or let the resurrected Pope Pius XIII walk on the beach, naked through a group of swimsuit beauties, and be exposed to the eager eyes of everyone. Whether present or not, Pius XIII has always been at the heart of these provocative images. From death to resurrection, his confusion about self-identification has never changed. Can he become God's spokesman in the world?
From the confusion of Pius XIII, we can reach the core of "The New Pope": what has religious belief brought to the world? Since all the popes ostensibly convey the idea of goodness, why are there disputes and confrontations between different religions, and there are still all kinds of suffering in the world.
Sorrentino gave an ambiguous answer to this question. After a little struggle, the resurrected Pius XIII regained the power that originally belonged to him. Dressed in sumptuous clothing, he was carried before the cardinals like a regal and delivered a powerful speech. At this time, the outside world is in turmoil, and a group of Muslim terrorists have taken hostages in an attempt to provoke a religious war between Islam and Christianity. Pius XIII did not rely on any outside help, and went to the terrorists alone. It seemed that he only relied on personal charm to let them lay down their weapons and resolve the crisis. Everything was a miracle.
A pope who is confused about his self-identity can solve religious problems by relying only on his own charisma. From this perspective, it doesn't really matter what you believe in. Aside from the tedious teachings, there is no essential difference between the various religions. What is important is how to practice your beliefs and convey your true self. Disputes in the outside world do not change a person, you will always be you, and you will always be you.
The end of The New Pope goes back to where the story started. John Paul III retired and returned to earthly life. Pius XIII was worshipped by thousands, and then fell into a coma again, before the statue of "Mourning Christ". Whether he has completed his mission on earth and returned to heaven, or is waiting for the next resurrection, no one knows. The only thing that can be known is that no matter where he is or what identity he has, he will always be a servant of God and will always struggle between his true self and his beliefs. Maybe Paolo Sorrentino will keep this story of struggle going, showing the next resurrection and true death.
This article was first published on the official account of Deep Focus DeepFocus, and the text and pictures have been slightly changed.
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