Conclave or "how to recreate the Sistine Chapel in 10 weeks"

Conclave or “how to recreate the Sistine Chapel in 10 weeks”

The film about the election of a new Pope, with Ralph Fiennes, has every chance at the 2025 Oscars. Particularly for its sets and costumes, all thought out with precision.

Based on the novel of the same name by Robert Harris, Conclave comes out this week in France, preceded by an excellent reputation across the Atlantic. Edward Bergerwhich received four Oscars last year thanks to its adaptation ofNothing new in the Westcould once again cause a sensation thanks to this thriller recounting the election of a new Pope, after the sudden death of the Sovereign Pontiff. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) there is the heavy task of organizing the vote, behind closed doors, with dozens of his peers cut off from the world while a successor is chosen.

Conclave is savored like one of those Agatha Christie-style neo-whodunits (review)

Faithful reconstruction

In reality for this type of Conclave, the Cardinals are confined between the Vatican and the Casa Santa Marta residence, in Rome. The problem is that the religious organization prohibits filming inside the Sistine Chapel. “The headquarters of the Catholic Church did not intend to make an exception for this film”details Varietyso we had to call on a team of talented decorators. Suzie Davieswho recently worked on Saltburn and who was the head of this department on Conclavewas thus responsible for “creatively recreate one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world, Michelangelo’s masterpiece”writes the American magazine. She had a fake Sistine Chapel built at the Cinecitta studios in Italy in just a few weeks. Ten, precisely.

“We started with decor elements measuring 8 by 2 feet, which were already on site, says the production designer. We reassembled them, then began the work of painting and covering the floors with the teams who had already worked on these sets for the Cinecitta. These painters were extraordinary, thanks to them, we reconstructed the Sistine Chapel in 10 weeks.”

Precision decorations

For the sets of the residence where the Cardinals sleep, Casa Santa Marta, there too we had to be as close as possible to reality. “Finally, a little more sinister”laughs Davies, who points out that a good part of the “dramas” were going to play out here, and that this should in a certain way also be felt in the choice of settings, far from being trivial..

“It was about creating an almost hermetically sealed prison, although very chic, and with modern accessories, she explains. There are not many elements in the rooms inhabited during the Conclave by the Cardinals. However, we had to understand from the outset that some were better off than others. How did John Lithgow’s character manage to get a palatial apartment?, for example. At the end, we realize that he hasn’t stopped elbowing, so we can say that he probably paid someone to get this room… On the other hand, it didn’t matter. crossed Lawrence’s mind that in his time as dean he could have gotten a better room. It’s probably on the ground floor, near the elevators…”

Teamwork(s)

For it to work, this work on the decor also had to be thought out with other departments of the film, for example the cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine (A Prophet) or the costume designer Lisy Christl (Anonymous, In the West nothing new).

“These rooms alone would have been very dull if Stéphane had not lit them so magnificently or if Lisy had not dressed these characters in these wonderful costumes,” considers Davies.

The same goes for the special effects team. Beware of spoilershowever: the paragraph that follows recounts the making of a key scene from Conclave. If you don’t want to know anything, it’s better to go straight to the “details that kill”.

When an explosion rocks the Chapel in the middle of a vote, it was not entirely created digitally, with dust and rubble actually falling on the actors. What requires “a particular device, placed as high as possible on the studio ceiling, approximately 60-70 feet high, details the decoration manager. They placed pistons filled with light rocks and dust so that it would fall on the cardinals.” Which were not played by stunt doubles, she specifies:

“It was the actors and extras who were under all that rubble. We had to be careful of the dust so people wouldn’t inhale it. We did about four takes of that explosion. I had a brilliant crew. “The prop guys would come and clean everything up, then we would reset and start again. This shoot was pretty quick because everyone was extremely prepared. It was military precision.”

Details that kill

From the color of the robes to those of the beds of each Cardinal, the artists at the head of each department of Conclave worked closely together, Davies insists. Their taste for detail gives the film this very particular tone, where in the middle of all the traditions, each gesture “modern” of these men of the church appeal to the viewer, whether they are smoking, vaping, or using their cell phone.

“We discovered that the whole film was about balancing light and dark, honesty and lies, gold and silver, contemporary and traditional, explains the production designer, who took great care, with her fellow director of photography, of “making Casa Santa Marta a visually darker world, with linear patterns”and the Sistine Chapel, a “clearer place, which offers a feeling of freedom.”

The trailer for Conclavecurrently watching at the cinema:

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