“You believe us blind, deaf and dumb” Isabella Rossellini, a nun who sees-hears-speaks

Those reds, those blacks, those whites, mozzettes and pilgrims. Then there is the Sistine Chapel, “extra omnes”, rites and myths; how scenographic a Conclave can be. The film “Conclave” by Edward Berger, from the novel by Robert Harris, is just that too. A metaphor for temporal power, for the hunting of secrets, for the buying of votes, and political bartering. There is talk that in Los Angeles it will win Oscars, perhaps not; however, whatever the outcome, there is a female role and performance that will linger. This is why they like it.

The Pope has just died, so the dean of the College of Cardinals played by Ralph Fiennes must organize and oversee the election of the new Pontiff. Everything and everyone. Amongst his fellow cardinals, meanwhile, there is Stanley Tucci, who plays an American liberal, John Lithgow, a Canadian traditionalist, there is Lucian Msamati, who could possibly become the first black pope, and Sergio Castellitto, who as cardinal is both impetuous and Machiavellian, the important conservative. From the film, he states, “Here once we would have spoken Latin, and understood each other. The Church does not hold; we must go back”. But there is an outsider, a cardinal ‘in pectore’ whose nomination was known only to the Holy Father, who wants to move forward, and to whom the final twist in the plot is assigned.

Obviously, all men. Instead, that is not the case. There is a small army of nuns who arrive to prepare the meals and keep the rooms clean during the “segregation”, which is the usual ancillary role of woman in these circumstances. Instead, no again. The Mother Superior of this small army of nuns, the Sister Agnes role played by Isabella Rossellini, is the keystone of the story.

It is magnificent how she resists the inquiring Cardinal Fiennes with stubborn dignity; that she strenuously defends a sister who finds herself catapulted -despite herself- into the centre of an intrigue. That she utters the memorable phrase, “You think we are blind, deaf and dumb. But instead we hear, see and speak”, and say, quite simply, the truth. In short, to the woman, to her sister, to her courage, to Rossellini’s intense interpretation is assigned the meaning of the story, and it is she allows these cardinals to move on.

As always, the professional actor that she is was prepared for her role in ‘Conclave’, but she also drew inspiration from her own life, having attended school in a Catholic institute in Rome. “I went to the nuns until I was 16”, she said, “They were good and kind but with enormous authority. I tried to remember them in playing my character. Sister Agnes is silent and at the same time stoic and authoritarian”.

A part of just seven minutes and 51 seconds, which may seem small, but very significant.

By Alessandra Comazzi
A Journalist and television critic