After a screening of “The Two Popes” in New York recently, screenwriter Anthony McCarten recalls being approached by an audience member with a surprising take on the film.
It’s an interesting left turn, considering how past films such as “Doubt,” “Philomena,” “Spotlight” and “The Magdalene Sisters” have over the last 20 years focused largely on reflecting headlines and revealing the many skeletons in the church’s deep historical closet.“It’s been in the media for various reasons over the last few years,” notes “Hidden Life” producer Grant Hill, whose film examines an Austrian farmer-turned-WWII war resister martyred for refusing to fight.
“I sat with two nuns who greatly enjoyed the movie, and one key emotion was relief,” says McCarten. “Catholicism had become a horror show every time they opened the newspaper — and that’s not the institution they’d devoted their lives to. They knew humanitarians were trying their best every day to do something good for the world, and they felt frustrated.”
“Communities are becoming detached from the Vatican and craving local, spiritual leaders,” says director Jan Komasa. “So whenever there’s someone with enough charisma and passion, he gets to be the new Kanye West. [‘Christi’ protagonist] Daniel wants to connect with other people, and those connections are significant parts of religion. That spiritual feeling is very underestimated — not just by filmmakers, but in art.
“Religion felt so elemental to the cultures we’re describing,” says Haynes. “I wanted to be honest about the worlds we were describing, and religion maintains an aspect of community life that really does bind people together. It’s a through-line that was essential to the story we’re telling.”