The Two Popes

The Two Popes (2019)

Timing: 2:5 (125 min)

7.503/10
2770

All about film

Video 2

Photo 15

Actors and characters

Release date

2019-11-27

Country

United States

Production

Rideback

Genre

Drama, Comedy, History

Budget

$0

Revenue

$232 638

Website

https://www.thetwopopesmovie.com/

Director

Fernando Meirelles

Actors

Jonathan Pryce, Anthony Hopkins, Juan Minujín, Luis Gnecco, Cristina Banegas, María Ucedo, Renato Scarpa, Sidney Cole, Achille Brugnini, Federico Torre
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Tracey Seaward, Dan Lin, Leticia Cristi, Jonathan Eirich, Diego Robino, Mark Bauch

Operator

César Charlone

Composer

Bryce Dessner

Artist

Audition

Nina Gold, Barbara Giordani, Javier Braier

Editing

Fernando Stutz
All team (48)

• A full-scale replica of the Sistine Chapel was created in the pavilions of the Cinecitta studio in Rome (in fact, it was even slightly larger than the original – to accommodate the placement of filming equipment inside). The construction of the replica took 8 weeks.
• Director Fernando Meirelles discovered actor Jonathan Pryce while browsing photos of Pope Francis online. Pryce's and Francis's pictures constantly appeared side-by-side in search results. Meirelles studied Pryce's acting career and read his interviews, after which he offered him the role in the film.
• The filmmakers were not granted permission to film in the Vatican, so no scenes from the film were shot there.
• Anthony Hopkins is actually an excellent piano player. He plays himself in the scene shown in the film where a musical improvisation is heard.
• The film is based on real events, including public speeches and published debates on religious matters. As for the private conversations between Bergoglio and Ratzinger, they are generally based on artistic fiction.
• Fernando Meirelles was initially planned to direct the future film. When he was first offered the project, he declined, as he was preparing the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. This took two years. Once the Olympics were over, the film's script was fully ready, and Meirelles accepted the offer.
• The song Cardinal Bergoglio hears when the Pope's helicopter lands in the Vatican is called “Bella Ciao.” Originally, it was a folk protest song of Italian hired workers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Later, it became the anthem of the Italian anti-fascist partisan movement in 1943-1945, in which communists mainly participated. “Bella Ciao” has remained the anti-fascist anthem of the Italian left, and especially communists, to this day.