Saving Grace

The New York Times couldn’t follow this beyond the Vatican satire of the opening scenes, which makes you wonder how they write their editorials, the television edit is a perjured witness on their behalf. The main thing is a triune analysis of sheep and goats and functionaries, with the Supreme Pontiff amongst them bringing the living water to a depraved town.

Attention span has something to do with this, Easter Week in Rome is an inspiring sight, but there are so many things to look at. “No drama in faith,” the Times has dictated, presumably having never regarded Dürer’s view of the matter, alone in the world with the operative working of the holy spirit, etc.

This is securely placed on the shoulders of Tom Conti, who largely deals in technical matters during the exposition, such as being surprised by an automobile, and then another, on the unaccustomed street. It takes quite a while for all the elements of the configuration to take their places in the assembly of the drama.

The supporting cast is exactly that, there are beautiful compositions amid the work. The swift, sure dynamism of its analysis is more than worth the price of admission—and there is the pun in the title on a cardinal ploy to augment Vatican Bank accounts by giving away papal locks of hair in plastic to large investors. Pope Leo XIV is, however, a sensible man who, when he’s pitched into the Trevi Fountain wearing mufti amidst the celebrations of football fans (he blessed the Italian team’s ball beforehand), is wise enough to bask in a gentle backstroke.