How “Conclave” imagines the Vatican’s deepest corners

Can you tell me about the early research you and your team did in Rome?

I decided that I wanted to break the story into two visual styles: the hidden part, Conclave part of the story and the outside of the story. And it became very clear that these two areas should feel completely different. We wanted there to be more space and air around the elements of the Vatican that you see from the outside and that most people have seen.

(Director Edward Berger and I) were supposed to give the tour at seven o’clock in the morning, and we went in the opposite direction, towards the general public, so I could see Sistine Chapel it used to be full of people. We walked through the gardens and began to feel the essence, this amazing authenticity and depth that the Vatican has. It is a collection of the most beautiful architecture and people who truly push the boundaries of space and light.

It must have been such a deep inspiration to have such rich source material.

We were of course very inspired, but it was also a matter of balance. We were filming a cinematic thriller. We did not make a documentary about the conclave. We created a narrative world with intrigue, and there are elements of the Vatican that are not so rich and even a little boring – for example, Casa Santa Marta, where all the cardinals gather, is a kind of guest house during the conclave. And there are almost no images of this; they just pointed it out to us like, “Oh, that building over there.” Edward and I thought of this as an opportunity to really create our own world, because we don’t really know what it looks like.

We didn’t film anything inside the Vatican. So everything is a kind of mosaic of locations scattered around Rome and buildings. In the beautiful golden room where we meet the choir and Cardinal Lawrence gives a beautiful speech at the very beginning, this is at the very beginning. Barberini Museum in Rome, this is the most stunning spacious room with silk wallpaper. I mean, you can go and visit it.

There was an architect, Carlo Scarpa, who I kind of brushed off. I wanted it to feel a little like a prison, so we increased the scale a little to play with the balance of what Rome gave us for free. Every turn, every corner we passed, it was like, “Oh, here’s another beautiful Caravaggio. There’s an amazing sculpture there.”