‘Conclave’: How the Striking Umbrellas Shot Was Designed to Convey a Sense of Relentless ‘Forward Movement’

The Vatican-set mystery “Conclave” opened in theaters today, but one single shot has been the talk of moviegoers all season on the film festival circuit. Late in the film, we see dozens of Catholic cardinals, all dressed in white and red, filmed from overhead and at a distance, marching forward in the rain. Their faces are obscured underneath stark white umbrellas, which bob along in the frame.

No plot spoilers here, except to say that the shot is emblematic of the high drama and arch formality in the film, which is essential to understanding the story. Based on a novel by Robert Harris (“The Ghost Writer”), the film is about a weary cardinal (Ralph Fiennes) organizing the election of a new pope. It marks the follow-up project for director Edward Berger, an Oscar-winner for 2022’s “All Quiet on the Western Front.”

And according to the cinematographer of “Conclave,” this particular shot shares DNA with Berger’s acclaimed World War I movie. Stéphane Fontaine, whose credits include Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle” and Jacques Audiard’s “A Prophet,” spoke to TheWrap about Berger’s sense of “visual geometry.”

“It was something Edward talked about in our first conversation,” said Fontaine. “‘All Quiet’ had not even come out yet, but that’s something you can tell from that film, which is a sense of the unstoppable. Moving forward in the physical space and a feeling that there is no way you can escape. That was absolutely perfect for ‘All Quiet,’ in terms of the visual language of war.”

For “Conclave,” Fontaine explained that Berger was “quite keen on there being many wide shots in the film and that many of the shots would be very determined.”

This shot of the cardinals under umbrellas represents the most iconic statement of that “wide and determined” idea. Fontaine nodded when I asked if he had sensed a feeling that the shot was lingering in audience’s minds.

But it was not an easy one to achieve, according to Fontaine. The location was a French property in Rome called Villa Medici, home of the French Academy’s artists residency, situated within the greater Borghese Gardens.

The Frenchman cinematographer appreciated the choice of location. “I can almost say we shot it in France,” he said with a laugh.

“The camera was in a high window, looking down at the yard. We had quite a lot of rain, along with a bit of sun and a bit of good luck, so the lighting was just right. But we didn’t have enough cardinals on the day.”

So smaller sets of cardinals were multiplied in post-production for the final shot. “We shot a few different plates and then stitched them together to make them look like that sea of cardinals that you see, all in forward movement together.”

Asked about other shots from “Conclave” that stuck in his memory, Fontaine also recalled an early close-up of actress Isabella Rossellini, who plays a Vatican nun in the film.

“It was a moment where Cardinal Lawrence (played by Fiennes) is delivering a speech and we cut to Isabella, who’s sitting on a bench outside listening,” he said. “I think there are two shots, one on her hands and one on her face, a very gentle camera move closer to her.”

It was a “very moving moment” for the cinematographer, he said. The majority of “Conclave” was filmed at the famed Cinecittà Studios, where Rossellini’s parents, actress Ingrid Bergman and director Roberto Rossellini, made movies in the 1950s.

“Suddenly, I remembered her mom and her dad and just her, of course. I mean, Cinecittà is where she was born, in a way. She was born in Rome but she’s a child from Cinecittà. And for me it was quite intense and emotional when we did those shots with her.”

“Conclave” is in theaters now.