Ilandar
I saw Sinners today. Amazing film that works on a lot of different levels. A lot of time is allocated to the introduction of the characters, including side characters, so that you actually care about their fates later in the film (rare in this genre). There are some very strong themes around family and its sort of a celebration of African American and minority culture. I was surprised by how moving Sinners gets for a “horror” film, you can really feel that the writer/director had something to say and was passionate about this piece of work. The soundtrack is also amazing, the film is not really a musical but it’s also not afraid to let music come to the forefront and really dominate everything else for extended periods. There’s even an R&B track written specifically for the second half of the credits, which was totally unexpected but ties in very strongly with the themes of the film and makes a lot of sense as a musical coda.
I don’t know why you’re complaining about downvotes in response to me, I don’t even have vote scores enabled. But in general I agree with you, I think the only console I got at launch was the Wii and that was a Christmas gift when I was still living with my parents so I didn’t spend any of my own money. It was also because Twilight Princess was a launch title and I didn’t own a GameCube so I was yet to play it (Zelda is my favourite Nintendo series so that made it a worthwhile purchase at launch).
spoiler
The vote for Lawrence doesn’t go through because the terrorist attack interrupts it. He is essentially on a path to become Pope until the moment he attempts to cast his vote. Immediately following that, the cardinals have their emergency meeting in the theatre and Benitez makes his big speech which is part of what convinces a majority of his colleagues to vote for him, the other part being the hole in the window exposing them all to the outside world and reminding them that they are in service to God and his creations rather than themselves.
As for why we don’t see Lawrence vote for Benitez, it’s because we’re not necessarily supposed to pick up on the significance of these events until after the plot twist where Benitez is elected. That’s also why they made his reaction to the speech ambiguous and why that election scene is shot in such a way that it initially looks as though Lawrence has won, and when he hasn’t, isn’t immediately clear who has (out of Tedesco and Benitez).
I don’t think that aspect of the film is actually relevant to the central themes or story, though.
spoiler
The terrorist attack is more of a plot device to break the isolation of the Conclave, and thus to bring the cardinals back from the temptation of power and to remind them of the greater world and the people they are ultimately in service to, as well as to setup the final confrontation between Tedesco and Benitez.
I actually rewatched it tonight and I’ve changed my mind that the “power corrupts” theme doesn’t go anywhere. On a second viewing (where I could concentrate 100% without someone eating popcorn loudly in my ear) I thought there was actually quite a well rounded arc built around that theme,
spoiler
with the conclusion coming when Lawrence admits to Bellini he has considered his own papacy and finally succumbs by voting for himself. The suicide bombing occurs right as he casts his vote, and acts as a symbolic intervention from God in response to his sin.
Aside from distraction in the cinema and the benefits of a second viewing, I think the reason I overlooked this the first time around is because it is immediately followed and perhaps overshadowed by the multiple plot twists involving Benitez, who until then hasn’t featured much in the film. Originally I thought his story didn’t really tie in with that of Lawrence, and I still think it is underdeveloped considering the ending of the film, but now I can see that if Benitez represents innocence then the ending of the film is really about Lawrence coming through a trial of his faith and the temptation of sin to rediscover this.
What’s the point of the Switch 2? It seems like it’ll only have a small handful of exclusives that’ll cost maybe $1,000… that seems crazy expensive for like.4 games.
The “point” is that more exclusive games will be developed for it over its lifetime, which will last a lot longer than the year of release. You can point to many consoles throughout history and ask “wHaTs tHe PoInT???” based on their launch titles.
Yeah I definitely saw this and was a little disappointed it didn’t amount to anything. I left it out because I wasn’t actually sure it was really there, or if I just read it into the film without serious evidence.
I had the exact same experience. I went with some family, so we were talking about it afterwards and I mentioned that I was kind of disappointed that this seduction of power element didn’t go anywhere and no one else even knew what I was talking about. But I think we’re right, it was definitely in there…we’re not crazy!
I agree with you and I think quite a few other people have shared similar sentiments here too. There is nothing wrong with any of the narrative components that comprise the ending, but they aren’t given enough time throughout the film to match everything that has come before. All the political thriller tension type stuff leading up to the finale is consistently excellent and there is a lot of time spent on this sort of personal crisis the lead is going through, with quite a bit of foreshadowing that he is going to be corrupted by a lust for power. Yet that never actually comes, and instead we get a different ending which is fine but hasn’t received anywhere near as much attention. It’s like a 9/10 film for 85% that drops to a 6/10 right at the end. I left the cinema feeling somewhat disappointed but if I reflect honestly on the entire film it was still great and absolutely worth the watch.
