There is a magnificent scene in Paolo Sorrentino’s The Young Pope in which Pius XIII, played by Jude Law, sits open-mouthed at a table in the Apostolic Palace as a vision of his predecessors unfolds. He has prayed for their help as he wrestles with the inevitable human conflicts of the affairs of state; now they file in, ready to advise their latest replacement. Each wears the robes of his respective century, with just a hint of homage to Fellini. Tiaras abound.
“I beg of you,” prays the former Lenny Belardo, “confide in me the wisest thing you have ever learned.” After a moment of muttering and nodding, their spokesman, cast in the image of the fearsome Julius II but with the voice of John Gielgud at his hammiest, raises his hand and speaks. “In the end, more than in God, it is necessary to believe in yourself, Lenny.” “Oh,” replies Lenny. “Have you got anything better?”
