The initial repertory footage shows the windy April day of Pope John Paul II’s funeral, with St. Peter’s square packed with the faithful. Immediately after, a procession of cardinals heads towards the Sistine Chapel (recreated at Cinecittà Studios, along with the loggia where the chamberlain appears to announce the new pope). The cardinals may emerge only once a Pope has been elected. Unable to use the real locations, the production took advantage of the external staircase of Palazzo Barberini. Palazzo Muccioli was used for scenes in the Papal apartments and the new Pope’s escape was filmed in the corridors of Palazzo Sacchetti.
The luminary summoned to assist the new Pope in his crisis, Professor Brezzi, improvises a psychoanalytical session before the entire college of cardinals in Palazzo Farnese. To kill time, while awaiting a solution, the professor involves all the cardinals in the conclave in a basketball tournament in the palace gardens.
The interiors of Palazzo Albertoni Spinola, in piazza Campitelli, provided the setting for the recreation room in the memorable scene where Prof. Brezzi sardonically reads aloud verses of the Bible to the cardinals. The Vatican gardens were recreated in Villa Lante in Bagnaia.
At some point, the uneasy Pope decides to end his isolation: the journey along the streets of Rome to a therapist’s studio passes porta Latina and the Aurelian walls. What better opportunity for an escape? During his hours of freedom, he meets a theatrical company in a hotel near piazza Bologna, listens to the sermon of a young priest in the Church of Santa Dorotea, watches a play by Chekhov at teatro Valle, and meets the Vatican spokesperson in the Roman Forum near the remains of the Basilica Giulia.
The initial repertory footage shows the windy April day of Pope John Paul II’s funeral, with St. Peter’s square packed with the faithful. Immediately after, a procession of cardinals heads towards the Sistine Chapel (recreated at Cinecittà Studios, along with the loggia where the chamberlain appears to announce the new pope). The cardinals may emerge only once a Pope has been elected. Unable to use the real locations, the production took advantage of the external staircase of Palazzo Barberini. Palazzo Muccioli was used for scenes in the Papal apartments and the new Pope’s escape was filmed in the corridors of Palazzo Sacchetti.
The luminary summoned to assist the new Pope in his crisis, Professor Brezzi, improvises a psychoanalytical session before the entire college of cardinals in Palazzo Farnese. To kill time, while awaiting a solution, the professor involves all the cardinals in the conclave in a basketball tournament in the palace gardens.
The interiors of Palazzo Albertoni Spinola, in piazza Campitelli, provided the setting for the recreation room in the memorable scene where Prof. Brezzi sardonically reads aloud verses of the Bible to the cardinals. The Vatican gardens were recreated in Villa Lante in Bagnaia.
At some point, the uneasy Pope decides to end his isolation: the journey along the streets of Rome to a therapist’s studio passes porta Latina and the Aurelian walls. What better opportunity for an escape? During his hours of freedom, he meets a theatrical company in a hotel near piazza Bologna, listens to the sermon of a young priest in the Church of Santa Dorotea, watches a play by Chekhov at teatro Valle, and meets the Vatican spokesperson in the Roman Forum near the remains of the Basilica Giulia.
