The film “Conclave” built a replica of the Sistine Chapel in 10 weeks

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for the movie “Conclave,” now in theaters.

It is no secret that the Vatican prohibits photography inside the Sistine Chapel, and the headquarters of the Catholic Church had no intention of making exceptions for Eduard Berger’s “Conclave.”

The film is based on the Robert Harris film of the same name, and stars Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Lawrence, who is tasked with overseeing the election of a new pope after the death of the current pope. It was up to production designer Susie Davies to take on the monumental and creative task of recreating one of the world’s most visited tourist attractions, Michelangelo’s piece de resistance.

Enter Rome’s Cinecitta Studios—no stranger to recreating residences. Davies found a flat, unfinished scene from an earlier production. “They were assembled into eight-by-four-foot flats, and we built them back up,” she explains.

But the group needed to work with flooring, refinishing and carpeting. Davies found and called on the local craftsmen who built the original set. “The painting crew was exceptional, and we had the Sistine Chapel back together in 10 weeks,” says Davies.

The result was a smooth rebuild.

Later in the film, during another vote, an explosion rocks the church, causing dust and rubble to fall on the cardinals. The effects of the explosion were smoke and mirrors, and came with the magic of special effects.

A special effects rig was placed as high as possible on the studio ceiling — “about 60 to 70 feet high, and they put pistons filled with lightweight rocks and dust that fell on the cardinals,” explains Davies. Instead of stunt actors, “it was the actors and background artists who were under all that rubble. We had to be careful with the dust so people wouldn’t breathe it in. We did about four takes of this explosion. “I had a great props team come in and clean everything up, and then we would reset and start again,” says Davies. Although a scene like this might take a very long time, “it was very quick because everyone was so prepared. It was military precision.”

The year in which the story takes place remains a mystery, and Davies and Berger wanted to show how the secretive and intriguing world of sociology has evolved over the years. “We played with what we thought we knew about the Vatican, and what Edward and I decided would be our world behind closed doors.”

This realm was Casa Santa Marta, the cardinals’ residence during the conclave. Very few priests inhabit it. With so much drama happening there, Davies wanted this world to feel “a little more sinister and hint at something sneaky going on.”

“It was about creating an almost closed prison, although a very luxurious prison, but with modern facilities as well,” she says. Berger adopted the idea of ​​cardinals on their phones, smoking and vaping to add beats to each character. These details helped Davies create a backstory. “There’s not a lot of clothes in the rooms they live in. Some got a better deal than others. How did John Lithgow’s character manage to get a place that was so luxurious?” Davies asks. “In the end, you realize he was moving and dealing all the time, so he probably paid For someone to get that room.”

In contrast, Cardinal Lawrence was not disingenuous, and Davies was inclined to be so. “It doesn’t occur to him that he should get a better room. It’s probably on the ground floor, next to the elevators.

Through research, Davis discovered that many of the rooms were unused and semi-clean. But it was about the details. “They had the same bed, but each headboard was a different color, or the blanket was a different color, and it was a matter of who had the gold, who had the light green, who had the red?”

Davies credits her fellow department heads for the collaboration — cinematographer Stephane Fontaine and costume designer Lizzie Christel. “Those rooms alone would have been so dull and airy in the wrong direction, if Stefan hadn’t lit them so beautifully, and Lizzy had dressed those characters in those wonderful costumes.”

Davies worked closely with Fontaine to help introduce the idea of ​​conflicting themes. “We found that the whole film is about balancing light and dark, truth and lies, gold and silver, contemporary and traditional,” Davies explains. While she incorporated this into her sets, Fontaine worked this into his lighting. Casa Santa Marta is a visually dark world with linear patterns and darker lighting. In contrast, “the Sistine Chapel was lighter and had a sense of freedom,” says Davies.