2005 gothic giallo. Father Xaviero Torturo rises from obscurity to
become Pope; it helps that he speaks with the tongue of a saint.
So naturally this rests somewhat on the conceit of Hadrian the
Seventh, but rather than claim that the principal is the only good
man in a bad world, Connell is happy to say that Torturo is just as
bad as the rest of them, probably worse… but he is whole-hearted
about it, which allows him to prevail. (His cousin the Mafia assassin,
who's happy to work freelance, doesn't hurt matters.)
There's decadence here, and torture, and letting the punishment fit
the crime. Black magic too, which does somewhat defeat any tension:
after all, if we don't know what it can do, how can we know whether
Torturo can't simply wave his hands and get out of a bad situation?
(To be fair, there's one point at which we certainly know that that's
not possible.)
It's scheming and manipulation and blackmail and if Torturo thinks he
can set the church to rights, he may be correct. But of course he has
enemies, at least those he's been foolish enough to leave alive.
It's all rather silly, but great fun if one's in a misanthropic mood.
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