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The beginning of the pontificate of Lenny Belardo, aka Pius XIII, is the first American Pope in history.
Synopsis: Jude Law plays the central character, Lenny Belardo, aka Pius XIII, the first American Pope in history. Young and charming, his election seems to be the result of a simple yet effective media strategy on the part of the College of Cardinals. But appearances can be deceptive. Above all, in the place and among the people who have chosen the great mystery of God as the compass guiding their existence. That place is the Vatican and those people are the leaders of the Church. And Pius XIII proves to be the most mysterious and contradictory of them all. Shrewd and naïve, ironical and pedantic, primeval and cutting-edge, doubting and resolute, melancholy and ruthless, Pius XIII tries to cross the endless river of human solitude to find a God he can give to mankind. And to himself.
The Cast
Jude Law as fictional Pope Pius XIII (born Lenny Belardo), the newly elected Pope struggling with his new responsibilities
Diane Keaton as Sister Mary, a nun from America living in Vatican City who raised Belardo and helped him reach the papacy
James Cromwell as Cardinal Michael Spencer, Lenny's mentor
Silvio Orlando as Cardinal Voiello, Secretary of State
Sebastian Roché as Cardinal Michel Marivaux
Scott Shepherd as Cardinal Dussolier
Cécile de France as Sofia, in charge of marketing in the Vatican City
Javier Cámara as Cardinal Gutierrez, Master of Ceremonies of the Vatican City
Ludivine Sagnier as Esther, wife of a Swiss guard
Toni Bertorelli as Cardinal Caltanissetta
Daniel Vivian as Domen, Pope's butler
Olivia Macklin as Madre, Pope's mother
Directed by Paolo Sorrentino
Paolo Sorrentino was born on May 31, 1970 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He is a director and writer, known for La grande bellezza (2013), Youth - La giovinezza (2015) and This Must Be the Place (2011).
Pics
Trailer
Youtube Link
Early Reviews Based on the first 2 episodes
Word of advice: don't read more reviews. One of the key features of the show seems to be how unpredictable Pius XIII is, and you don't want the first 2 episodes spoiled.
Airing
Season 1 consists of 10 episodes (2 episodes back to back aired each week, at least in my country), work has already started on Season 2
Germany 21 October 2016
Italy 21 October 2016
France 24 October 2016
UK 27 October 2016
USComing Soon SUNDAY, JAN. 15 (9:00–10:00 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO
Synopsis: Jude Law plays the central character, Lenny Belardo, aka Pius XIII, the first American Pope in history. Young and charming, his election seems to be the result of a simple yet effective media strategy on the part of the College of Cardinals. But appearances can be deceptive. Above all, in the place and among the people who have chosen the great mystery of God as the compass guiding their existence. That place is the Vatican and those people are the leaders of the Church. And Pius XIII proves to be the most mysterious and contradictory of them all. Shrewd and naïve, ironical and pedantic, primeval and cutting-edge, doubting and resolute, melancholy and ruthless, Pius XIII tries to cross the endless river of human solitude to find a God he can give to mankind. And to himself.
The Cast
Jude Law as fictional Pope Pius XIII (born Lenny Belardo), the newly elected Pope struggling with his new responsibilities
Diane Keaton as Sister Mary, a nun from America living in Vatican City who raised Belardo and helped him reach the papacy
James Cromwell as Cardinal Michael Spencer, Lenny's mentor
Silvio Orlando as Cardinal Voiello, Secretary of State
Sebastian Roché as Cardinal Michel Marivaux
Scott Shepherd as Cardinal Dussolier
Cécile de France as Sofia, in charge of marketing in the Vatican City
Javier Cámara as Cardinal Gutierrez, Master of Ceremonies of the Vatican City
Ludivine Sagnier as Esther, wife of a Swiss guard
Toni Bertorelli as Cardinal Caltanissetta
Daniel Vivian as Domen, Pope's butler
Olivia Macklin as Madre, Pope's mother
Directed by Paolo Sorrentino
Paolo Sorrentino was born on May 31, 1970 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He is a director and writer, known for La grande bellezza (2013), Youth - La giovinezza (2015) and This Must Be the Place (2011).
Pics
Trailer
Youtube Link
Early Reviews Based on the first 2 episodes
The Guardian said:Superbly composed, stylised silent group scenes and tableaux, dreamy ambient electronic music, a woozy state of weightlessness, a mood somewhere between wonder and anxiety [...] The Young Pope is an amusingly, exhilaratingly mischievous piece of work. There are all the makings of a cult hit. It will be fascinating to see how this director’s style plays out in longform TV
Variety said:Unabashedly American Lenny Belardo (Jude Law, in top form) takes the name Pius XIII, an unthinkable moniker in this day-and-age, given its connection to the divisive wartime Pius XII. However, Lenny won’t be doing anything that’s expected.
Nor will Sorrentino: his signature masterful compositions and mordant wit are of course on show, but where the director runs with his flights of imagination remains an endless source of delightful surprise.
Hollywood Reporter said:Jude Law is a dangerously iconoclastic Pontiff and Diane Keaton his chief advisor in Paolo Sorrentino’s Vatican-set satire [...] Sorrentino's taste for the grotesque at times gets out of hand, but generally serves him well in this comic approach to the hidebound traditions of the miniscule Papal state
The Wrap said:Those early chapters reveal a show that’s either searching for a tone or perhaps creating it as it goes along. In any event, for all its narrative vacillations, the cliffhanger ending of these segments has me planning to tune in to find out what happens next.
Writer-director-creator Sorrentino has certainly laid out a number of interesting paths for “The Young Pope” to follow, and one hopes that subsequent episodes bring the show’s intent into clearer focus. There are moments that seem to suggest satire [...] and others that play more like political machinations out of “House of Cards” or even “Empire.”
Word of advice: don't read more reviews. One of the key features of the show seems to be how unpredictable Pius XIII is, and you don't want the first 2 episodes spoiled.
Airing
Season 1 consists of 10 episodes (2 episodes back to back aired each week, at least in my country), work has already started on Season 2
Germany 21 October 2016
Italy 21 October 2016
France 24 October 2016
UK 27 October 2016
US