CLOSING NIGHT A pope on the lam forms the crux of this charming film about faith, psychiatry and the transformative power of volleyball. At the Vatican it’s time to select a new leader, and the conclave of cardinals selects a surprising choice named Melville. When it comes time to address and bless the public throng in Saint Peter’s Square, however, the candidate panics, and officials are forced to bring in a noted psychiatrist to stave off a crisis. Brilliant comic bits abound as the shrink is prevented from asking Melville any kind of substantive questions, and the situation deteriorates further when the pope escapes from the Vatican and begins exploring life on the outside. Sending up another powerful institution—the Church—as he did the Italian government in The Caiman, Moretti has crafted a light but resonant social comedy.


Italy/France 2011, 102 min. Written by Nanni Moretti, Francesco Piccolo, Federica Pontremoli. Photographed by Alessandro Pesci. With Michel Piccoli, Jerzy Stuhr, Renato Scarpa, Franco Graziosi. In Italian with subtitles. IFC/Sundance Selects.