You’d be hard-pressed to find a place better suited to a private dinner than the Lambs Room at Keens Steakhouse, on 36th Street. On the evening of December 5, when AIR MAIL and PEN America hosted a dinner in celebration of director Edward Berger and his Vatican film, Conclave, the room had already adopted its annual holiday glow and was primed for a gathering as intimate—if less fraught—as the one suggested by the movie’s title.
During the dinner, writer and producer Stephen Schiff interviewed Berger, who explained to the audience with great charm the nuances of adapting a book for the screen (Robert Harris wrote the novel on which Conclave is based), the merits of a surprise ending, and why it was important to show cardinals vaping and using cell phones.
From co-host Laura Bickford’s table, actors Patricia Clarkson, Benicio del Toro, Cherry Jones, and Sophie Huber watched with fascination, while, at co-host Graydon Carter’s table, actors Ralph Fiennes and John Lithgow, both of whom star in the film, listened almost bashfully. The film’s cinematographer, Stéphane Fontaine, and costume designer, Lisy Christl, also watched on, slightly less abashed.
Because the occasion took place under the auspices of PEN America, a nonprofit that raises awareness for the protection of free speech, there was no shortage of writers in attendance: Dana Brown, Laura Day, A. M. Homes, Shawn McCreesh, Susan Minot, Gabriel Sherman, Alexandra Styron, as well as PEN America’s co-C.E.O. Summer Lopez, New York Times executive editor Joe Kahn, and Macmillan C.E.O. Jon Yaged.
If there had been any questions as to how a movie about the election of a pope could find mainstream success, the evening revealed two answers: the deft directorial hand of Berger and the simple fact, when it comes down to it, that everyone wants to know what happens behind closed doors.
Nathan King is a Deputy Editor at AIR MAIL
