On the Musicality of Writing: Peter Straughan Discusses ‘Conclave’

Conclave is a taut papal mystery/thriller with visual majesty and operatic moments. BAFTA- winning and Academy Award nominated British screenwriter Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Wolf Hall) believes the beats of writing can be like music. “I think to some extent with comedy and with thriller elements, it very much starts to become about rhythm and having some sensitivity to the musicality of rhythm.”

Straughan is a former musician, so he understands the potential melodic pace of the written word as well as the cinematic significance of words in a script. BAFTA and Oscar winner Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front) is at the helm as director of Conclave and their collaboration has created an unforgettable emotional and visual palette. Stéphane Fontaine’s ethereal cinematography heightens and assuages the tense environment. While certain frames look like paintings, the clergy in their vestments moving silently through hushed ancient areas are also reminiscent of chess pieces, which is an image that girdles the plot.

The film has a luminous cast which includes Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini. Composer Volker Bertelmann, who won an Oscar for his All Quiet on the Western Front score, continues his reign of creating sonic tension and significantly moody tones with his Conclave score. 

Straughan recently spoke with Script Magazine about adapting brilliant books, the power of the written word, and crafting a reluctant hero.

On the Rhythm of Writing

Sonya Alexander: You’ve written many plays. How does writing dialogue for plays differ from writing it for screenplays?

Peter Straughan: Dialogue is king in theater. You can’t control the gaze of the audience very much. All you really have are words and silence. I think it’s a trap that playwrights who become screenwriters can fall into initially. That you think it’s the same job but it isn’t. That can be a pitfall. To be relying excessively on dialogue for story because it’s only one of the tools in your arsenal when you’re writing screenplays.

Sonya Alexander: You’re a former musician. Do you feel you use any of those skills in your writing?

Peter Straughan: I was a bassist, so some people would say I wasn’t a musician. [laughs] Both in terms of where scenes fall and sequences and lines of dialogue, rhythm is important. To have some sense of where the rhythm’s falling, when it’s helping and working against the scene. Ralph had a long speech that was in Latin which he knew by heart. When he was performing it, he got to the end and said, ‘I missed a word.’ We had to go back and check because we didn’t notice and he had. It’s not because he knew the meaning of the speech necessarily, but it’s because he was so in tune with the rhythm and the music of it. He recognized that the rhythm had gone slightly wrong somewhere.

Sonya Alexander: Did you work to a playlist when you wrote the Conclave script?

Peter Straughan: I did. I always listen to music when I write. Whenever I’m uncertain or I want to get back into line with the piece, there’s one I’ll play over and over again. The songs usually aren’t obvious. I don’t know why a certain piece of music will link into a piece of film but I don’t ever say what they are.

On Working with Edward Berger

Sonya Alexander: Had you worked with Edward Berger before?

Peter Straughan: No, I hadn’t.

Sonya Alexander: I read he said he’s read several of your scripts.

Peter Straughan: We wanted to work together several times when Edward was still doing TV. We were supposed to meet a few times. We share an agent but it hadn’t happened up to that point. Then Edward came on for Conclave.

Sonya Alexander: What do you look for in directors you work with?

Peter Straughan: I like someone with a strong vision. I like someone who will challenge me. I like someone with better taste than me. I like a decent human being. Good directors are talented in all areas.

Sonya Alexander: How long did it take you to write the first draft of Conclave?

Peter Straughan: About eight weeks. It’s usually between eight and twelve weeks, which is the standard time allotted to write a draft. We had about two or three drafts. Edward was on board by the third draft.

Sonya Alexander: Were you on set during most of the filming?

Peter Straughan: I was, which is unusual for me. I decided I was going to be in Rome anyway and I said to Edward, ‘Would you mind if I came on set?’ Thinking I’d come for a week or so. Edward’s a fantastic collaborator, maybe the most fantastic collaborator I’ve worked with. And so, it sort of worked with me being there beside him. When we got to the end of a few weeks, he said, ‘How would you feel about staying on?’ I ended up staying for most of the shoot. I really loved it.

Sonya Alexander: What do you feel you learned from that experience?

Peter Straughan: A lot of things. I learned to pace because you’ve got to slow your heartbeat down when you’re on set. As you know, it moves forward at a snail’s pace. You have to maintain the energy. I’m thinking more of the directors than the writer. Whenever Edward needed to make a decision, he was there, he was present and alert. There were hours of sitting around waiting, which is there all of the time. I learned not to be so afraid. I love actors. I always wanted to be an actor and I was terrible. It’s always been sort of a sacred mystery to me. How do they do it? I think I used to feel quite intimidated by great actors. The day-to-day of being on set and joining in the discussions kind of broke that down in a good way. Feeling like you might be useful. You could adjust scenes and lines. You had a role to play when you were welcomed like that.

Sonya Alexander: Was your script changed during filming?

Peter Straughan: Because I was there, it gave us an opportunity to fine-tune. Think about blocking. If the blocking wasn’t the way we imagined, we could alter that and alter lines. When you’re working with really great actors, as we were, you discover you need less, not more.

Sonya Alexander: Do you learn something from each project you work on?

Peter Straughan: From the good ones I do…! What I learned from Conclave is that sometimes writers can get caught up with what will be a big hit, what will appeal to the audience? That can be a really wrong road to go down because I think It’s almost impossible to tell and kind of selling your soul to some extent. Whereas if you find a story that you love and respond to personally, it’s actually better to go with that and let the cards fall where they will.

On Doing Book Adaptations

Sonya Alexander: You’ve adapted a few books. How do you find the central truth in the story and relay that in your script?

Peter Straughan: The adapter from the source material will tell a story that’s got something to do with them in some way, that’s locked inside them in some way, which is why different adaptations of the same book can have quite a different feel. I didn’t realize with Tinker Tailor, I directed a book called Wolf Hall, to some extent with Conclave too, that I was always writing about traitors vs those that are loyal and I don’t know why that’s a story I keep telling. But I think when I read a book and I want to adapt it, on some level I’ve connected to that story. It’s not like I realized it at the time but later I’ll think, ‘Oh, yes. There it is again.’

Sonya Alexander: Have you ever written a novel?

Peter Straughan: No. Screenwriters are like sprinters and novelists are like marathon runners. It’s like a different muscle used altogether. I can’t imagine sustaining that level of concentration and focus for so long.

On Conclave Details

Sonya Alexander: How old is the conclave ritual?

Peter Straughan: It’s the oldest election in the world. I would imagine it’s around a thousand years old.

Sonya Alexander: Did the different color vestments of the clergy symbolize different stages in the process?

Peter Straughan: It shows the different positions they have within the church. The cardinals being the reds. It is quite a complex system, between the deans and the cardinals and the priests and bishops. I can’t remember all the gradations now.

Sonya Alexander: You were brought up Catholic?

Peter Straughan: Yes, my family was Catholic and I was an altar boy. 

Sonya Alexander: Are you still Catholic?

Peter Straughan: Catholics say, ‘Once a Catholic, always a Catholic,’ so in some sense I am. I’m not really a believer anymore. That was one of the things that drew me to the project. I was comfortable in that world and interested in it but I felt I had one foot inside of it and one foot outside of it. That felt like a good place to be to work on this.

Sonya Alexander: Which character resonated with you the most?

Peter Straughan: Lawrence. There’s a point in the book where he gives a homily before the elections begin and he says, ‘God grant us a Pope who doubts.’ This was a few years ago, but we were already living in a world of polarization. As I grow older, I feel more suspicious of certainty because I think it leads to contempt and violence. There was something very Capra-esque in a good way about this ordinary, sensible I’m-not-sure position person. He felt like a hero for our times.

Sonya Alexander: What do you think makes Cardinal Lawrence tick?

Peter Straughan: What I loved about him is that he was such a reluctant hero. At the start, he just wants to get this over with as little drama as possible and then retire and try to reclaim his faith, which he’s lost. What I think makes him interesting is the point where he decides to fight for what’s right rather than do the easy thing. It surprises him as much as it surprises us. He brings about such a quiet revolution. I think if the Lawrence at the beginning of the film saw what was going to happen, he would have been horrified. He kind of wrecks the system from within. It was quietly subversive in a way that I liked.

Sonya Alexander: Had you previously read Robert Harris’s work?

Peter Straughan: I had. Robert’s a fantastic writer. Elegant and intelligent. Great with plot. Because I knew what the book was about, I wasn’t expecting to be as gripped and entertained as I was which I feel like audiences are feeling with the film, which is great.

Sonya Alexander: How long did it take you to read the book?

Peter Straughan: I read it in one setting.

Sonya Alexander: Harris has said you had a ‘happy collaboration.’

Peter Straughan: Yes, definitely.

Sonya Alexander: What did you focus on when you first started adapting the book - character, plot, or setting?

Peter Straughan: Character. I’ve noticed famous writers like Harris or Hilary Mantel are the most open to changes in their work. They’re more confident and they understand that a faithful adaptation isn’t necessarily a good adaptation. Although in this case, it was quite a faithful adaptation. So much of the book was just perfect for film.

Sonya Alexander: Do you outline or storyboard?

Peter Straughan: It depends on the project. Sometimes I do. With Wolf Hall, which involved much more of a digestion process and restructuring, I did. Tinker Tailor I did because it was a ferociously complex plot. I did the old corkboard with notecards. Not with Conclave. I think I certainly would have done a draft and started looking at changes but with the first draft, I just went for it. I quite like doing that sometimes.

Sonya Alexander: I read a quote where you said you like the way Robert Harris structures his novels. What do you like about the structure?

Peter Straughan: He’s brilliant at intelligent thrillers. We talked about music, there’s someone who really understands the rhythm of writing and knows how to play with the reader’s expectations. All of that done believably within the world of the book. He’s a lovely writer.

Sonya Alexander: What do you find most rewarding about writing?

Peter Straughan: In some strange way, it’s probably the dissolution of the self. I think it’s another reason that writing a novel wouldn’t quite have the same appeal to me. I love the fact that I work on a project for a relatively fixed period of time. It’s like an adventure that you get fully immersed in, usually with other people you enjoy working with. You go fully into this world that you didn’t know anything about before. And in the writing process, you lose yourself in the characters. You’re able to be other versions of yourself in a way. I find that very attractive.

Conclave is a Focus Features release that will be in theaters on October 25, 2024.