I just saw this movie, and I am a little vague on 1 scene. When Vittorio DiSico asks Jannsen to "interview someone special, not as a documentary, but as a candid interview", how does he know its Anthony Quinn? Quinns character is still in captivity, and also, the way he was elected would have been impossible to foresee this event. What am I missing? Please enlighten me
Thank you
SM
[deleted]
I'm just guessing, but it seems to me that the Kremlin would have informed the Vatican about Lakota's impending release, even before telling Lakota himself. After all, Oskar Werner's character was already in Moscow just as Lakota learned of his release. It seems likely to me that Cardinal Rinaldi would be one of the first to know that Lakota's release was imminent.
But notice this: George Faber's interview with Lakota is supposed to be exclusive, but when he interviews Lakota, other reporters are standing around with microphones and notepads. That's some exclusive!
I took it to be that, although not said outright, negotiations had been going on for some amount of time between the Russians and the Vatican. How else could it be that the Vatican's envoy has Karil's diplomatic passport ready and waiting right after Karil meets with the Russian president.
shareI also got the impression that Rinaldi was the Vatican's Secretary of State, so he would definitely have been in the loop about Lakota's release. All the groundwork had been prepared so they could get him on a plane to Rome within hours of his release.
shareIn fact, Kamenev says to Kiril that the decision and the conditions for his liberation "have been taken" on his behalf. It could have only been Renaldi with the consent of the Pope.
shareAs the impending crisis with China was looming, both the USSR and the Vatican would have wanted a good man as a mediator to forestall disaster. The interview at the airport was just a preliminary meeting. Janssen's "exclusive interview" with Archbishop Lakota would have highlighted the cause of Lakota as mediator, and would have been undertaken, except that the Pope died. At that point, all media attention swung to coverage of the historic election, and Lakota was off-limits in the Vatican conclave in order to elect the new pope. Once the new Pope is elected in a surprise ballot, Lakota then is called upon by the Kremlin to undertake the task of mediation on his own.
"A bride without a head !"
"A wolf without a foot !"
My impression is that they had been working towards his release for quite a few years. They might have had to wait for a new premier to get the ball rolling in any meaningful way.
Otherwise, why would Father Telemond be waiting for him in Moscow? He knew that they would be releasing Kiril from durance vile, even if Kiril himself didn't. Also, it took a while for him to get from Siberia to Moscow, to the hotel, showered, changed, etc. and finally to the place where he met Kamenev.
From the looks on the faces of a couple of the other prisoners, they thought he was being taken away to be executed, and certainly no one told Kiril what was going on until he was in Moscow proper.