HBO's "The Young Pope" stars Jude Law as Lenny Belardo, an American pope who takes over Vatican as Pius the Thirteenth. He was selected by the College of Cardinals to lead the Catholic Church at the age of 47.
According to ABC News, the 10 episode series also stars Diane Keaton and James Cromwell. It is directed and written by Paolo Sorrentino, an Italian filmmaker who also did "The Great Beauty". The series' main character, Pope Pius, is a holy terror and a hipster.
Lenny Belardo is a former Archbishop of New York, who was raised in an orphanage by Sister Mary (Diane Keaton), who Belardo would bring to Rome as his consigliere. His unhappy childhood would cause him to be emotionally needy. He is also greedy, and likes to humiliate people in public, making him unfit for office.
He seems to be a homophobic, too, Yahoo! TV reported. People around him are confounded by him. The Pope talks about right-wing dogma and homophobia as if these topics are Catholic traditions. He is a ruthless fanatic, and walks like a rock star. He has an over-confident persona and he rules by fear. In one scene, he stands by the balcony in St. Peter's Square, and thundered at the crowd, "I don't know if you deserve me!"
The series' dialogue is mostly about Lenny being rude to cardinals, Catholic functionaries and even world leaders. Apparently, no one knows how to respond to him. The scenes are unnatural because the Holy See does not care about politeness at all. "I am a contradiction," Pope Pius XIII or Lenny Belardo, said.
"The Young Pope" has already been renewed for a second season. Viewers may want to know how Jude Law's character got elected, but the show has not fully addressed this yet. The show will premiere on January 15th and run for 10 episodes.
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