A new Polish feature film.
The film Corpus Christi, originally titled Boze Cialo, has gotten some attention this winter after it was nominated for an Oscar in the category Best Foreign Language Film. In a very strong year, including masterpieces such as Parasite and Portrait de la jeune fille en feu, it did not win, but it is definitely worth watching. It will be shown in Swiss cinemas from today on (September 3rd), and will also be available more widely.
Corpus Christi looks like a film about religion when you see images of churches, processions and religious symbols. And to some extent, it is about religion of course, but also about so
much more. Even if you’re not religious at all, this film is very relevant, because it is mainly about sin, redemption and forgiveness - topics well-known to all humans.
The film follows a young man who is struggling while confined to a juvenile detention center. The only one who brings some positivity to the harsh place is the priest, who awakes the wish in
Daniel to become a priest himself - an impossible wish, as felons are not admitted to the theological faculties. When he is released, he is supposed to work at a mill which employs felons, but
through some unplanned events he ends up at church where someone needs to fill in for the sick priest. Longing to fit into that world rather than remain among the tough guys at the mill, he
blunders into an unusual situation.
What’s amazing about this unconventional starting position (without telling more than even the trailer reveals) is what ends up happening to Daniel. He is thrown into a small town full of
interesting characters, with plenty of mystery and unresolved issues among them. Besides some situational humour cased by the felon posing as a priest, there are some very real connections, and
some surprising moments.
The story is set in Poland, but could just as well take place anywhere else in the world in a small town. Polish cinema has not only produced great directors such as Kieslowski and Polanski, but
hasmore recently also drawn a lot of attention in the cinematic world because of Pawel Pawlikowski (director of Oscar winner Ida and Oscar-nominated Cold War/Zimna
Wojna). The director of Corpus Christi, Jan Komasa, is another promise for future great films, and main actor Bartosz Bielenia has won several international awards for
his magnetic performance. He lights up the screen and shown an incredible range of emotions in this role, and has an enormous potential (I was personally reminded of German actor August Diehl,
which is certainly a compliment for a young actor).
Overall, this is European cinema at its best, which manages to combine realism with humour, and unexpected levels of depth. It is now shown in cinemas, and is definitely worth a trip there for a film which leaves a lasting impression.
(PS: for Zurich film fans: it is shown at RiffRaff from today on).
(Images: IMDB)