{"id":5888,"date":"2024-10-14T23:29:35","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T03:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=5888"},"modified":"2024-10-14T23:29:35","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T03:29:35","slug":"corpus-christi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/10\/14\/corpus-christi\/","title":{"rendered":"Corpus Christi"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Corpus Christi<\/strong> (2019)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Film Movement\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 115 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No MPAA rating (language, drug and alcohol use, sexual content, nudity, violence, thematic elements)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Jan Komasa\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Mateusz Pacewicz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Evgueni and Sacha Galperine\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Piotr Sobocinski Jr.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: TBA (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Bartosz Bielenia, Aleksandra Konieczna, Eliza Rycembel, Tomasz Zietek, Barbara Kurzaj, Leszek Lichota, Zdzislaw Wardejn, Lukasz Simlat, Anna Biernacik.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Spoken in Polish w\/English subtitles<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: *** \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0A sinful person is capable of change. You either agree with this statement or you don\u2019t. The idealists among us believe it is possible for an evildoer to turn things around and do good works while others remain firm in their belief that a leopard never changes its spots. Wherever you stand on this issue, the Polish drama Corpus Christi<\/strong> will challenge your thoughts on the matter.<\/p>\n

\u00a0One of this year\u2019s Best International Feature nominees, Corpus Christi<\/strong> stars Bartosz Bielenia as Daniel, a youth offender who experiences a spiritual awakening while locked up in juvenile prison for some unspecified violent offense. Although sincere in his desire to become a priest, he\u2019s told by his mentor Father Tomasz (Simlat) that his criminal record precludes him from attending seminary. Instead, he\u2019s sent to work in a sawmill in a remote area of the country with other ex-cons. Determined to follow his dream, he presents himself as a priest in a nearby small town still reeling from the tragedy of losing six young people to a car accident a year earlier. When the town vicar (Wardejn) takes a temporary leave of absence due to health issues, Daniel is asked to fill in until he returns. He accepts the position without a single thought to the consequences.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Googling Confession protocol and Bible verses on his smart phone, \u201cFather Tomasz\u201d (as Daniel now calls himself) makes more of an impact on his congregation than his predecessor ever did. He\u2019s a charismatic sort whose methods are unorthodox to say the least. As penance for striking her child, he advises a parishioner to take the boy out for a bike ride. He enjoys a beer with the town\u2019s young people. During one of his sermons, he joyously throws holy water into the air before a cheering congregation.<\/p>\n

\u00a0For all Daniel\u2019s good points, he ruffles a few feathers when he suggests that the allegedly drunken man who caused the accident should have his picture on the memorial board with the others. He goes on to say he should be given a proper burial in the town cemetery, something the vicar wouldn\u2019t allow. He even reaches out to the man\u2019s bitter widow (Kurzaj), a woman ostracized by the entire town. His efforts in this area put him at odds with the town mayor (Lichota), a man who uses his power to get whatever he wants. He tries to intimidate Daniel but given his criminal past, it\u2019s not likely to have much of an effect.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Of course, Daniel\u2019s charade can\u2019t go on indefinitely. His deception is bound to be uncovered eventually. There\u2019s a number of ways this could happen. The mayor might ask somebody to do a background check. Daniel might trip himself with an obvious lie. He could succumb to carnal temptation; the sexual tension between Daniel and local girl Marta (Rycembel) is palpable. Or somebody from his past could suddenly appear and threaten to expose Father Tomasz for who he really is. I won\u2019t say who or what but it adds an underlying level of tension to Corpus Christi<\/strong> even if it is an obvious plot trajectory.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Directed by Jan Komasa (Suicide Room, Warsaw \u201944), Corpus Christi<\/strong> is more than a sometimes darkly funny tale of a bogus priest. It\u2019s about salvation and redemption. It\u2019s about faith and holiness. It\u2019s also about the hypocrisies within the Catholic Church. It teaches forgiveness and redemption yet it doesn\u2019t allow a truly repentant person like Daniel to join the clergy because of his criminal record. But what about the vile predators who wear a collar? How are they allowed to stay once they\u2019re found out?\u00a0 It\u2019s contradictory. It should be noted that Corpus Christi<\/strong> is one of the few Catholic-themed films that does NOT deal with sexual abuse. It\u2019s hinted at in one scene, but it\u2019s not one of the topics Komasa explores. I\u2019m merely using it as an example.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Oddly enough, Corpus Christi<\/strong> isn\u2019t an angry film. It\u2019s actually fairly objective even if it does take a sympathetic view of Daniel. In the role, Bielenia is positively brilliant. He brings this natural intensity to the role, a quality helped greatly by his icy\/fiery blue eyes and intense gaze. He\u2019s a flawed character to be sure. Prior to assuming the role of holy man, we see him at a party with his mates snorting coke and having sex with some random girl. It leads one to question his true nature. Will he be able to leave his vices behind and live the life of priest or not? There\u2019s no clear answer. All we know is that he seems truly sorry for his past sins. Rycembel is also great as Marta, the daughter of the church\u2019s embittered sacristy caretaker (Konieczna) who lost her son in the accident. She\u2019s attracted to Daniel but knows she cannot act on it BUT if he was to tell her the truth, it would cause so many other problems. It\u2019s one of the film\u2019s most interesting story arcs.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Corpus Christi<\/strong>, loosely based on true events, is a well made film that makes great use of close-ups that allow viewers to closely study the characters\u2019 expressive faces. This is especially true of Daniel whose handsome visage has this magnetic pull. The ending, an apocalypse of blood and fire, hits the exact right note. It never gets too maudlin or sentimental. It doesn\u2019t provide easy answers to complex questions. Thought-provoking and compelling, it drags a bit here and there but it always holds your interest. It\u2019s an intelligent film for intelligent audiences.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Corpus Christi (2019)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Film Movement\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 115 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No MPAA rating (language, drug and alcohol use, sexual content, nudity, violence, thematic elements)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Jan Komasa\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Mateusz Pacewicz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Evgueni and Sacha Galperine\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Piotr Sobocinski Jr.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: TBA (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Bartosz Bielenia, Aleksandra Konieczna, Eliza Rycembel, Tomasz Zietek, Barbara Kurzaj, Leszek Lichota, Zdzislaw […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foreign"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Corpus-Christi-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5888"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6096,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5888\/revisions\/6096"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}