Corpus Christi ★★★★
THE hype around Polish drama Corpus Christi has been around for a couple of years now.
First released in 2019, it’s been one of those films that moves around the Festival circuit and opportunities have been few to see it.
It was Poland’s official entry in the Academy Awards last year (it didn’t win) but only recently arrived in Perth for a decent length cinema run.
The wait was worth it. I saw the film at home on DVD and it is thoroughly engrossing from start to finish.
Young Polish actor Bartosz Bielenia, who has made only a handful of films to date, is mesmerising in the lead role of Daniel.
We meet him in the film’s opening scene, preparing the altar for Catholic mass in what is obviously some form of prison. Daniel is methodical with the placement of the cross, display reverence and attention to detail.
The facility is a juvenile detention centre where Daniel has been locked up for the crime of second-degree murder. He has been there some time and displayed exemplary behaviour to the authorities, but has this all been a front?
Chaplain, Father Thomasz, has been closest to Daniel and instrumental in gaining him an early release and work at a sawmill. This is particularly welcome news for Daniel because the brother of his victim has just arrived at the centre and is out for revenge.
The day before his release Daniel once again asks Father Thomasz why he cannot train as a priest. The Father repeats that this is impossible due to Daniel’s serious offending record.
Daniel seems genuinely upset and vows to keep on the straight and narrow but on his first night of freedom he hits the booze, drugs and sex and then avoids going to the sawmill.
He arrives in a nearby town and passes himself off as a priest to a local teenage girl he meets at the church. His deceit expands and he is mistakenly assumed to be a practising, travelling priest.
Slowly Daniel assumes formal duties and starts to become an important member of the local community. Despite his flaws, part of Daniel does seem to have a genuine interest in faith and, in particular, it’s power to heal and path to redemption.
He becomes intimately embroiled in ongoing division and controversy within the town over a fatal vehicle accident that claimed six lives.
I’ll leave it there because what follows is constantly intriguing and surprising and, like most great films, the story is inextricably linked to the themes and their potential resolution.
Corpus Christi functions on many levels. At the basic level, it is a strong drama with elements of a mystery. It is also an examination of individual guilt and the search for redemption through helping others.
At the macro level the film considers the need for faith and its value and power generally as well as its specific application in Poland, a country of strong religious convictions.
It is director Jan Komasa’s sixth film and writer Mateusz Pacewicz’s first script and no doubt they are also making comment on other aspects of Polish culture and politics, of which I don’t have enough knowledge to comment on their success or otherwise.
Bielenia has been roundly praised for his performance, a mix of mental, emotional and physical dexterity that dominates almost every scene. The character of Daniel is a complex one and Pacewicz’s script and the direction force Bielenia to act with looks and actions as much as words.
Scanning his filmography I noticed a film called 25 Years of Innocence which also looks worth a watch. As for Komasa and Pacewicz, they are again collaborating on a film called The Hater.
This trio of young Polish talent has produced a work of intensity and exhilaration in Corpus Christi which bodes well for their futures.