The young Daniel spent the last part of his life in a reformatory, due to a serious crime he committed that has marked, and will mark forever, his existence. Inside the facility he had a real spiritual awakening, but his criminal record will prevent him from being able to fulfill his dream of becoming a man of the Church.
The boy is about to spend a period of probation to help his reintegration into society e he is hired in a small village sawmill of his country, Poland. Before going to the job interview, however, Daniel decides to pay a visit to the church and this will unexpectedly change his immediate future.
Here it is indeed mistaken for the new reverend, who will have to replace Father Tomasz for some time, currently indisposed. The protagonist decides to play the game and takes on those cassocks he had always wanted to be able to wear.
His strange and bizarre homilies initially displace the audience of local faithful, but with the passage of time Daniel begins to be appreciated by many and will prove decisive in helping a person, ostracized by the entire citizenship due to a tragedy that occurred in the past of the community.
Hate and love
We had you already talked about the cinema of Jan Kosama with the review of his latest film, exclusive of the catalog Netflix, namely the intense dramatic thriller The Hater (2020). Let’s now take a brief leap into his past career to present to you perhaps his most mature and complete work, not surprisingly nominated for an Oscar as best foreign film and entered in the final five in the year of Parasite catch all.
Corpus Christi finally comes out in Italian cinemas after those long months of waiting given by the restrictions that we all know well, and it is a very tempting opportunity for those looking for a product of quality and substance, able to use a relatively simple plot in an incisive and cathartic way, such as to unhinge prejudices and ostracisms in a furious way and aware.
If the basic incipit can be roughly reminiscent of a Hollywood classic like We are not angels (1955) and its related remake, the story here is well connoted on dramatic and deeply realistic junctions, despite having to deal with the opening force from which the basic structure of the actual story begins.
The ways of redemption are endless
Because Daniel’s path is not just that of a climber ready to take advantage of the tempting opportunity presented to him on a silver platter, as it might initially seem: board and lodging guaranteed, with the awareness, however, always lurking that his deception first or then it will be discovered.
No, that of the protagonist is a mature coming-of-age who uses theology in an ambiguous but not unseemly way, which in its being aesthetically profane at times turns out to be much more sacred and sacrificial than he himself could have expected. Several mother scenes are permeated by a primeval power that leaves you breathless, both for the magnificent directorial choices and thanks to the majestic, all-encompassing performance by Bartosz Bielenia, a lamb ready to turn into a lion always and in any case for a good purpose.
He becomes the defender of the weakest and does not hesitate to take the side of someone now excluded from everyone, ready to go against their own interests and risking blow your cover to do the right thing.
The ongoing love story with the beautiful Marta is another disturbing element which however never distracts Daniel from that work of Faith for which he feels the one and only bearer.
The epilogue confirms the tones of tragedy but what flows in the middle, full of energy and healthy awareness, is able to conquer and excite the public on several occasions.