A recent Oscar award contender for the newly named International Feature category combines impersonation and reconciliation. As a would-be cleric grapples with personal anguish.
The often persuasive Polish drama Corpus Christi (fully subtitled) has a contemporary resonance even if one considers the implications of hearing a confession
Jan Komasa gravitates in internal tussle that manifests especially well from the performance of one Bartosz Bielenia who is a ne’er-do-well of an ex-con named Daniel. Bielenia is so good he makes the physical and emotional tolls very palpable.
Daniel is out on parol for unspecified crimes connected t alcohol and drugs which made him fit for ‘juvie’. Fr Tomasz imparts a message to him while behind bars that provides an awakening that even a felony can’t hold him back from a vocation.
So, the opportunity after an ailing, aging priest offers shelter is something that Daniel can’t resist when it comes to a drifter embracing not only a greater good but an expiation.
Komasa, who ultimately may not be as committed in his role as the character of Daniel is (like parts played by Robert Duvall and Ethan Hawke where men of the cloth had their crosses to bear that t their conviction and rectitude) in ways atypically responsive to transgressions.
The Homilies of the posing Fr. Tomasz are oddly compelling to the congregation which elevates his status with them. An Opening of a sawmill provokes a reflection against avarice on the corporate level.
Corpus Christi (coming from the Latin that literally translates as ‘body of Christ’) has an intriguing passage that touches the core of a religion when a community is put to the test. After a road accident claiming the lives of six teenagers leaves the widow of a reformed alcoholic culprit a pariah with a notion of burial coming into play.
There’s an interesting dynamic at play here from how Komasa stages the implications of free will within a small-town that ender goes a trauma that has convincing, healing power. Not the kind to feint that you would expect where the unconventional is remarkably empathetic.