Corpus Christi

[Andrew]

Has anyone else seen this?  It scored a Best Foreign Language Feature nomination this year, which is prompting its release in arthouse cinemas stateside.  Jessica and I watched it last night and enjoyed it considerably.  I think its themes would resonate quite strongly for a lot of folks here, and visually, I thought it was quite accomplished.

Anywho, here's my full review: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/secularcinephile/2020/03/corpus-christi-it-takes-a-fake-priest-to-uncover-real-secrets/

[Darrel Manson]

I saw it at AFI. I liked it, but that comes from a Protestant (and from a tradition with a strong lay emphasis) perspective. I had hoped that SDG or Sister Rose Pacatte would have chimed in on this, but no luck.

My review: https://screenfish.net/corpus-christi-the-body-of-christ/

My interview with the director: https://screenfish.net/1on1-with-jan-komasa-corpus-christi/

 

 

Edited March 29, 2020 by Darrel Manson

[WriterAndrew]

I liked it overall, but I didn't find the ending as compelling as the first half. It felt to me like it was building towards something transcendent that it didn't quite reach.

[Darrel Manson]

4 hours ago, WriterAndrew said:

I liked it overall, but I didn't find the ending as compelling as the first half. It felt to me like it was building towards something transcendent that it didn't quite reach.

I concur with that. As I recall at AFI the director pointed to the fact that one of the other inmates stopped Daniel, saying, "not you" as a reminder that we know that this is not who he is, but that others also recognize it.

 

[Andrew]

Great interview, Darrel, far better than the three "mainstream" interviews I read before writing my review.  The details Komasa got into with you about the Polish Catholic Church, being outside of Communism but now inside current right-wing politics, is fascinating.  From what I understand, it's quite similar to events in Russia, with the Orthodox Church there.

16 hours ago, WriterAndrew said:

I liked it overall, but I didn't find the ending as compelling as the first half. It felt to me like it was building towards something transcendent that it didn't quite reach.

I dunno, in hindsight I think it was the best of all possible endings, narratively speaking (though certainly not what I'd for these characters).

 

SPOILERS AHEAD

The fact that only a handful of townspeople peeled off from the hateful majority seems a whole lot more plausible than a God's Not Dead sort of mass revival.

And Daniel's fate is alluded to at the very start of the film, when Father Tomasz told him that Polish seminaries don't accept convicts.  Daniel has changed, and even his convict associate recognizes this.  Escaping juvie, but not going back to a fake priesthood, seems the best possible ending we could expect.

[kenmorefield]

I esteemed it, but I had a hard time writing why. (That's not too unusual, I've been having a hard time writing much of anything these days.)

I was surprised by at least one of the reactions to Daniel being confessing at the end. I guess I see both points from the Andrews. Like Andrew J., I was surprised the end didn't land harder, but like Andrew S., I honestly don't see how it could have ended any other way. 

In the DVD notes, Komasa says:

1) If Daniel hadn't committed a crime, he probably would not have been drawn to the Church in the first place.

2) Leviathan was "a reference point of sorts" though he "tried to add some lightness to [Zvyagintsev's] pessimism" 

FWIW, my review.