Film Review: Corpus Christi (2019)

Review

Corpus Christi is a Polish drama that was one of 5 films nominated for an Oscar in the category of best international feature film. It's directed by Jan Komasa and follows the life of a young man named Daniel, who is serving time in a juvenile correctional facility. The film begins in a woodwork shop, and on the surface, all looks very normal as the young men follow the instructions given and go about the work as usual, but as soon as the "warden" steps outside, Daniel is signaled to watch the door as some of the other young men serve up a beating for one boy within their ranks. While audiences are not given the reason behind the beating, it serves more as an important example of how what lies on the surface often only serves to hide a nasty, brutish and violent truth, an aspect that makes up the core of the film.

Of course, when he isn't on lookout duty, Daniel is also the assistant to the onsite priest, helping to set up for church services and even lead the choir in song. He seems to have a desire to pursue a career in theology; however, a criminal past makes this impossible and he must unfortunately accept the meager opportunities afforded to a former criminal. Daniel is soon released on parole and instructed to head north to work at a sawmill. Before departing, Daniel enjoys the pleasures otherwise denied to young men confined in juvie and eventually gets onto a bus headed to his new place of employment. However, once he sees that the sawmill offers no difference to the life lived in his previous environment, he skips out on the job and finds refuge in a church. Inside Daniel meets one of the locals, and half-jokingly claims to be a priest, even going as far as to show his white-colored shirt. Taking the jest seriously, the young lady introduces Daniel to her mother, who happens to be one of the senior members of the church, in turn, she introduces him to the senior priest, an older gentleman who had certainly seen better years.

With the arrival of Daniel, the older priest requests that he temporarily take over his duties, and just like that, Daniel fakes his way into a brand new profession, taking on all manner of responsibility, from conducting services at mass, listening to confessions, blessing events and many more. However, the focal point of the town's grief seems to be a remembrance board with pictures of local teens killed in a car accident. The parents of the victims gather on a regular occasion to hold candlelit vigils. Of course, their anger and hatred are also directed to the widow of the driver responsible for the car accident, marking her as the town pariah. Daniel sees this as his primary project within the town, sowing the seeds of forgiveness that will hopefully lead to the burial of the so-called murderer.

Daniel calls upon what he learns from juvie to guide him through his new responsibilities, also consulting the Internet from time to time and simply using his natural gifts to deliver his religious teachings. His youth and experience give common ground with the younger members of the town, while also injecting vibrancy into the church that was otherwise run in the conservative, traditional manner. Similar to the opening scene, Daniel hides the truth of who he is with the beautiful attire of the church, and yet he is still very much the lookout at the door of his identity, except now looking out for anyone who will expose him for the fraud that he is. However, the irony lies in the fact that Daniel is not the only one, preaching to a community of people who put on their religious airs only to hold feelings of hatred and resentment towards the one responsible for the death of their children, and his surviving widow. As the elder priest informs Daniel at the beginning with regards to attendance of services, there are many people, but few believers. In this regard, Daniel seems perfect for the community, a fake preacher for a fake group of worshippers.

Besides even this, there seems to also be very little difference from the cage that Daniel escaped from to the new life that he adopted. The sawmill offered up nothing in the way of freedom or new opportunities, and even the town still exhibits familiar power structures that Daniel must fall in line with. How familiar the feeling when Daniel's workshop is burnt down by residents who feel as if he is disrupting the status quo, not unlike how the young man at the beginning of the film was singled out for transgressions that can only be assumed. And yet, the tough skin that one generally develops in hard places such as a juvenile correctional facility makes him stand even in the greatest of adversity. A cage is an apt metaphor for the townfolk he can relate to and help, the cage of anger, grief and fear often proving to be far harder to escape from.

Corpus Christi refers to an important ritual of communion, in which the "body" and "blood" of Christ are given to the members of the church, representing the last supper and Christ's most important commandment, 'Love each other as I have loved you', a sentiment so important given the towns current pain, and yet so difficult to put into practice. One can't help but think that Daniel's desires for the community to forgive and accept the widow back within their midst, seems to be driven by the logic that if they can forgive a murderer, then they certainly can forgive a false priest. Despite listening to a great many confessions, Daniel's sermons are almost a large confession for himself, casting his guilt out into the open, making the load of his past and his current deception easier to bear.

It's difficult to recommend a film like Corpus Christi, it certainly won't appeal to most, in some ways it didn't appeal to me at first.. It lacks any of the shiny bells and whistles that the usual Hollywood dramas would have, what with their heroic characters overcoming hardships, giving inspirational speeches and/or coming out on top in the end. You won't find much of that here, or at least not in the obvious sense. The European films that I have thus far watched have always looked at average people living life as best they can, and this film in particular shows a young man who lived exactly how he said he would, by going where the wind took him, for wherever Daniel ended up, that is where he was, whether he be fighting for survival in juvie, or listening to a confession, Daniel lived his life and showed that the real good deeds are sometimes the little victories, or the planting of seeds that will grow into trees who's shade will never be enjoyed by the original gardener, as the old saying goes.

A film like Corpus Christi is to be watched and meditated on like a Zen monk would meditate on a koan, its secrets only being revealed after some reflection, and realizations of its themes left to arise spontaneously, it's here that one will find the value of this film that presents many wonderful theistic sentiments, such as God not always choosing the best person to carry out his work, but the right person. For a good, hard working drama, give Corpus Christi a look. I wish you all happy viewing :).