Corpus Christi: NZIFF Review

Polish drama Corpus Christi was nominated for an Oscar - and it's easy to see why.

The story of ex-con Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia) who's just out of juvie and who decides on a whim to masquerade as a priest is one rife for comedy and misunderstanding. But what director Jan Komasa delivers is a film of outstanding dramatic value, and of morally questionable virtues.

Integrating into a nearby community after his panicked attempts to bail out fail, Daniel finds something of a rebirth as the priest, tending to a flock damaged and torn by a recent tragedy. 

After initially ripping off the sermons he's been part of in juvie, the community responds to Daniel's apparent freshness of approach and his unconventional ways of administering faith. But as Daniel spends more time there, he finds his own sense of morality intruding into the job, and politics begin to clash with personal faith. Just around the corner though, is the sense of the inevitable, building Corpus Christi into a film that bustles with tragedy and dread.

Thanks to an intense performance from the steely-eyed Bielenia, Corpus Christi finds the magnetism it needs from its lead. 

With piercing blue eyes and a dogged determinism, Bielenia never once shows any sign of fading from the screen, keeping every single sequence alive with electricity and uncertainty.

The script helps greatly, building from the initial comedy of the confessional to the raw treatment of tragedy within the community and the divisions that arise from it. While Daniel appears to come at this side of things with his own sense of judgement and humanity, the script plays fast and loose with questions over whether Daniel is undergoing a rebirth of sorts, and whether in fact, faith is infecting his life for the better.

Muted colours, unusual scenes and a never-less-than-compelling performance from its lead grant Corpus Christi a great deal more than its conventional "con hiding in plain sight" trope.

It may be about forgiveness at its core, but Corpus Christi is unforgiving to the end - its final moments are desperately bleak and yet, offer a sense of Daniel's rebirth at a key moment in time. Maybe it's not the rebirth the audience wants, but this drama is of the top tier and well worth seeking out.