Prison. What better place to find God? What better place to find purpose? Corpus Christi proves, among so much else, that life after incarceration can be whatever you make of it.
Directed by Jan Komasa and set in the current day, Corpus Chrisi is centered on the story of a recently released convict named Daniel. His life of crime led him to prison, and in turn, reduced his future employment opportunities down to a single lumber mill on the far end of the country. Daniel’s admiration for the prison pastor leads to a purchase of priestly robes before he hops on the long bus ride to the lumber yard.
When he enters the town, he puts on the priestly robes, denying his fate of sweat and sawdust. A local parishioner spots him in the chapel, and thinks he’s the new priest. Without a second thought, Daniel assumes that role and puts on the collar and robes as if he were fresh from the seminary. What follows is a powerful drama that is both deceptive and enthralling all at once. Corpus Christi asks difficult questions without serving blasé cookie-cutter answers before the climactic end.
Lemme Guess…Subtitles?
Now, to an American viewer, such as myself, I didn’t have any expectations for Corpus Christi. The distributor contacted us and offered a screener, and I accepted. It sat on my desk under some papers soon as we all moved to work from home, and it got lost. I unearthed it a few days ago, and just popped it in the DVD player one night. I’d say for this movie, the less you know going in, the better.
Jan Komasa isn’t a name I recognized, but in his home country of Poland, he’s well-regarded and accomplished. Combined, his movies have sold over 1.8 million tickets at Polish theaters. That’s an impressive feat! Watching Corpus Christi, I could see why. Great visual storytelling, compelling plot and characters, intention behind every scene. Beautiful. The color pallet and tones throughout the film captured the bleak yet comfortable feeling of the town Daniel moves into. Seeing a director create ‘place’ as a character is something I admire and aspire to.
With everyone streaming as much as they do while multitasking, subtitles have become much more utilized than in days past. What’s that mean? It’s not a big deal to have a film be in another language! Watch Corpus Christi and realize how clear the story can be told with minimal dialogue and well-crafted visuals.
The best part? You can stream it tomorrow (5/22) at one of four virtual cinemas. I’ll include the links below, but they can all be viewed from the Film Movement website as well. Take advantage of this time stuck indoors to travel to a faraway country for a dramatic cautionary tale for the ages. Enjoy!
Stream Corpus Christi today:
Stream Corpus Christi from any of the following:
Rodeo Cinema Virtual Screening Room 6 (5/22)
Mayfair Theatre Virtual Screening Room 1 (5/22)
Circle Cinema Virtual Screening Room 1 (5/22)
Queen’s Film Society and Queen Theatre Virtual Screening Room 7 (5/22)
And if you see this article after 5/22, be sure to check out this page under the ‘Playing’ heading for all future virtual screenings.
Enjoy watching Foreign Films? Check out our International Film category for other reviews!
While you’re here, check out our other Quarantine Watchlist Articles here!