Corpus Christi (2019 film)
Corpus Christi () is a 2019 drama film directed by Jan Komasa and written by Mateusz Pacewicz. An international co-production between Poland and France, the film stars Bartosz Bielenia, Aleksandra Konieczna, Eliza Rycembel, Tomasz Ziętek, Leszek Lichota, and Łukasz Simlat. Inspired by real-life events, it follows a 20-year-old man who experiences a spiritual transformation while living in a youth detention center.

The film had its world premiere at the 76th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2019, and was theatrically released in Poland on 11 October 2019, by Kino Świat. It received generally positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing over $10.9 million worldwide against a $1.3 million budget. At the 22nd Polish Film Awards, it earned a leading fifteen nominations and won in eleven categories, including Best Film. It also earned four nominations at the 33rd European Film Awards and was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards.

Plot
Daniel is a devout Catholic serving a sentence for second-degree murder, but his criminal background prevents him from pursuing his dream of becoming a priest upon release. He is assigned to work in a sawmill in a village, and while visiting the local Catholic church, he pretends to be a priest. The vicar of that church meets Daniel wholly believing his lie, and leaves him in charge of the church while he is away for a medical treatment. Daniel begins performing all the duties of a priest and enjoys it.

The parishioners enjoy his unorthodox methods, even his unexpected claim from the pulpit to be a murderer, but they have mixed feelings when he starts asking about a recent car accident that left the community united in anger against the person they believe responsible, an adult man driving alone who died in the crash that also killed six teenagers in the other car. The man had been an unpopular outcast for years, notorious for violent behavior and threats, while the villagers refuse to entertain the idea that the teenagers had been responsible. Daniel learns from a new friend, Marta, whose brother was one of the victims, that she secretly has a video her brother had sent her hours before the accident, showing the group (including the driver) drinking heavily and doing drugs, but she has not shared it. The mayor warns Daniel away from pursuing the matter further, insists that the issue has been put to rest. The point of contention is whether the driver should be buried in the village cemetery with the other victims. Daniel discovers that months after the accident his cremated remains await burial and many of the villagers have sent hateful, threatening letters to his widow, who has been ostracized for maintaining that her husband had been sober for years and did not cause the crash. Daniel and a guilt-ridden Marta confront the villagers with these letters and Daniel decides to conduct a burial service for the solo driver. Marta's mother throws her out of the house for bringing out the letters, and she asks to stay at the temporary rectory with Daniel; while there, they make love.

During the burial service, many of the villagers put aside their hate and pay their respects. Before the Mass planned to follow the burial, the priest from Daniel's youth detention center arrives, having been tipped off that the village's new priest is an impostor. He tells Daniel to pack his bags immediately, but Daniel sneaks out a window and goes to the church to celebrate his "farewell Mass". Before starting, he removes his shirt to display his tattoos, and leaves the church. Daniel is sent back to jail where the brother of the man he murdered is now a fellow convict. They engage in a brutal fight, Daniel gains the upper hand, and the other prisoners allow him to walk free.

Cast
 Bartosz Bielenia as Daniel
 Aleksandra Konieczna as Lidia the sexton
 Eliza Rycembel as Marta Sosińska
 Leszek Lichota as the Mayor
 Łukasz Simlat as Father Tomasz
 Tomasz Ziętek as Pinczer
 Barbara Kurzaj as the Widow
 Zdzisław Wardejn as Father Wojciech

Production
The script for Corpus Christi was written by Mateusz Pacewicz with consultation help from Krzysztof Rak, but after director Jan Komasa read it, he felt the story and especially the character of Daniel needed to be pushed further, so he added a "troubled background" to Daniel's story. Komasa has also said that the car accident that caused such trauma for characters in the film is a symbol for the 2010 Smolensk air disaster, in which 96 people died in a plane crash, including Poland's president and a number of officials from the government.

The film was produced by Leszek Bodzak and Aneta Cebula-Hickinbotham for Aurum Film, with Canal+ Polska, WFS Walter Film Studio, Podkarpacki Regionalny Fundusz Filmowy, and Les Contes Modernes also producing. It was co-financed by Polish Film Institute and CNC Cinemas Du Monde – Institut Français. Jan Naszewski's New Europe Film Sales handled world rights.

The film's production ran into controversy because a man claimed the film was actually based on his real life experiences and his efforts to get in contact with the film's producers were met with silence. The producers have said that the film is not based on this man's life, and instead on various cases of fraud in the priesthood. Pacewicz has said that fake priests are a fairly common occurrence in Poland, and every couple months a new case is discovered; they are often "about the need for a sort of social security for the underprivileged to become a trustworthy priest which is a great form of social status for many".

Most of the filming took place in Jaśliska, south-eastern Poland. One of the scenes was filmed on a barge at Lake Rożnów in Tabaszowa.

Release
Corpus Christi has its world premiere in Venice Days section of the 76th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2019, where it won the Edipo Re Award and the Europa Cinemas Label Award. The film made its North American premiere in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the 44th Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2019. It was released in Poland by Kino Świat on 11 October, and in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Vertigo Releasing on 18 October. It also screened in the World Cinema section of the 33rd AFI Fest on 20 November 2019.

As of January 2020, the film was invited to the program of 60 festivals and was sold to 45 territories. It had a limited theatrical release in the United States on 19 February 2020, before a wide release on 28 February by Film Movement.

Reception

Critical response
 

Variety's Peter Debruge called the film "stunning" and "quietly subversive", despite a few plot points that feel like a soap-opera to him. "Bielenia is never less than totally compelling," wrote Christy Lemire for RogerEbert.com, adding that "this is a complex character full of layers and contradictions." The Washington Post's Ann Hornaday described the film as "an absorbing, spiritually attuned drama" and added that "Bielenia presents the perfect embodiment of haunted asceticism" while "Komasa's careful framing and lighting reveal him to be innocent-looking one moment and more menacing the next". Writing in the Polish magazine Polityka, Janusz Wróblewski described the film as more suspenseful than the classic Western films, and lauded the ways in which it exorcises the complexities of Poland's past.

Accolades
Corpus Christi was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards. It won a record eleven Polish Film Awards: Best Film, Best Director (for Jan Komasa), Best Actor (for Bartosz Bielenia), Best Actress (for Aleksandra Konieczna), Best Supporting Actor (for Łukasz Simlat), Best Supporting Actress (for Eliza Rycembel), Best Screenplay (for Mateusz Pacewicz), Best Cinematography (for Piotr Sobocinski Jr.), Best Editing (for Przemyslaw Chruscielewski), Discovery of the Year (for Pacewicz), and the Audience Award.

The film also won ten awards at the Gdynia Film Festival, including Best Director, Best Script, Journalists' Award and Audience Award. It won the Silver Star and Best Actor Award for Bartosz Bielenia at the El Gouna Film Festival, and a Special Mention at the Reykjavik International Film Festival. At Luxembourg's CinEast, the film won the Special Jury Prize and the Critics' Prize. Bartosz Bielenia also won the award for Best Actor at the Chicago International Film Festival and Stockholm International Film Festival. He also won the Shooting Stars Award for the most promising up-and-coming European actor.

See also
 List of submissions to the 92nd Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
 List of Polish submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

References

External links
 

2019 films
2019 drama films
2010s French films
2010s Polish-language films
French drama films
Polish drama films
Canal+ films
Films about Catholicism
Films about Catholic priests
Films about juvenile delinquency
Films about spirituality
Films shot in Poland
Religious drama films