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Corpo Celeste

Writen by Alice Rohrwacher

Directed by Alice Rohrwacher

2011, Italy

Corpo Celeste acts as a guide for the uninitiated into the oppressive realm of religious fundamentalism and traditional thinking. The lens under which viewers examine this heady subject matter belongs to a budding adolescent named Marta (played with precocious dignity by newcomer Yile Vianello). Marta has spent most of her formative years growing up in Switzerland, but at the outset of the movie she and her mother have recently returned to Calabria, Italy, the village of Marta’s birth. Her initiation into what feels like a completely alien society comes with catechism classes, since life in Calabria revolves entirely around the Catholic faith. Marta is only marginally acquainted with Catholicism, but she must suffer through confirmation if she hopes to gain acceptance or if she ever wants to get married.

Debut filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher achieves no small task in...

This accomplished, naturalistic tale of a girl preparing for her confirmation in southern Italy feels autobiographical

This first fiction feature from a 30-year-old Italian director feels densely observed, transparently personal and autobiographical, despite being notionally based on a novel of the same name by Anna Maria Ortese. Marta, played by non-professional newcomer Yle Vianello, is a 13-year-old preparing for confirmation in southern Italy under the tutelage of Don Mario, a withdrawn and jaded priest, secretly angling for a more prestigious living elsewhere. He is played by Salvatore Cantalupo, last seen here in Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah. Marta and the other kids are being coached by the motherly, stressed-out Santa (Pasqualina Scuncia) who has to deal with her complex feelings of betrayal at Don Mario's plans, which climax in his faintly bizarre quest to salvage a crucifix from an abandoned church in his home village – whose elderly priest has an ambiguous,...

The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau said that a child should not be taught about religion until he or she asks about it independently.  Sadly, Rousseau's wisdom has rarely been taken to heart and parents ship their bored children to go through the motions of religious rights of passages via part-time schooling.  With a little effort, one could craft a captivating tale involving a bored priest and an ineffective teacher failing to instill faith in a young girl who wants religion in her life, or at least wants to understand it.  Corpo Celeste takes a passing glance at that tale and then meanders about in an inept, self-important manner where simple points are turned into filler, characters fail to develop, and every "big" moment is ruined by clumsy, heavy-handed direction.  Instead of thinking about faith, our minds can only ponder "Why was the premise for a short film turned into a bloated,...

Corpo Celeste

Writen by Alice Rohrwacher

Directed by Alice Rohrwacher

2011, Italy

Corpo Celeste acts as a guide for the uninitiated into the oppressive realm of religious fundamentalism and traditional thinking. The lens under which viewers examine this heady subject matter belongs to a budding adolescent named Marta (played with precocious dignity by newcomer Yile Vianello). Marta has spent most of her formative years growing up in Switzerland, but at the outset of the movie she and her mother have recently returned to Calabria, Italy, the village of Marta’s birth. Her initiation into what feels like a completely alien society comes with catechism classes, since life in Calabria revolves entirely around the Catholic faith. Marta is only marginally acquainted with Catholicism, but she must suffer through confirmation if she hopes to gain acceptance or if she ever wants to get married.

Debut filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher achieves no small task in...