International Debut Award
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Corpo celeste2011
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Having recently returned to her native Italy after living in Switzerland for ten years, quiet but curious thirteen year old Marta is left to her own devices while her loving but worn-out mother toils away at an industrial bakery. Marta's only source of socialization is the local church, where she is told to attend preparatory classes for her confirmation. But the doctrines of Roman Catholicism offer little in terms of life lessons or consolation, and she quickly sees through the hypocrisy of the priest, who cares more about status than about his constituents. Eventually, Marta forges her very own way of the cross, which turns out to have much less to do with God than with her own climb towards adulthood.
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Precise portrait of the contradictions between the false piety that so little favor has made to the understanding of religion everywhere, and its real embodiment in human life, always contradictory and painful. And not better way to show it than through Marta, a girl in her way of facing the cruel choice between buying accommodating bullshit in order to thrive in their local environment, or growing furious and alone with those contradictions, carrying the cry 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani", probably the key moment of Christianity. A choice that everybody faces sooner or later and that so much determines our lives. Beautiful, simple, without unnecessary additives and closely portraying Church life. Wonderful.
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Starring
- Salvatore Cantalupo - Don Mario
- Anita Caprioli - Rita
- Renato Carpentieri - Don Lorenzo
- Paola Lavini - Fortunata
- Pasqualina Scuncia - Santa
- Yle Vianello - Marta
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Member Reviews (6)
top reviewer
Precise portrait of the contradictions between the false piety that so little favor has made to the understanding of religion everywhere, and its real embodiment in human life, always contradictory and painful. And not better way to show it than through Marta, a girl in her way of facing the cruel choice between buying accommodating bullshit in order to thrive in their local environment, or growing furious and alone with those contradictions, carrying the cry 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani", probably the key moment of Christianity. A choice that everybody faces sooner or later and that so much determines our lives. Beautiful, simple, without unnecessary additives and closely portraying Church life. Wonderful.
1 member likes this review
top reviewer
Seen from one angle, this captivating film shows a child's painful discovery of the cruelty and hypocrisy of the adult world. Yet it reveals that the adults - though they hang on to what power they have - are every bit as confused and frustrated as children. Meanwhile, both adults (all associated in some way with the Catholic church and the confirmation ceremony that the main character, Marta, prepares for) and children - live on the outside of a world (seen briefly in a political campaign) that has left them behind.
1 member likes this review
top reviewer
Marta is totally wonderful_the church is total bullshit_the priest is an asshole so is the bishop_but they live off stupidity & fear_Marta is such a gem_i loved it & didn't expect to
Second half of the film is really captivating. Sparse both visually and in dialogue; but gripping.
I just finished "Corpo celeste" and I'm left feeling lots of love for this film. There are many powerful scenes. The ending put the film in the right spot (for lack of better words).
An honest and intimate portrait with haunting performances and cinematography. From vast Italian junk yards to bathroom mirrors, CORPO CELESTE reveals the paradox between surviving pre-pubescence and the theatre of religious coercion.