Corpus Christi – Angry Cialo (2019)

Directed by: Jan Komasa | 116 minutes | drama | Actors: Bartosz Bielenia, Aleksandra Konieczna, Eliza Rycembel, Tomasz Ziek, Barbara Kurzaj, Leszek Lichota, Zdzislaw Wardejn, Lukasz Simlat, Anna Biernacik, Lidia Bogacz, Malwina Brych, Bogdan Brzyski

In deeply Catholic Poland it should come as no surprise that prisoners are also involved in the rituals of the faith. So is Daniel (Bielenia), a shaven-headed juvenile delinquent who obediently and devotedly sings along at Mass just before he is released. The image is as natural as it is paradoxical, just as in Ciske de Rat understanding can be brought to bear for Cis’ deeds and needs.

‘Corpus Christi’ is a rougher teenage version for an arthouse audience – no feel-good for the youth. Understandably, Daniel plunges into the nightlife right after his release. He even puts on a priestly robe during the feast. “Daniel, Holy Daniel”, his mates laugh. Every ex-teenager undoubtedly remembers the free wrestling with norms and values, some perhaps more than others.

This Daniel gets the chance, it seems based on facts, to be seen as a priest. He poses as a cleric and replaces a sick pastor in the village where he has found a job. Brave how Komasa transforms this skinhead. What does he want with it? In any case, he needs a convincing protagonist; Bielenia has a compelling look as a young Christopher Walken, girls and other believers fall like a rock.

Komasa takes twenty minutes to depict these developments, in cool, grey-blue tones. Daniel seems to viewers as calculating as well as benevolent, although we do not yet know what he was in for, a tried and tested recipe as a cliffhanger. He is accepted into the community and appears to have spiritual leadership abilities. A charlatan? Both religious and atheist viewers can take it in any direction.

A sinful priest who doesn’t believe in celibacy – jeans over the cassock; It’s absurd, but that’s the reality sometimes. Daniel seems mesmerized by the confession sessions at the church, as if he – a perpetrator – is now on the other side. The poacher who becomes a forester. But what has he eaten and where will his new destiny take him? We’re not going to reveal that, of course. Komasa experiments with the viewer and has a lot to say; the rest to the public.