La communion

This is the kind of movie that captivated me from start to finish. The story itself unbelievable as it may seem is actually based on a real story of young man from the Masovian voivodeship. I will not spoil any of it and will just say that 'Corpus Christi' touches on important matters and values and it's main message translates to 'love thy neighbor'. Amazing performance by the main actor and I loved the camera work. Highly recommended by a non-practitioning catholic.

Peter is a man with serious character defects who has been released from a juvenile facility. He finds himself at a small town Catholic church where he dons a priest's collar and becomes a beloved charismatic leading his adoring flock. The Polish Peyton Place slowly reveals its' secrets as the good "father" hears confessions from the flock and performs masses with inspiring homily's. As a lapsed Catholic, I found the film very realistic and sentimental. The lead actor is excellent and I would place it just behind "Parasite" as the best foreign language movie of 2019.

I saw this movie as part of the PSIFF. There were 2 movie houses packed for this performance. The story is detailed in the preview. I felt that the writing, and the performances made it one of the best films in the festival. At the end of the screening the audience were clearly awestruck. The message about the real reason for believe, not in a religion, but the power of people was uplifting. I know that some might find the story anti-Catholic, but if I met someone that was a committed to being a good person as Daniel I would be at his services.

This film could easily slide into an anecdote about a disguise that causes real change. However, it is a perfectly told film that asks important questions about the place of spirituality in a person's life, and about the chance to make amends. Contrary to being embedded in the reality of the Catholic Church in Poland, it is a universal challenge for viewers who are not afraid to check whether a bad person can do good things and what is the value of spiritual transformation committed for low motives. Greatly played by a couple of young, yet experienced actors Eliza Rycembel and Bartosz Bielenia, while the rest of the cast creates a perfect background for the small-town world, which, although on the outskirts, is not a province.

"You know what we're good at? Giving up on people. Pointing the finger at them. 'Forgive' doesn't mean 'forget.' It doesn't mean 'pretend nothing happened.' 'Forgive' means 'love.' Love someone despite their guilt. No matter what the guilt is."

Engaging from beginning to end, with a deeply soulful performance from Bartosz Bielenia, the young man who stumbles into impersonating a priest after getting out of juvenile detention. His character brings pragmatic, meaningful spirituality to the town, and tries to help it heal from a tragedy that not only left seven dead, but a woman ostracized. I loved the theme of forgiveness and how hard it is to truly reach this state emotionally, and how it applied to both this poor woman and the imitation priest, who were both in desperate need of it.

The film toes the line between showing religion as a positive influence - making people better individuals and a source of great comfort - and getting a few criticisms in, such as mentioning that it was just a pope along the way who thought celibacy would be a good idea, and "now it's a problem." Mostly though, it shows the power of spirituality to lift people above their baser instincts, and the best moments are those when the young priest wields this power. The scene where he leads a funeral procession down the road and we see the rich mayor washing his car is one of many of this type, and it's stirring.

As much as I liked Eliza Rycembel's performance as a young woman searching for answers in the wake of her brother's death, I wish there hadn't been a growing love between her and the young priest. The film is not without flaws but none of them are too glaring, and director Jan Komasa tells the story well, keeping it engaging from beginning to end. It's solid and one that I'd recommend.