Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Corpus Christi Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 17, 2020

Between the young Catholic novitiate who finds out she’s a “secret” Jew in Ida, which was Poland’s entry in the Best Foreign Language Film sweepstakes in 2013’s Academy Awards, ultimately becoming that nation’s first win in that category, and the ex-con pretending to be a priest in Corpus Christi, Poland’s entry in the most recent Academy Awards, albeit in the somewhat renamed Best International Feature Film category (an award it ultimately lost to the Parasite juggernaut), Polish believers of any stripe had best be cautioned to check the references of any “official” involved in any kind of service. That’s said with tongue firmly planted in cheek, of course, but one of the things that is so especially interesting about Corpus Christi is the veritable ruckus it raised when it was released, with one guy claiming it was obviously based on his life (the film comes replete with an all important "based on real events" imprimatur), to which a whole host (no pun intended) of Poles responded that “fake” priests are evidently a common occurrence over there (the prevalence of secretly Jewish nuns in training is currently unknown, at least to this reviewer).

The story of Corpus Christi is fascinating enough even on its surface, with a plot built out of a young troublemaker named Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia) masquerading (successfully) as a priest in an isolated Polish town, but it’s the subtext and some of the interwoven strands of the tale that may make it especially captivating. Daniel, while obviously a bit of a scoundrel as evidenced by his stint in a facility for so-called “juvenile delinquents”, also seems to be a young man with a sincere, and maybe even slightly obsessive, religious faith. He pines to be a priest, but his life history is not pointing him in that direction. Still, he believes.

Part of that belief may in fact be a defense mechanism against the violence of the juvie facility, but once Daniel is paroled, ostensibly to go to work for a sawmill that hires ex-cons, it actually informs the rest of the film, albeit in often rather odd ways. Almost immediately, Daniel is able to virtually stumble into impersonating a priest in the town, when the real vicar heads off to address some of his personal problems (the entire film is filled with people who, despite apparently devout religious beliefs, are still hobbled by various "sins", real or imagined). One might imagine this material being played strictly for laughs, with an undereducated tough trying to pass as a highly educated priest, and while there are a few at least whimsical moments, Corpus Christi is for the most part rather serious minded, especially when Daniel starts ripping a veritable scab off of a trauma the town has experienced.

The secretiveness of the town about this trauma (which won't be overly detailed here in order to prevent any spoiler material) adds a curious sense of suspense to the tale, and reminded me in a way of 1945, a rather fascinating film which documents two Jewish men arriving in a cloistered Hungarian town just as World War II is winding down, and meeting with considerable suspicion there for a variety of ultimately revealed reasons. The interesting thing about Corpus Christi is that Daniel, despite being obviously "broken" himself in any number of ways, serves as a catalyst of sorts for a reckoning, if not an outright healing. Playing out against or perhaps more appropriately underneath all of this is a continuing "will he or won't he get caught" aspect that keeps things kind of generally angsty.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf may have liked Corpus Christi even more than I did. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Corpus Christi Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Corpus Christi is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Movement with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists Arri Alexas and a 2K DI as relevant datapoints, and while this is often an intentionally almost desaturated, kind of dreary and drab looking presentation some of the time, it offers consistently high levels of detail and some very appealingly sharp and clear imagery. Some of the outdoor material tends to favor teals and what I'd almost call aquamarines, a color scheme which is repeated at least a bit inside the cloisters of the church where Daniel pretends to be the priest. That said, real pops of color are pretty rare here, though that doesn't mean there isn't a realistic accounting of both natural environments and some of the interior spaces. Close-ups reveal abundant fine detail. I noticed no compression issues of any note.

Corpus Christi Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Corpus Christi features an enjoyable DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in the original Polish (with optional English subtitles). This is a bombastic film from a sound design perspective, but it offers some nice and at times rather nuanced surround activity, with expected items like environmental ambient effects in outdoor scenes populating the side and rear channels realistically, but even some of the clamor in crowded church services providing some noticeable immersion. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, and the film makes use of some fun (maybe even cheeky) source cues at times that also swell through the surround channels.

Corpus Christi Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making of Corpus Christi (1080p; 15:01) features some enjoyable interviews with various cast and crew members. In Polish with English subtitles.


• Nice to See You (1080p; 16:04) is a short film by Jan Komasa evidently done at the Polish National Film School (as evidenced by some opening credits text). In Polish with English subtitles.


• Corpus Christi Trailer (1080p; 1:56)

The disc also offers the typical About Film Movement option on its Main Menu, which provides both text and a trailer about Film Movement. Trailers for other Film Movement releases are also offered. While there's no insert booklet, the inner print of the cover has two brief text items, one entitled "Why We Selected Corpus Christi" and another entitled "Excerpt from an Interview with Director Jan Komasa". These are printed on only the inside front half of the cover (a still takes up the inside back half), which may be some indication of their brevity.

Corpus Christi Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Corpus Christi seems to be about one thing, but delves into at least one major sidebar while alluding to veritable droves of subtext about the meaning of salvation, especially within the context of "fraud" or at least cheating a little. The film benefits from some visceral performances, and is both thought provoking and a bit unsettling in about equal measure. ( A propos of nothing other than a personal observation, Bielenia's appearance, especially his face, reminded me for some reason of Renée Jeanne Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc.) I think the whole "town trauma" element might have been better developed, or at least better resolved, but the basic story here is instantly compelling one way or the other. Technical merits are solid, and Corpus Christi comes Highly recommended.