Corpo celeste

Having been brought up a Catholic, this evoked many familiar feelings in me and will probably resonate for quite some time.

Peopled with some very well-observed supporting characters - such as the Sunday School teacher, the Priest, and the visiting cardinal's team, it's clear how mysoginistic the whole structure remains, even as they struggle to maintain relevance in the modern world.

The girl at the centre of all this handles her role very well, I think, balancing her rebelliousness with her understandable feelings of dislocation in a new country with new surroundings and cultural (and religious) expectations, plus puberty. One feels that she has the inner strength to survive, despite circumstances so, despite being depressed that things remain like this, there is hope.

As anyone who has seen "The Wonders" or "Happy as Lazzaro" will know Alice Rohrwacher is one of the marvels of contemporary cinema. "Corpo Celeste" is her lesser-known, but no less astonishing, debut made with an almost documentary realism as we get to know the world through the eyes of 13 year old Marta as she comes to terms with growing up. Unlike other girls her age, however, Marta is subjected to perhaps a little more religious education than is usual as she prepares for her confirmation. This is Catholic Italy, after all.

Like Lazzaro, Marta is possessed of an innocence that is almost other-worldly. She might like to wear her big sister's bra but she's also remarkably childlike; Rohrwacher does innocence like no-one else. She also imbues her film with a nice sense of humour, even bordering on the cynical, (the priest whose ringtone on his mobile is 'The Minute Waltz' is both ambitious and something of a prig and is magnificently played by the late Salvatore Cantalupo). Indeed, Rohrwacher draws wonderfully naturalistic performances from her entire cast and in particular from Yie Vianello as Marta. In fact, "Corpo Celeste" isn't just a superb debut but one of the best films about both childhood and religion I've ever seen. With only three features to her name, Rohrwacher may just be my favourite director right now.

I'm grateful to finally find a film that is sensitive, subtle, original in its view of people and has something to say (about faith and the church, society and outsiders.) It's Italian, but only two characters act like the Italian angry prototype, and only briefly. The acting is extraordinary. Yle Vianello, who plays the thirteen years old girl, seems as authentic as it gets. It is her story-after ten years in Switzerland, she returns to a small town in Italy with her single mother and 18-year-old sister. Right away she's called to participate in the endless studies for the communion at church. She tries to fit in, but is swept by other types of emotional and spiritual searches.

While I loved the nuanced and sensitive performance of Yle Vianello as Marta, I couldn't help but feel that writer/director Alice Rohrwacher's portrayal of the Catholic church in Corpo Celeste was an overdrawn caricature – that only reinforced the usual stereotypes against institutional religion. In contrast, the almost intuitive spirituality Marta possesses – of gentleness towards others, wonder at creation, curiosity about the world + its people, reverence for the divine – those elements could have been connected to broad Christian doctrines of natural revelation, love for neighbor, and the work of the Spirit, but they were not. Though the ending makes Marta's journey beyond the film feel uncertain, somehow I'm convinced (if it is possible to extrapolate) that Marta will be ultimately alright in the end. She may not find truth in the unfortunate parish she finds herself in, but she's much closer to the Truth than almost everyone else in the film. We see this in the innocent delight over the kittens that she joyfully shares with her classmates. We see this in her desire to understand the phrase from her catechism recitation "Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani?" which she goes around repeating to herself without knowing the meaning. This forsaken uttering of Christ on the cross ironically rings quite true in Marta's life as she is mistreated by those in church leadership, cruelly bullied by her older sister, and witnesses powerlessly the brutal killing of the kittens. In spite of all the hypocrisy and vacuity of the parish, when Marta finds herself next to a huge dusty crucifix in a forsaken little village church, she instinctively uses her hands and shirt sleeve to gently and reverently wipe the dirt off the body of Christ. Somehow, in spite of it all, a real spirituality and an intimate relationship with Christ has been apprehended.

This is the movie which can be discuss for years to come. A young pre-adolescent girl from Switzerland, where there is freedom of religion, who goes to Catholic dominated Italy to live with her Mother and older Sister who pesters her. Imagine the cultural shock of a contrast country. Add to this, the coming of adolescent age with its confusion and rebellion. Survival is challenging despite the indoctrination of a religious sense to keep people living within the teachings of the church. One sees a battle between moral values and self preservation. Plus, the struggle of an innocent child who wants to live the right way in a world that acts on human self righteousness and desires. This film will take you on a ride which leaves you in a hopeless state of not knowing who to believe or what to believe. Yet, among all the world lust, hypocritical situations, and unfairness... we can survive. We are a miracle. Especially when we put our faith in spiritual understanding. A thought provoking film which will question your own beliefs and understanding.