[CORPO
CELESTE screens Thursday
September 13th at 8:30 pm and Sunday September 16th at 4:00 pm at the
Cleveland Cinematheque.]
Thirteen
year old Marta (Yle Vianello) begins her transition into womanhood
while simultaneously questioning her faith in Catholicism in the
interminably dull CORPO CELESTE.
While attending classes for her confirmation in the church, Marta
dares to ask what the Latin portion of the words she has to recite
means. Her teacher tells her it's beyond her understanding, and to
just blindly say what she's told. This is just one of the ways the
film portrays the institution of the Catholic Church as dispassionate
and controlling, particularly where women are concerned.
This
is not exactly unexplored territory, nor is the way in which
writer/director Alice Rohrwacher explores it particularly
interesting. The plot is pedestrian, and neither Marta nor any of
the other characters in the film ever really come alive and engage
us. The whole thing is just a dreary, heavy-handed affair that hits
all the expected marks (of course Marta gets her first period during
a crucial and symbolic moment in the film) on its way to an abrupt
and enigmatic ending. 1 out of 4 stars.
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