Corpo celeste [Fiction]
Alice Rohrwacher
Italy, Switzerland, France | 2011 | 100 min
Language : Italian
Subtitles : French, English
After growing up in Switzerland, Marta returns to her native Calabria with her mother and sister. At Sunday school, where she is preparing for her confirmation, she discovers a pious community with its own shady dealings. The age of naivety and innocence then seems to leave Marta's heavenly spirit. Corpo celeste (Cannes 2011) announces Alice Rohrwacher’s undeniable talent.
Minimum legal age 12 years, recommended 16 years and over
Having grown up in Switzerland, 13-year-old Marta returns with her mother and sister to her native Calabria. Eyes wide open, she paces around the city, gaging the pulse of this region of southern Italy that has been devastated by exodus and scarred by the ongoing tragedy of bodies of migrant persons washing up on the coastlines. She is approaching the age of confirmation, and catechism seems to be a good way for her, and especially her family, to blend in. Taught by a zealous bigot, she discovers a pious community built on shady dealings, and overseen by the priest Don Lorenzo. While the desire to explore life with her own eyes is stronger, cornered by moral instruction, Marta soon loses her innocence and finds herself worn down by the reality of this tainted world. In a gesture of atonement, she offers her innocence to a young girl who still believes in angels, and welcomes a new Marta, abandoned by God, who will now have to fight to return to the free world. Presented at the opening of the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes in 2011, Corpo celeste showcases Alice Rohrwacher’s undeniable talent.
Aurélien Marsais
