Synopsis
After growing up in Switzerland, 13-year-old Marta returns to a city in southern Italy with her mother and older sister. Independent and inquisitive, she joins a catechism class at a local church. However, the games and religious pop songs she encounters there do not nearly satisfy her interest in faith. Struggling to find her place, Marta pushes the boundaries of the class, the priest, and the church.
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Cast
- Yle VianelloMarta
- Pasqualina ScunciaSanta
- Salvatore CantalupoDon Mario
- Anita CaprioliRita
- Renato CarpentieriDon Lorenzo
- Maria TrunfioDeborah
- Gianni FedericoNino
- Maria Luisa De CrescenzoRosa
- Mario CaninoAlfri
- Monia AlfieriDonatella
Recommendations
- 80
Empire
Quietly compelling, the cerebral slice of social realism is well worth hunting down. - 80
Total Film
With echoes of the Dardennes and Lucrecia Martel, Corpo Celeste's acute sense of place, feel for adolescent confusion and miraculous resolution suggest that Rohrwacher is a talent to watch. - 80
Time Out
Alice Rohrwacher's debut fictional feature is an uncommonly insightful portrait of nascent womanhood, assisted in no small measure by Vianello's disarmingly naturalistic performance. - 80
Village Voice
Rohrwacher almost overplays her metaphors, but her understated characterizations, cinematographer Hélène Louvart's rapturous range, and especially Vianello's eerie grace combine to make Corpo Celeste the ideal cinematic antidote to the summer doldrums. - 75
Slant Magazine
Once Corpo Celeste began to recede a little in my rearview mirror, my initial impatience softened a little. - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
For those willing to overlook its few slips into heavy-handedness, Corpo Celeste tells a compelling story of a 12-year-old girl thrust into a strange new world. - 70
Variety
Rohrwacher's picture offers a Dardennes-esque look at a working-class teen's growing pains in a backwater parish in southern Italy. Minor tonal inconsistencies are overcome by this intimate tale's naturalistic thesping and loose lensing style. - 60
The Guardian
An accomplished debut.
