Corpo Celeste
dir. Alice Rohrwacher · 2011
Finding one's identity and purpose often involves questioning established beliefs and exploring personal truths.
Alice Rohrwacher’s "Corpo Celeste" offers a poignant exploration of a young girl's quest for identity amid the remnants of religious tradition and familial expectations. Visually striking and emotionally resonant, it captures the dissonance of adolescence with a contemplative lens.
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.
Full synopsisspoilers
Set deep in the south of Italy, Corpo Celeste is the story of 13 year old Marta who is struggling to resettle after ten years growing up in Switzerland. Bright-eyed and restless, she observes the sights, sounds and smells of the city but feels very much an outsider. Marta is about to undergo the rite of confirmation. In the convention of the Catholic Church she takes catechism but confronts the morality of the local Catholic community.
A series of subtle moments trace her journey as she connects and conflicts with her mother, sister and the Sunday school teacher Santa. From experiencing her period to making a bold decision to cut her hair, Marta begins to shape her own life for the first time since moving back to Italy. Corpo Celeste heralds the arrival of a young and distinctive voice. Alice Rohrwacher's writing and directing debut is a sensitive unveiling of the moral and religious layers that can smother adolescence.
Talking points
- the role of religion in personal identity
- the impact of cultural displacement
- the tension between childhood innocence and adult expectations
- the search for faith in a secular world
