Corpo Celeste

Critics Consensus

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45%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 1,386

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Corpo Celeste Photos

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Movie Info

Having recently returned to her native Italy after living in Switzerland for 10 years, quiet but curious 13-year-old Marta is left to her own devices while her loving but worn-out mother toils away at an industrial bakery. Marta's only source of socialization is the local church, where she is told to attend preparatory classes for her confirmation. But the doctrines of Roman Catholicism offer little in terms of life lessons or consolation, and she quickly sees through the hypocrisy of the priest, who cares more about status than about his constituents. Eventually, Marta forges her very own way of the cross, which turns out to have much less to do with God than with her own climb towards adulthood. -- (C) Film Movement

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Art House & International, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Special Interest, Faith & Spirituality
Directed By:

Alice Rohrwacher
Written By:

Alice Rohrwacher
In Theaters:

Jun 8, 2012 limited
On Disc/Streaming:

Nov 6, 2012
Box Office:

$7,665
Runtime:

100 minutes
Studio:

Film Movement

Cast

Yle Vianello
as Marta

Pasqualina Scuncia
as Santa

Renato Carpentieri
as Don Lorenzo

Anita Caprioli
as Rita

Salvatore Cantalupo
as Don Mario

News & Interviews for Corpo Celeste

Critics Consensus: Prometheus is Certified Fresh

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Critic Reviews for Corpo Celeste

All Critics (18) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (15) | Rotten (3)

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.

Jun 29, 2012 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Walter V. Addiego
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic
"Corpo Celeste" often stumbles, along with its 12-year-old heroine, Marta (Yle Vianello).

Jun 8, 2012 | Rating: 2.5/5 | Full Review…

Rachel Saltz
New York Times
Top Critic
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.

Jun 5, 2012 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Eric Hynes
Time Out
Top Critic
Corpo Celeste would be a treat in any season, but it's particularly refreshing amid the summer-movie bombast.

Jun 5, 2012 | Full Review…

Mark Holcomb
Village Voice
Top Critic
An accomplished debut.

Mar 29, 2012 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
Top Critic
Neither lights a fuse to our brains or hearts.

Mar 29, 2012 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Nigel Andrews
Financial Times
Top Critic
A good performance from newcomer Yile Vianello as Marta holds much of the film together.

Aug 27, 2018 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Isabel Stevens
ViewLondon
Though at times heavy-handed in its imagery and slow-paced, Rohrwacher's debut feature is remarkably unadorned and touching, putting forth a realistic portrait of modern Italy at a time when the country faces economic hardship as well as cultural changes.

Jun 28, 2013 | Full Review…

Meredith Slifkin
Film Comment Magazine
A heavenly coming-of-age film.

Oct 25, 2012 | Rating: A- | Full Review…

Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
There are moments that suggest the director might do something better next time.

Mar 31, 2012 | Full Review…

Philip French
Observer (UK)
Quietly compelling, the cerebral slice of social realism is well worth hunting down.

Mar 27, 2012 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
The film makes neat if familiar associations between Catholic ritual and sexual identity, and between religion and civic corruption.

Mar 23, 2012 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Hannah McGill
The List

View All Critic Reviews (18)

Audience Reviews for Corpo Celeste

Jun 10, 2012

Upon returning to her native Italy from Switzerland, Rita(Anita Caprioli) decides it is time for her younger daughter Marta(Yle Vianello) to go to religion classes by starting at the end with her confirmation. As an introduction, the family goes on a nighttime pilgrimage, followed by a religious demonstration where Father Mario's(Salvatore Cantalupo) cell phone goes off at the worst possible moment. Otherwise, Marta leads a normal life of a girl not quite 13 as she hogs the bathroom, borrows her older sister Rosa's(Maria Luisa de Crescenzo) clothing, has a finicky diet and does some of the cooking. Ok, so that last part is not so normal... I think what "Corpo Celeste" desperately wants to be about is a girl's coming of age, both intellectually and physically, but can't stay focused long enough, as it gets distracted by the smallest detail.(Oh, look! It's a cat!) That interferes with any chance of seeing the world through Marta's eyes. At this point, it is filled with religion but the movie does not have sharp enough satirical teeth for the task at hand. Look, I know religion can be a really prickly subject but you still have to know what you want to say. Is it that the Church has gotten so far away from its teachings(trust me on this, somebody will remember and that person might be Marta) that it has become just another pageant or does it have to become showy to stay relevant in the modern age? Make up your mind.

Walter M Super Reviewer