Corpo Celeste (2011)

In the sun-drenched recesses of southern Italy, the movie Corpo Celeste weaves a profoundly moving tale of a 13-year-old girl, Marta, caught in the throes of adolescence and cultural dislocation. After spending a decade in the picturesque serenity of Switzerland, she finds herself plunged into the vibrant chaos of her ancestral city, a world where she is both an observer and a stranger. Marta, with her bright eyes and relentless curiosity, stands on the brink of her religious confirmation, a critical rite of passage in the Catholic Church. As she navigates the labyrinth of catechism classes and the complex morals of the local Catholic community, Marta's innocence and faith collide with a reality that seems far removed from her Swiss upbringing. Her interactions with her family - a distant mother, a sister lost in her own world, and the stern Sunday school teacher, Santa, become a series of delicate threads tracing her journey towards self-discovery and independence. As Marta experiences the bittersweet milestones of adolescence – her first period, her daring decision to cut her hair – she begins to wrestle free from the shackles of imposed norms and traditions. Corpo Celeste is a testament to the arrival of a distinctive new talent, Alice Rohrwacher. Her writing and directing debut offers a poignant exploration of the tangled web of morality and religion that often shrouds adolescence. This narrative is a clarion call to the complexity and courage inherent in a young girl's journey to claim her place in a world that is both familiar and strange.

Corpo Celeste is a drama movie featuring Yle Vianello and directed by Alice Rohrwacher.

Corpo Celeste is currently streaming for free (ad-supported) on Kanopy and it's also available on Film Movement Plus and Hoopla.

It is also possible to buy Corpo Celeste on Amazon Video and Vudu.