A new addition to Poland's "Moral Anxiety Films" sequence, "The Eucharist" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best International Film. The film itself tells a big story with a little story wrapped around it. In the big story, Daniel was just released from juvenile detention. Although he could not become a pastor because of his criminal history, he disguised himself as Pastor Thomas and took over the parish. In the small story, Daniel revealed the truth about the car accident that happened in the community. The language of the film itself is exquisite. If there is no big bug in "Parasite", he may have won the best international film.
The beginning and end of the big story is actually obvious. In the film, the audience rarely hears sound effects other than the environment. As a hint of a plot twist, the soundtrack in the entire film only appears three times , when Daniel bites the bullet and prepares for Mass, when Daniel sees Pischer, who knew him at the sawmill, and when Daniel's house is set on fire. These three places also represent Daniel's gradual entry into the priesthood, Daniel's identity crisis, and Daniel's exposure.
In the ups and downs of the plot, Daniel's identity is constantly dislocated. He is a juvenile delinquent, a drug addict, and a priest who listens to people's self-reflection. The whole parish is even more energetic because of him. This dislocation of identity is more apparent in the short story. The family of the seventh person, who was also the victim, became the target of public criticism, while the other people who should have stood with her became the perpetrators. This dislocation is also hinted at in the lens language of the film. A zoom lens is used many times in the film.
At 22:20, Daniel encounters the gathering crowd for the first time, and in the zoom shot at 36:50, the focus switches to Daniel from the running person in the distance. In these shots, Daniel and the people in the town never stand together, they only exist in different depths of field. And in the zoom shot at 39:40, Daniel stands with the town crowd for the first time, a symbol of his beginning to unravel the mystery.
This exchange didn't last until the 80th minute, when Daniel announced the whereabouts of the funds. From this moment on, he stood on the opposite side of people again, and from this moment on, his identity was gradually revealed. So we will see the zoom lens of Daniel and the people in the house at 95:30, and the distance between him and the people is gradually pulled away. In addition to the above-mentioned lenses, there are many other zoom lenses in the film, which are a major feature of the lens language of this film.
In this film, the dislocation of identity happens to everyone, especially in Daniel's eyes. From Daniel's eyes, he can be a confused lamb, a kind godfather, or a crazy drug addict. In the last dazzling cold light, he fled with frightened eyes. Human identities are so diverse, can one label completely deny him?
View more about Corpus Christi reviews
