Padre Pio | |
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Directed by | Abel Ferrara |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | Shia LaBeouf |
Cinematography | Alessandro Abate |
Edited by | Leonardo Daniel Bianchi |
Music by | Joe Delia |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Gravitas Ventures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 104 minutes |
Countries |
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Language | English |
Padre Pio is a 2022 biographical film co-written and directed by Abel Ferrara. It stars Shia LaBeouf as Padre Pio, a Capuchin Franciscan priest who received the stigmata as seen in the film. The storyline is based on historical events. [1] He is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church. [2] [3] During its production, as a result of his spiritual experiences, LaBeouf converted to Catholicism. [4]
The film premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2022. It was nominated for the Giornate degli Autori "Director's Award." [5] It was in competition at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival. [6] At the Lisbon & Estoril film festival, it was nominated for the "Best Film Award." [7] During its North American premiere at the Mammoth Film Festival, it won the "Achievement for Filmmaking" award for cinematography. [8]
It was released in the United States on 2 June 2023 by Gravitas Ventures. It was released in the UK and Ireland 26 January 2024 by Dazzler Media.
It is the year 1920. Italian WWI veterans have returned to their impoverished villages. Padre Pio arrives at San Giovanni Rotondo after living with his family in Pietrelcina for a number of years. While still sick, he continues to encounter Satan. Satan reveals himself as the instigator of the war and the sociopolitical problems of San Giovanni. While having little contact with the people, Padre Pio learns what the poor are suffering from in the Sacrament of Confession and the Holy Mass, such as when a crippled man walks again because of Padre Pio's prayer. Besides the effects of war, such as medical inadequacy, health conditions and laborers dying from the effects of "the gas," they suffer from corrupt, wealthy landowners. Gerardo, a militaristic anti-socialist, threatens to kill any communal laborers tending to his land. Many of them join the socialist party as a way to improve their lives. However, after they win the first free election in San Giovanni, a number of them are massacred by Gerardo's forces. Padre Pio asks God to become a suffering servant for them all. He receives the wounds of Jesus Christ. The stigmata disrupts Satan's influence on San Giovanni Rotondo.
According to Abel Ferrara, actor Willem Dafoe suggested that Shia LaBeouf should be cast for the film's leading role. After Ferrara held several Zoom calls with LaBeouf, the latter agreed to join the film, [9] even though very little money was raised (the film was almost never made) and LaBeouf did the project for free. [10]
LaBeouf arrived at Old Mission Santa Inés in July 2021 to learn about Padre Pio with the Capuchin Franciscan friars. Thanks to Father Bobby Barbato and Brother Jude Quinto, Br. Alexander Rodriguez met LaBeouf while he attended Mass everyday. He learned about the Catholic Church and the Capuchins while living in his truck or spending a few nights in the Capuchin's guest room. He was immersing himself in the Catholic faith. He enrolled in RCIA, revised the script with Rodriguez or trained to do the Latin Mass. Rodriguez traveled with LaBeouf as his spiritual adviser and catechist and was in the film as Padre Pio's companion. [11]
Filming occurred in Apulia, Italy, in December 2021. [12] The first place was at the Capuchin friary in San Marco la Catola. Padre Pio exchanged letters with his provincial and spiritual director while living in Pietrelcina with his family. The time was around 1909-1916. Both directors were living in San Marco during these years. Padre Pio expressed in his letters his deep and mysterious relationship with God and health difficulties. This event is in the film. While filming, LaBeouf slept in Padre Pio's bedroom. [9]
After San Marco, filming continued outside the Sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel in Monte Sant'Angelo. Traditionally, St. Michael appeared here in the late 400s. LaBeouf stayed and filmed for a few weeks at the Abbey of Saint Mary of Pulsano. It is near the sanctuary. The rest of the filming took place outside the sanctuary. [13]
The film premiered in the Giornate degli Autori section of the 79th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2022. [14] [15] It received a four-minute ovation. [16]
On March 2023, Gravitas Ventures acquired North American rights to the film. It was released in select theatres and through video on demand in the United States on 2 June 2023. [17]
The film was later released in the UK and Ireland 26 January 2024 by Dazzler Media. [18]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 30% based on 43 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Tonally unbalanced and burdened with a distracting Shia LaBeouf performance, Padre Pio is one of Abel Ferrara's less divine works." [19] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 6 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [20]
Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a negative review, describing it as "clunky" and criticizing its political themes for possessing "the subtlety of a cartoon for preschoolers." [21] Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com gave the film one & a half stars out of four, describing it as a "dull slog". [22] Journalist Glenn Kenny of The New York Times found the film "occasionally rank" and panned LaBeouf's performance, though complimented Ferrara's "sometimes Brechtian consideration of the nodes of political history and spirituality." [23] Film critic Armond White of National Review also criticized the film, describing it as "a work of deluded, semi-improvisational navel-gazing". [24]
Film critic Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film a positive review, with three out of five stars, writing that it is "a weird film...with an undeveloped, improvised feel, like a fragment or shard of something else. Yet there is a background hum there...an awareness of something dark and malign. It is a minor film, but interesting." [25] Writing for The New Yorker , Richard Brody considered that "in its hectic, scattershot way, 'Padre Pio' feels very much of the desperate present day," describing it as "a historical drama without historical distance" and "a wild effort to reach the immediate experience of the past and its furies." [26]
Faith-based reviews for the film were generally negative. It received negative reviews from Catholic Answers , [27] The Catholic World Report , [28] The Catholic Weekly , [29] The Catholic Thing , [30] and Crisis Magazine . [31] Conversely, it received a mixed review from The Catholic Review , [32] as well as a positive review from America . [33] Criticisms were generally aimed at the film's sexual content [28] [29] and perceived support of left-wing politics. [27] [32]
Stigmata, in Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ: the hands, wrists, feet, near the heart, the head, and back.
Pio of Pietrelcina, widely known as Padre Pio, was an Italian Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, celebrated on 23 September.
Shia Saide LaBeouf is an American actor, performance artist, and filmmaker. He played Louis Stevens in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens, a role for which he received Young Artist Award nominations in 2001 and 2002 and won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2003. He made his film debut in The Christmas Path (1998). In 2004, he made his directorial debut with the short film Let's Love Hate and later directed a short film titled Maniac (2011), starring American rappers Cage and Kid Cudi.
The Sanctuary of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, or colloquially called the Padre Pio Shrine or "Shrine of Saint Padre Pio," is a Catholic shrine in San Giovanni Rotondo, Province of Foggia, Italy, owned by the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. Its surface area is 6,000 square meters and is located two kilometers from the town center. It houses the old church called the Sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie and its attached convent where Saint Padre Pio lived and the new Chiesa San Pio or Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church right behind it. Built in devotion to Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, the Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church can accommodate 6,500 people seated at worship, with standing room for 30,000 people outside. It was built from 1998 to 2004. The body of St. Padre Pio was moved to the sanctuary or newer church in 2010 and is placed in enclosed glass. The Genoan architect Renzo Piano designed the Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church. It is located in front of Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, a large Italian hospital and research center, founded by Padre Pio.
Abel Ferrara is an American filmmaker, known for the provocative and often controversial content in his movies and his use and redefinition of neo-noir imagery. A long-time independent filmmaker, some of his best known movies include the New York-set, gritty crime thrillers The Driller Killer (1979), Ms .45 (1981), King of New York (1990), Bad Lieutenant (1992) and The Funeral (1996), chronicling violent crime in urban settings with spiritual overtones.
San Giovanni Rotondo is the name of a town and comune in the province of Foggia and region of Apulia, in southern Italy.
Raffaele Rossi, OCD, born Carlo Rossi,, was an Italian Discalced Carmelite and cardinal. Rossi served in the Sacred Consistorial Congregation in the Roman Curia from 1930 until his death and as a friar had the religious name "Raffaele of Saint Joseph". Pope Pius XI elevated him into the cardinalate in 1930. His cause of beatification began three decades after his death and he is known as a Servant of God.
Domenico da Cese, born Emidio Petracca, was a priest and Cappuchin friar. His beatification process commenced on 3 March 2015 and the friar has been declared venerable.
Carmela Carabelli, born Carmelina Negri, better known as Mamma Carmela, was a spiritual daughter of Pio of Pietrelcina and a famous Italian mystic.
Giorgio Festa was an Italian physician.
Giuseppe Castagnetti was an Italian Roman Catholic. He served as a politician in his home of Modena where he served as the mayor of Prignano sulla Secchia from 1945 until his resignation in 1959. He became widely known for his ascetic life.
Padre Pio: Miracle Man is a 2000 Italian television movie directed by Carlo Carlei. The film is based on the book Padre Pio: Man of Hope by Renzo Allegri and it depicts real life events of Roman Catholic friar and later Saint Pio of Pietrelcina. The film was presented in two parts. The first part aired on 17 April 2000 while the second part aired on 19 April 2000.
Padre Pio: Between Heaven and Earth is a 2000 Italian television movie directed by Giulio Base and starring Michele Placido in the title role. The film is based on real life events of Roman Catholic friar and later Saint, Padre Pio.
The Parish and National Shrine of Saint Padre Pio, commonly known as Padre Pio Shrine, is a Roman Catholic parish church and pilgrimage site situated along Governor Antonio Carpio Avenue in Barangay San Pedro, Santo Tomas, Batangas, Philippines. It is consecrated to the Italian Saint Pio of Pietrelcina.
Francesco Saverio Toppi - born Vincenzo Toppi - was an Italian Capuchin who served as the Prelate of Pompei from 1990 until his resignation in 2001. Toppi fostered a deep devotion to the Blessed Mother and this devotion further developed and was solidified when he was appointed to oversee the Marian shrine in the Pompei prelature. He carried out his duties to the fullest as a teacher serving in Palermo and Naples prior to his episcopal appointment and served in various capacities of leadership for his order.
Maria Gargani, religious name Maria Crocifissa del Divino Amore,, was an Italian member of the Secular Franciscan Order and the founder of the Sisters Apostles of the Sacred Heart. Gargani was involved with Catholic Action during her teaching career but is best known for having been a close friend and correspondent with Pio from Pietrelcina from World War I until the saint's death in 1968; the saint wrote a total of 67 letters to Gargani during this period.
Gravitas Ventures is an independent film distribution company owned by Anthem Sports and Entertainment. The company was founded by Nolan Gallagher in Los Angeles, California in 2006 and moved its headquarters to Cleveland, Ohio in 2019. It focuses on the distribution of Independent feature films and documentaries.
Padre Pio TV, formerly known as Tele Radio Padre Pio, is a Catholic television channel belonging to the Capuchin Friars of San Giovanni Rotondo, a city in the province of Foggia, Italy, the place where lived and died the saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina to whom the TV channel is dedicated.
The Listener is a 2022 American drama film directed by Steve Buscemi and written by Alessandro Camon. It stars Tessa Thompson in the film's only on-screen role as a helpline volunteer.
The 79th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 31 August to 10 September 2022. Noah Baumbach's White Noise was the festival's opening film, and Francesco Carrozzini's The Hanging Sun was the closing film.
Although the film does not glorify the communists, there is certainly a tacit approval of their cause in the film's depiction of their unjust working conditions.
In the shocking scene, the naked woman sacrilegiously accosts a painting of the Virgin Mary. For this scene alone, some – including Catholic podcasters James Majewski and Thomas Mirus – say that Catholics should not watch the film.
One clear example is when the devil appears to Pio as a naked woman in an extremely graphic and distasteful scene that sees her try to seduce Pio while performing a lewd act.
The screenplay suggests points of coherence between Marxism and Christianity. But if that sounds like an uneasy mix, the attempted blending of the events unfolding inside the walls of the Franciscan refuge and those transpiring beyond it is equally unstable.