Stigmata (1999)

Director:

Rupert Wainwright

Writers (WGA):

Tom Lazarus (story)
Tom Lazarus (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

10 September 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Mystery | Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The Messenger is Here

Plot:

A priest from the Vatican is sent in to investigate claims that a small town in Brazil has a church where statues bleed from the eyes...

Plot Keywords:

Priest | Stigmata | Wound | Vatican | Catholic

Awards:

6 nominations

Cast

Patricia Arquette	...	Frankie Paige
Gabriel Byrne	...	Father Andrew Kiernan
Jonathan Pryce	...	Cardinal Daniel Houseman
Nia Long	...	Donna Chadway
Thomas Kopache	...	Father Durning
Rade Serbedzija	...	Marion Petrocelli (as Rade Sherbedgia)
Enrico Colantoni	...	Father Dario
Dick Latessa	...	Father Gianni Delmonico
Portia de Rossi	...	Jennifer Kelliho
Patrick Muldoon	...	Steven
Ann Cusack	...	Dr. Reston
Shaun Toub	...	Doctor
Tom Hodges	...	ER Nurse
Lydia Hazan	...	Attending Nurse
Shaun Duke	...	Dr. Eckworth (as Duke Moosekian)

Also Known As:

Toby's Story (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for intense violent sequences, language and some sexuality.

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Assyrian Neo-Aramaic | Portuguese | Italian | Aramaic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | South Africa:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #36043) | South Korea:18 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) | Singapore:M18 (re-rating)

Filming Locations:

Eastern Columbia Building - 849 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Patricia Arquette's character is named Frankie (short for Frances), similar to the name of the saint, Francis, whom we're told by Gabriel Byrne's character was the first to receive the stigmata.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The priest stated to Frankie that she was the same age as St. Francis when he received the stigmata, 23. In fact, St. Francis was 42 years old when he received the stimata.

Quotes:

[Frankie is possessed by Father Alameida]
Frankie: Jesus said... the Kingdom of God is inside you, and all around you, not in mansions of wood and stone. Split a piece of wood... and I am there, lift a stone... and you will find me.
Father Andrew Kiernan: Brother Alameida, I call upon you to release this woman. Give her grace and let her not come into the ways of harm. For through Jesus Christ we have all been saved and let us not fear any ill. For Jesus is with us, and the Unity of the Holy Spirit will remain forever, and ever. God bless your soul, Brother Alameida. And go in peace.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dogma (1999)

Soundtrack:

Release

Religion is supernatural

An essential approach of religion, of Christianity and yet the film is very disappointing. It is well built, a real thriller all along, yet there are too many lines, threads and we don't know after a while which one is the main thread. Is it the fear of the church in front of the hypothetical Gospel by Jesus himself ? Is it the possession of Franckie by the spirit of Alameida, the priest from Belo Quinto ? Is it the destiny of the priest Andrew who is investigating Franckie's case and ends up protecting her against his own church ? Is it the fate that knocks at Franckie and Andrew's door ? And there are some more. This makes the ending, alternative or not, rather limited. The stigmata are not the real problem at stake here. It is not the resurgence of these stigmata on people who are called for some kind of mission by God himself that is important. In this film it is the fact that this girl who has no real religious belief is seized and even possessed by these stigmata because she has the rosary of the dead priest, a rosary that was sent to her by her mother who bought it at the time of the burial from a local Brazilian boy who had just stolen it from the dead priest's casket. The film thus wants us to believe the feeling of guilt coming from the theft is carried by the rosary and can haunt or possess the recipient of the stolen rosary. This is far-fetched and yet it is a lot more than that because it is heavily linked to the Gospel of Thomas, an apocryphal gospel that would have been the dead priest's possession, and this would represent the fear of the church to be destroyed if it were revealed. Absurd since it has been revealed, since we can find it on the Internet, and the church is far from being dead. In other words the film neglects one thing : faith. A religion is only alive if people believe in it and people will believe in a religion if it is some kind of solace or/and support in their particular lives. This is what is not shown and what is even made senseless in the logic of the film. A dead priest becomes more powerful than God himself, to the point that the orthodox representatives of the Vatican consider the girl as possessed by the devil, and try to exorcise her. In other words the film is kind of fuzzy on logic and messy on details.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Paris Dauphine & University of Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne