Stigmata (1999)

When a young woman becomes afflicted by stigmata, a priest is sent to investigate her case, which may have severe ramifications for his faith and for the Catholic Church itself.

Director:

Rupert Wainwright

Writers:

Tom Lazarus (story), Tom Lazarus (screenplay)

Stars:

Patricia Arquette, Gabriel Byrne, Jonathan Pryce

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)

Storyline

A priest from the Vatican is sent to Sao Paulo, Brazil to investigate the appearance of the face of the Virgin Mary on the side of a building. While there he hears of a statue of the Virgin Mary bleeding tears in a small town outside of the city. Meanwhile, a young woman in the U.S. begins to show signs of stigmata, the wounds of Christ. The priest from the Vatican links up with her and cares for her as she is increasingly afflicted by the stigmata. Her ranting and raving finally begins to make sense to the priest who starts to question what his religion has stood for for the last 1900 years.

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Plot Keywords:

priest | stigmata | wound | vatican | catholic | 

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Taglines:

Believe The Words. Beware The Message. Behold The Truth.

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for intense violent sequences, language and some sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

MGM [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Assyrian Neo-Aramaic Portuguese Italian Aramaic

Release Date:

10 September 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Toby's Story

Filming Locations:

Greystone Park & Mansion - 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$29,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,309,666, 12 September 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$50,046,268

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$89,446,268

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM),FGM Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When we see inserts of the crucifixion, while Frankie as her first attack of stigmata, the arms being nailed are rubber arms with wires that make the fingers slightly move.

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Goofs

Father Andrew Kiernan states that monks invented alcohol. Even if one grants Kiernan the benefit of the doubt and assumes that he is referring exclusively to alcoholic beverages, he is still wrong. The ancient Egyptians were drinking beer back in 3000 B.C.E., if not before.

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Quotes

Dr. Reston: And are there any problems with a significant other?
Frankie: Yes...
Dr. Reston: Which is?
Frankie: I'm not very significant.

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Alternate Versions

The DVD release offers several scenes that were edited, reshot, or removed altogether after poor test screenings. Glimpses of several of these scenes can be seen in the movie's original theatrical trailer (also included on the DVD):

• An alternate opening where Father Almeida commits suicide by jumping off of the roof of his church. In the final cut, there is no indication as to how he died.
• A longer, much more explicit version of Frankie and her boyfriend Steve fooling around during the opening credits.
• Before Frankie's first stimagtic attack, she experiences a series of strange occurances while closing her hair salon.
• Also, before Frankie's first stigmatic attack, she comes home and is scared by her boyfriend Steve. The two have an argument.

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Connections

Referenced in Be Kind Rewind (2008)

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Soundtracks

Now Is the Time (The Crystal Method Y2Kaos Mix)
Written by Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland
Performed by The Crystal Method
Courtesy of The Crystal Method

User Reviews

Better than you might think

The "stigmata" is a Christian religious term that refers to the spontaneous appearance of wounds corresponding to the wounds on the Christ's body when he was crucified. This religious experience is most typically associated with deeply religious people and, I believe, is not one that is widely taken seriously. What makes this movie interesting is that it portrays the appearance of these wounds as a terrifying, extremely painful and ultimately humiliating experience. There's nothing conventionally religious in the experience portrayed here -- in fact, the victim is an athiest.

But, having bypassed the conventional, the movie is only partially successful in bringing the experience of the stigmata to the screen. The movie is a victim itself of a conventional portrayal of the evil bureaucratic Vatican desk jockeys suppressing "true" religion. And I have to admit that, as I was watching it, I found myself thinking, "Hmm, that sounds like the Gospel of Thomas," -- a famous Gnostic Gospel. Surprise.

But, overall, I'd recommend it as a decent movie and a departure from the generic, bland portrayal of Christian religious experience a la the Hallmark channel or "Touched by an Angel." It is a movie that can make you think about the nature of religious experience and its impact on an ordinary life.