Stigmata(film)

Stigmatais a 1999supernatural horror filmdirected byRupert Wainwright,written byTom Lazarusand Rick Ramage, and distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.The story follows an atheist hairdresser fromPittsburgh, Pennsylvania,who is afflicted withstigmataafter acquiring arosaryformerly owned by a deceased Italian priest who himself had suffered from the phenomenon. It starsPatricia Arquette,Gabriel Byrne,Jonathan Pryce,Nia Long,Portia de RossiandRade Šerbedžija.

Stigmata
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rupert Wainwright
Screenplay by	Tom Lazarus Rick Ramage
Story by	Tom Lazarus
Produced by	Frank Mancuso Jr.
Starring	Patricia Arquette Gabriel Byrne Jonathan Pryce Nia Long Portia de Rossi Rade Šerbedžija
Cinematography	Jeffrey L. Kimball
Edited by	Michael R. Miller
Music by	Billy Corgan Mike Garson Elia Cmiral
Production companies	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures FGM Entertainment
Distributed by	MGM Distribution Co.(United States) United International Pictures(International)
Release date	September 10, 1999(1999-09-10)
Running time	103 minutes
Countries	United States Mexico
Languages	Aramaic English Portuguese
Budget	$29 million
Box office	$89.4 million

The film was produced by FGM Entertainment and was released on September 10, 1999. It grossed $18.3 million during its opening weekend and $89.4 million worldwide, against a budget of $29 million.It received generally negative reviews and has a 22% approval rating onRotten Tomatoes.Despite its negative reviews,Stigmataearned more than triple its budget.

Plot

In theBrazilianvillage of Belo Quinto, Father Andrew Kiernan, a former scientist and aJesuitpriestwho investigates supposed miracles, examines a statue of theVirgin Maryweeping blood at the funeral of Father Paulo Alameida, who had previously experiencedstigmata.While Andrew is collecting evidence, a young boy steals a rosary from the father's hand. The boy later sells it to a woman in a marketplace, who sends it to her daughter, Frankie Paige, living inPittsburgh.

Shortly afterward, Frankie is attacked by an unseen force while bathing, and receives two deep wounds on her wrists. As the wounds are treated, doctors cannot find the cause. On her way home, Frankie asks a priest if he is Andrew Kiernan, the scientist, priest and investigator. When the priest says he is Father Derning, the lights in the train flash and Frankie is whipped from behind by an unseen force. While Frankie is hospitalized again, the priest sends security tapes showing the attack to theVatican,and Andrew is sent to investigate.

Andrew interviews Frankie, believing her wounds may also be stigmata. When she tells him she is anatheist,Andrew tells her that stigmata is when the deeply devoted are struck with thefive woundsthat Jesus received during the crucifixion. Frankie begins to research on her own what the cause could be. Later in a club her head begins to bleed from the third stigmata wound caused by theCrown of Thorns.Frankie runs home, where Andrew is waiting, and then runs into an alley. As Andrew pursues her, Frankie smashes a glass bottle and uses the shards to carve symbols on the hood of a car: when Andrew approaches her, she yells at him in another language.

Andrew takes Frankie to Father Derning's church, and the Vatican translates what she was yelling inAramaic.The next morning, Andrew returns to her apartment to find her writing on the wall, now covered in Aramaic. Frankie talks in a male voice, speakingItalian.Wounds appear on her feet, the fourth wound of stigmata. Andrew emails photographs of Frankie's apartment wall to Vatican, where Brother Delmonico recognizes the words and deletes the pictures. He tells Andrew the words are from a document the church found that looked to be an entirely newgospel.Father Dario hears it and shows the pictures to Cardinal Daniel Houseman, who also recognizes them. Delmonico phones Marion Petrocelli and tells him the missing gospel has been found in Pittsburgh.

Andrew goes to Frankie's apartment to find the wall she wrote on painted over, and Frankie attempts to seduce him. When Andrew rejects her, she attacks him and denounces his beliefs in a male voice, ending with Frankielevitatingoff the bed, crying tears of blood. Houseman and Dario arrive with Derning and take Frankie to another church, sending Andrew to Derning's.

At Derning's church, Andrew meets Petrocelli, who tells him the words Frankie has been writing are part of a document found outsideJerusalemthey believed to be a gospel in the exact words of Jesus. Petrocelli, Delmonico and Alameida were assigned to translate it, but Houseman ordered them to stop. Alameida refused and stole the document to continue translating it alone, having beenexcommunicatedby Houseman. Petrocelli tells Andrew that the document was Jesus telling his disciples that theKingdom of Godis in all of us and not confined to churches. Petrocelli tells Andrew that Alameida suffered from stigmata.

Andrew races to the church where Frankie is, while Houseman and Dario attempt to perform anexorcismon Frankie. Frankie shouts at them in a male voice, and Houseman attempts to strangle her. Andrew stops him, and the room is set on fire. Now believing Frankie is possessed by Alameida's spirit, Andrew offers to be Alameida's messenger instead. He walks unharmed through the fire to retrieve Frankie, bidding Alameida's spirit to depart in peace.

Some time later, Andrew returns to Belo Quinto and finds the original documents for the lost gospel in Alameida's church. Text just before the end credits describes the discovery of theGospel of Thomas,stating that the Catholic Church refuses to recognize the document as a gospel and considers itheresy.

Cast

• Patricia Arquetteas Frankie Paige
• Gabriel Byrneas Father Andrew Kiernan
• Jonathan Pryceas Cardinal Daniel Houseman
• Nia Longas Donna Chadway
• Rade Šerbedžijaas Marion Petrocelli
• Enrico Colantonias Father Dario
• Jack Donneras Father Paulo Alameida
• Thomas Kopacheas Father Durning
• Dick Latessaas Father Gianni Delmonico
• Portia de Rossias Jennifer Kelliho
• Patrick Muldoonas Steven
• Ann Cusackas Dr. Reston

Production

An international co-production film between The United States and Mexico, development was first announced in January 1998, whenFrank Mancuso Jr.announced his intention to produce a supernatural thriller helmed byRupert Wainwright.Wainwright first came across Tom Lazarus' script forStigmataback in 1992 and spent the next five years trying to get the film set up.Mancuso immediately greenlit the film upon meeting with Wainwright and being shown the screenplay, with Rick Ramage hired to work out script issues over the next nine months.

Reception

Box office

Stigmata,produced on a $29 million budget, premiered at the box office in the number one position, earning $18.3 million in its first weekend, becoming the first film in five weekends to outgrossThe Sixth Senseat the box office.Stigmatagrossed $50,046,268 in the United States, and $39,400,000 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $89,446,268.

Critical response

The film received poor reviews. Thereview aggregatorwebsiteRotten Tomatoesgives the film a score of 22% approval rating, based on 91 reviews (20 positive, 71 negative). The website's consensus reads, "The story is unconvincing and the acting is weak."

In his two-star review,Roger Ebertcalled it "possibly the funniest movie ever made about Catholicism — from a theological point of view."Gabriel Byrne was nominated for aRazzie Awardfor Worst Supporting Actor for his performances in both this film andEnd of Days,where he lost toAhmed BestasJar Jar BinksinStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

Release

Scream Factoryreleased the film for the first time on Blu-ray on May 19, 2015.

External links

• StigmataatIMDb
• StigmataatBox Office Mojo
• StigmataatRotten Tomatoes