STIGMATA review

Finally I’m getting around to writing up STIGMATA... Sorry for the delay, but... while I enjoyed the film it didn’t really make me wanna go out and sing any praises. You see... it’s one of those films that you kinda like, ya kinda enjoy... but ya really think it has a damn heap load of problems that had a more restrained director had gotten in there and kept the film from flying into a senseless volley of flasheditted religious mumbo jumbo, but rather had kept it real.... Well, ya might of had a real damn good movie.

A note of warning, I don’t really feel like writing a non-spoiler review for this film because some of the issues I have with why I like this film are tied to the actual plot and how other critics and fans have reacted to that plot.

So... Beware. Click away with the knowledge that it’s one of those shaky hand type of movies that ya might enjoy, but you’ll sit around a table till 3am talking about what they shoulda done different. How it coulda been a contender, etc etc etc...

First off, the film is being compared directly to THE EXORCIST (a film I dearly love Click Here To Read My Review From 2 Years Ago), but that really is a buncha bunk.

The religion is the slight of hand that this movie waves right up in your face so that you can’t see what the movie is really about.

Some critics are hacking on the film for the flick’s loose trappings of possession and Stigmata. When in actuality the movie is not really about religion. At least not to me... not as the primary source of what is going on.

This is a ghost story. It’s a story about a soul that can not rest until a wrong has been righted. The ghost is aggravated by people not understanding what is going on. The ghost is of the dead priest from the early incidents of the film. Why is this dead priest torturing this poor girl?

Well, there is a couple of reasons. First she is in fact a sinner. Two, the spirit knows that if he forces the act of Stigmata upon her, that a Catholic investigator from the Vatican will come... and not only that, but he’ll finally be able to reveal the truth of the lost gospel to him, thus righting a wrong that he feels has been committed.

For me there are religious issues here, but basically this is a variation of the same themes present in both THE SIXTH SENSE and THE STIR OF ECHOES.

BUT... because they do their heavy duty flash-edited action montages of driving nails through hands, whilst a bazillion religious images are rammed through your skull... well... Frankly, I understand why most folks are confused or frustrated.

“HARRY you are full of shit!”

True true, soon as I finish this review, it’s off to the bathroom for me, but the key to my theory came from the photographs that Gabriel’s character took where the ghost like image of the ol padre is clearly able to be seen as being in the room.

That’s not a god thing... at least not overtly... that’s a ghost thing. This isn’t about demons or angels... It’s about a restless spirit trying to find absolution.

Once again the question comes, why her?

Well, in a lot of ways it is purely random. The object that our dearly beloved padre most cherished was his rosary and crucifix. Everyday, everynight, he held it, kissed it and prayed with it clutched in his hands. Most likely, more than any object that ol padre owned, it was his dearest.

When Arquette’s mother sends it to her, his spirit trails along. In ghost lore, ghost often times are tied to objects and or places. In this case, the ghost is tied to the rosary. The rosary leads him to the perfect vessel for his message.

In addition to passing on the word of God through her, he will lead her to her salvation.... (as he sees it).

Now... as you can see, I may very well have read a lot more into this movie than I was supposed to, but this is the way I see the film. I’ve spent most of my time talking about the motivations and actions of a character we barely even see.

Why? Because this movie doesn’t want to give ya all the answers. There is actually quite a clever little ghost story hidden in the shroud of techno music and strobe lights and a pounding unrelenting editing blitz. But it’s there.

Had Rupert Wainwright been less heavy handed with the religious iconography, perhaps what was going on may very well have been a bit easier for folks to see... BUT... as it is... I like it. Flash editing and a blinding techno beat, over-exposed shots through massive filters.... Well... It just doesn’t bother me. I’m a child of MTV that appreciates both this type of filmmaking as well as the classical methods.

To me there is something really interesting and arresting about this thrall of desperately cyclonic thrust of images and sound. Quite a bit of sound and fury. It’s as if more and more of what was once quite common in the world of experimental film, has been leaking it’s way into the world of mainstream film by way of MTV.

Now don’t get me wrong, Wainwright and crew are no where near achieving the brilliance of say the dinner scene in TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE or the end fight sequence from THE WILD BUNCH. But he’s trying to come up with a visual style that I get the sense he himself doesn’t quite have a handle on. Perhaps it’ll be developed over a series of films.... He’ll continue to experiment.

That’s actually one of the things I hate most about the sheer cost of films today. In the classic era of film, a director could direct 20 movies before he ever had a hit. Nowadays, you have to have a hit before you can ever work in the industry. It doesn’t nurture the artists anymore, so it is really difficult for these people to grow.

And... I know... some people may really have a violent reaction to me talking about this sort of thing within the context of a review about STIGMATA, but I’ll tell ya... THE SADNESS OF SEX, Wainwright previous film was quite wonderful.... He isn’t some hack straight out of video production. He is capable of very good work... and you can see that in this movie.

Just watch the way he handles the relationship between Gabriel Byrne and Patricia Arquette at the table beside the flowers. We hear the beginning of their conversation. How Gabriel could give up women and sex and relationships for his pursuit of faith and God. The conversation is really quite wonderful, and the cinematography by Jeffrey Kimball makes love to both these actors here. The lighting is a bit over-exposed and the scene is quite radiant. Then the sound drops out and we have only the score, a series of shots of two people really enjoying each other... a strange bit of tension between them disappearing... and right when it seems that Patricia is enjoying herself too much..... BAM... We are assaulted. Fantastic scene. I love the way this was handled. Now maybe it was telegraphed and I wasn’t paying attention, but it really hit me out of the blue. I was loving their conversations and body language. The beauty of the scene... THEN it all goes horribly wrong and it is horrific. My jaw dropped and felt incredibly sorry for all involved.

However, the narrative is a bit jumbled here and there. The style of the film is sometimes conflicting with itself. The supporting characters are not really as strong as the main characters here. Jonathan Pryce’s character is played for stereotype everybit as much as his last Bond role.

I’m a conspiracy lover, so the whole Catholic Church suppressing religious documents for fear of what they say... is always there for me. I’ve always been suspicious of those that ‘translate’ the most important documents among mankind. Interpretation and subversion are such powerful deceivers. And this film plays with that quite a bit.

If strobbing gives you a headache... stay away from the film... Otherwise it has some smarts here and there.... it has it’s flaws... and there will always be quite a bit of disagreement on this film.