Padre Pio
US theatrical release poster
Directed byAbel Ferrara
Written by
  • Maurizio Braucci
  • Abel Ferrara
Produced by
  • Philipp Kreuzer
  • Maurizio Antonini
  • Diana Phillips
StarringShia LaBeouf
CinematographyAlessandro Abate
Edited byLeonardo Daniel Bianchi
Music byJoe Delia
Production
companies
  • Maze Pictures
  • Interlinea Film
  • Rimsky Productions
Distributed byGravitas Ventures
Release dates
  • 2 September 2022 (2022-09-02) (Venice)
  • 2 June 2023 (2023-06-02) (United States)
Running time
104 minutes
Countries
  • Italy
  • Germany
LanguageEnglish

Padre Pio is a 2022 biographical film co-written and directed by Abel Ferrara. It stars Shia LaBeouf as Padre Pio, an Italian priest who received the stigmata, and is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church.[1][2] During its production, as a result of his spiritual experiences, LaBeouf converted to Catholicism.[3]

The film premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2022. It was released in the United States on 2 June 2023 by Gravitas Ventures.

Plot

It is the year 1920, and 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 with laborers dying from the after effects of "the gas", medical inadequacy deaths of family members and health conditions, they suffer from corrupt, wealthy landowners such as Gerardo, a militaristic anti-socialist who threatens to kill any communal laborers tending to his farms. 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.

Cast

Production

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,[4] even though very little money was raised (the film was almost never made) and LaBeouf did the project for free.[5]

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.[6]

Filming occurred in Apulia, Italy, in December 2021.[7] 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.[4]

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.[8]

Release

The film premiered in the Giornate degli Autori section of the 79th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2022.[9][10] It received a four-minute ovation.[11]

In 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.[12]

Reception

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."[13] 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.[14]

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."[15] Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com gave the film one & a half stars out of four, describing it as a "dull slog".[16] 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."[17] Film critic Armond White of National Review also criticized the film, describing it as "a work of deluded, semi-improvisational navel-gazing".[18]

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."[19] 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."[20]

Faith-based reviews for the film were generally negative. It received negative reviews from Catholic Answers,[21] The Catholic World Report,[22] The Catholic Weekly,[23] The Catholic Thing,[24] and Crisis Magazine.[25] Conversely, it received a mixed review from The Catholic Review,[26] as well as a positive review from America.[27] Criticisms were generally aimed at the film's sexual content[22][23] and perceived support of left-wing politics.[21][26]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Thorne, Will (12 August 2021). "Director Abel Ferrarra Pursuing Shia LaBeouf for Comeback Role as Italian Saint Padre Pio (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  2. ↑ "How Shia LaBeouf Immersed Himself in Christ While Filming Padre Pio: "I Found My Way"". ChurchPOP Editor. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023 – via YouTube.
  3. ↑ Nerozzi, Timothy (25 August 2022). "Shia LaBeouf converts to Catholicism after studying for 'Padre Pio' movie". Fox News. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  4. 1 2 Vivarelli, Nick (24 August 2022). "Abel Ferrara on How Shia LaBeouf Connected With His Role As a Saint in 'Padre Pio' – Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  5. ↑ "LEFFEST'22 PADRE PIO Conversa com Abel Ferrara". Lisbon & Estoril Film Festival. 20 November 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2023 – via YouTube.
  6. ↑ Barron, Robert (25 August 2022). "Bishop Barron Presents | Shia LaBeouf – Padre Pio and the Friars". Retrieved 22 June 2023 – via YouTube.
  7. ↑ Mauro, J.P. (14 January 2022). "Shia LaBeouf takes pilgrimage with Franciscans for Padre Pio biopic". Aleteia. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  8. ↑ "A Monte Sant'Angelo le riprese del film su Padre Pio di Abel Ferrara con Shia LaBeouf" (in Italian). Apulia Film Commission. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  9. ↑ Vivarelli, Nick (28 July 2022). "Shia LaBeouf Resurfaces as a Saint in Abel Ferrara's 'Padre Pio,' Launching From Venice Days – Full Lineup". Variety. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  10. ↑ "79. Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica" (PDF). Venice Biennale. 25 August 2022. p. 30. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  11. ↑ Ramachandran, Naman (2 September 2022). "Shia LaBeouf Says Venice Movie 'Padre Pio' 'Saved My Life'". Variety.
  12. ↑ Grobar, Matt (28 March 2023). "Shia LaBeouf Drama 'Padre Pio' From Abel Ferrara Sets Gravitas Ventures Release". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  13. ↑ "Padre Pio". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  14. ↑ "Padre Pio". Metacritic. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  15. ↑ Mintzer, Jordan (2 September 2022). "'Padre Pio' Review: Shia LaBeouf in Abel Ferrara's Clunky Historical Drama". The Hollywood Reporter.
  16. ↑ Tallerico, Brian (2 June 2023). "Padre Pio". RogerEbert.com.
  17. ↑ Kenny, Glenn (1 June 2023). "'Padre Pio' Review: A Movie in Need of a Miracle That Never Comes". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023.
  18. ↑ Armond White (2 June 2023). "Padre Pio Makes Catholicism into Political Fashion". National Review.
  19. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (2 September 2022). "Padre Pio review – Shia LaBeouf's bearded brooding leaves film stuck in limbo". The Guardian.
  20. ↑ Brody, Richard (1 June 2023). "Shia LaBeouf Discovers the Political Power of Catholic Ecstasy in "Padre Pio"". The New Yorker.
  21. 1 2 Petiprin, Andrew (2 June 2023). "Watching Shia LaBeouf as Padre Pio". Catholic Answers. 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.
  22. 1 2 Schiffer, Kathy (4 June 2023). "Padre Pio suffers from disjointed narrative and troubling content". The Catholic World Report. 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.
  23. 1 2 De Sousa, Matthew (20 September 2022). "Padre Pio Review: Movie on mystic misses the mark". The Catholic Weekly. 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.
  24. ↑ Miner, Brad (14 June 2023). "Cinematic Cynicism: a Review of 'Padre Pio'". The Catholic Thing.
  25. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Sean (10 June 2023). "Thinking About Catching the new Padre Pio Film? Don't". Crisis Magazine.
  26. 1 2 Mulderig, John (1 June 2023). "Movie Review: 'Padre Pio'". The Catholic Review. 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.
  27. ↑ Anderson, John (2 June 2023). "Review: In 'Padre Pio', Shia LaBeouf may be a saint—but he's no hero". America.
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