The Blood of Christ (Stigmata (DVD))

Member Name: Whitehorse

Product:	Stigmata (DVD)
Date:	25/06/03 (184 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gabrielle Burne!, Excellent story, Excellent direction

Disadvantages: None

Released in 1999, Stigmata follows the journey of Father Andrew Kiernan as he seeks to discover the truth of the Stigmata that manifests upon a young girl named Frankie Paige. Employed by the Vatican to investigate miracles, Kiernan is a scientist trapped in the body of a priest. He finds himself at odds with his superiors and questioning their motives. We begin with him photographing a statue of the Virgin Mary that weeps blood in a tiny village in South America. It seems that the death of the local Father has triggered this strange occurrence. People all around flock to the Church. A flock of doves circle dropping feathers as the Father lies in his open coffin. Meanwhile a young boy steals the dead mans Rosary, sells it to an American women in the local market and she in turn sends it to her daughter Frankie back in the US. This chain of events leads to Frankie becoming the focus of the Stigmata.

Frankie is an ordinary fun loving girl who by her own admission is an atheist. Yet her terrifying experiences as the Stigmata is inflicted upon her lead her to a new place of understanding and into a threat much greater than a spear in the side.
The Stigmata is the manifestation of the 5 wounds of Christ - the lash of the whip upon His back, the nails in the wrist, nails in the feet, the crown of thorns and the spear through His side. Over the years many people have been reported to experience some of these wounds - the most common being the feet and hands. In all cases (which we are reminded of in the film) the victims are religious ecstatic and the wounds may or may not be a manifestation of their own fixation on Christ - still an unusual phenomena in my book even if that's the case. Of course the twist in the film is that Frankie does not believe yet somehow she still experiences the wounds. The viewer is led eventually to understand how this happens.


I absolutely adore this film. I borrowed it off a friend a while ago and then watched i
t again when it was shown on BBC1. The second viewing only served to heighten my love of this move. Of course I have to mention that anything with Gabrielle Burne (Father Kiernan) is guaranteed to have me glued to the screen - eye candy for the 30 something's! He plays Kiernan with his usual passion, capturing all the anxiety and mystery of the film in a simple look. Patricia Arquette is stunning as Frankie. She seems like a little girl lost as her life and friends disappear in blood and torment. Her portrayal of primal fear combined with determination to live is electric. There are many creepy moments and on the second viewing I spotted several things I had missed first time round that made my skin crawl.

The film is based upon the story of the Gospel of St. Thomas which was discovered in Egypt around a century ago. A full version was discovered in 1945 and it is believed that it dates back to pre 140a.d. The author of the Gospel is unknown although it is believed by many to have been written by someone who knew Jesus whilst he was alive. As with many things with the Church the Gospel was denounced and ridiculed. After all, including it in the Bible and/or taking it seriously would seriously damage the structure of the Church - if not demolish it. If taken as the word of Christ then He never wanted the power crazed, controlling structure that Xtians live with nowadays - rather, the divine was within each one of us.

Split a piece of wood; I am there.
Lift up the stone, and you will find me there."
According to Jesus - God is in everything. We do not need buildings to find God nor in fact priests.

The movie captures the Church's desperation and corruption with ease and leads us on an unnerving journey that will send shivers down your spine on more than one occasion. Perhaps it is simply because it is so believable.

Director Rupert Wainwright has does a wonderful job of creating atmosphere with long slow shots.
As a whole, the film is wonderfully cinematic. I was delighted to find that this is the man behind the TV series Wolf Lake. Much missed by me and badly axed before the series came to a natural conclusion. There are some stunning special effects, most saved towards the end of the movie but they make more of an impact. Watch out also for the train scene near the beginning, this definitely made me shudder.

Screenwriter Tom Lazarus has created a brilliant script that eases the plot along. Looking at his biography I cannot say I recognise any of the other films he has done - but what a great name he has, especially for this film!

It's not often I notice the score in a film which is strange for a musical person such as myself but I thought the score for Stigmata was excellent. With the likes of Sinead O'Connor, Massive Attack and Bjork it lends a contemporary classy feel.

All in all I would highly recommend Stigmata for it's powerful story, high standard of acting and direction and exploration of Christianity. Below are a few links should you wish to discover more about themes in the movie or about the movie itself.

Good grief - it's only now that I have written this opinion that I have just realised where the word 'stigmatised' comes from!

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/thomas.h tml for lots of links to translation of the Gospel, commentaries and more
http://www.mgm.com/stigmata/ The official movie site
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14294b.htm What Catholism has to say about Stigmata
http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/163_stigm atics.shtml True stories of Stigmatics in South America

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