Another review from me, the other weekend Ali, a friend and myself watched Stigamata. Not the usual movie to watch on a movie night, but we had just finished watching a James Franco movie so thought we should have a change.
Before we go ahead with this post, please be aware that this post will have mild spoilers of the movie. If you haven’t watched the movie but would like to then don’t read fro this point, but by this point you should have really watched it.
Ali and I were discussing all the old movies we used to watch when we were younger, the discussion went to Dogma and then Stigmata. Now with most of these 90s movies I can remember watching them when I was very young, but only bits and pieces. It makes it fun going into these movies, because I have almost fresh eyes again and can enjoy the movie without fully knowing what would happen in the next scene.
Stigmata is one of those movies that was fairly big around my group of friends when I was young, watching it a couple years later on tv I could see why. Coming back to it after 13 years made me appreciate the movie more then when I was young. The movie is visceral and doesn’t really pull any punches, the “action” doesn’t build up as much as come straight out of nowhere and punch you in the face.
Watching the Stigmata scenes made my stomach curl, not just because of how gruesome they were but because how close they felt to me. It was difficult to watch the pain and suffering showed Frankie Paige(Patricia Arquette ) during these scenes, however when they happened it was hard to turn away from the screen.
Andrew Kiernan (Gabriel Byrne ) had a good role in the detective/Father trying to solve why this was happening to Frankie, desperately trying to beat the clock and save the young woman.
While most of the scenes were not massive or huge in detail the set pieces they used did however pull me fully into the movie, from the old manor house to the view of the Vatican library. The train scene was especially good, the lighting and sound really showed the pain that Frankie was feeling.
The music and sound was weird in place, the Stigamata scenes were really good. But in other places it seemed threadbare, and like the people behind the movie weren’t sure what to put there so they stuck any type of sound track on. Again that’s my point of view, some times it was ok, but others just lacking.
Religion is something I take a keen interest in, feeling interested in the going on of the church in the movie. How this division inside the church operate and try to figure out “miracles” or acts of god occurring around the world, and then finding out a secret within the church.
Overall I enjoyed this movie greatly, it has made me want to go through all the old 90s and early 2000 movies that I may have watched when I was really young and experience them again. A solid 4 stars out of 5, some parts were left wanting but others more then made up for it.
Anyway that all from me, have a nice day. 🙂
Ru
The Foundry 
Saved as a favorite, I really like your site!
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I always find when the scriptwriters stoop to “beating the clock” the movie loses something.
Nor do I like gore – but most people lack the capacity to imagine, so it must be done for them on the screen. I did see “The Last Temptation Of Christ” which is a particularly over-egged variety of the genre.
Pain is too personal, but when people are insensitive, they won’t feel it until it’s damaged them psycically. It’s how life works: the sensitive are those who can deal with the horrors of life. (Mainly because their awareness is sufficient to tell them when something’s about to go wrong!)
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