Excellent but underrated film

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I almost overlooked this movie the first time around, simply because I found what I now realize was essential scene-setting for the plot too much; in that the so cool characters it first introduces us to and their so cool lives were such a successful personification of the soulless, shallow Hell that is the modern world that I wrote it off initially as propaganda for that philosophy. But I was only 17 at the time and lacked the patience that this movie was asking for. If anything it's to the credit of it's creators, both seen and unseen that the movie encompassed the impact so early on to stir a visceral reaction in it's viewer.Frankie's life is one of meaningless fun and the mere thought of anything meaningful to her and her peer-group is out of the question. Frankie clearly, from the outset is not as superficial as her friends; this we see as she takes seriously the prospect of being pregnant whilst her closest friend Donna simply implies that she should get an abortion, also that the casual nature of her relationship with Steven bothers her. As the reality of the Stigmata and all it's ramifications take over her life her friends and colleagues begin to distance themselves from her. I am pleased to say about this movie that as predictable as the involvement between Frankie and the Priest was it didn't degrade the story; Frankie, despite living a shallow existence is at root a kind and what you might say "Christian" person. She gives money to people begging, she doesn't jump to the choice of abortion as a reflex action because she understands that an abortion(termination) is the taking of a life, she resents being used for sex by her lover Steven, in short, subconsciously she is deeply desiring that her life should have meaning. Into this void, in timely fashion steps Father Andrew Kiernan; the interaction between Gabriel Byrne and Patricia Arquette really gives strength to the story for many reasons. One being the excellent chemistry between the two. He incites in her faith as she leads him into temptation. He is a stranger to her who displays genuine compassion when she is someone with many friends who all distance themselves from her as she begins to need them deeply. Underwriting this also is the fact that despite an age gap the prospect of a relationship between the two isn't a ridiculous thing to suggest, partly because the actors in question work well to convince us of it. Gabriel Byrne's character of Father Andrew Kiernan also helps us to see why he is so incongruous to the Priesthood in that he is too genuinely Christian to represent the Vatican. Practising real Christian values such as going out and associating with prostitutes without being judgmental or not feeling threatened by the possibility of the Vatican or organized church in general losing their monopoly on God.The Film's overall message of how Faith can exist in a world that seems determined to destroy it is a satisfying one. One might even say that the scenes of the extreme banal(a contradiction I realize) on which the film opens, but extremes, as terrible as they might be do nonetheless allow us to see if not what a thing is then at least what it is not and that Evil, if it is real(I think it is),would definitely harness Banality and Neutrality because at it's heart the Right decision isn't always an obvious one and that to do the Right thing we must take the chance of doing the Wrong thing and that the worst thing to do is acquiesce and fail to take part.

Patricia Arquette's decent performance as an atheist "struck with stigmata" helps a bit in this, to put it mildly, disastrous possession film with a scathing view of the Catholic Church. I'm not Catholic, but even I found this more than a bit hard to digest. Text, it seems, tells us that Christ didn't need a church to come in the middle of his relationship with us. Umm…this is kind of a belief for many of the Christian faith already. Many Christians feel there's no need for a "middleman" in order to have a spiritual relationship with Jesus. Anyway, Jonathan Pryce, who just doesn't have it in him to portray a character other than the stuffy, scheming, morally dubious villain, is a Cardinal willing to kill so that he can "protect the church". Gabriel Byrne is a former scientist who become a priest and is sent to study Arquette's stigmata, mainly to see if he can objectively dispute her condition as just some physical malady. Arquette is a hairdresser in Pittsburgh who wants no part of the stigmata, simply wanting the marks (and all the pain and blood that comes with them, including visions) out of her life. This film is all about effects: the slow motion of blood as it textures in water, a male voice speaking through Arquette's mouth as she tosses a bewildered Byrne all over her house (the house becomes a wreck and Byrne seems to take it all in stride each time she hurls him across her room), the levitation where Arquette is lifted in a crucifixion "pose", and the final *groan, groan* exorcism attempt by Pryce on Arquette. The whole possession angle—that it could be a priest instead of the devil—seems rather obnoxious because if it is a man of the cloth taking control of Arquette why would he question Byrne's spirituality, make a pass at him, and throttle him to and fro all over an apartment? Why would such spiritual enlightenment occur as if it were pangs and throngs of absolute agony? Ultimately, Arquette speaks in a foreign tongue, pins odd symbols to her wall that reads of the "Gospel That the Vatican Doesn't Appreciate", and bleeds a lot. So many scenes where she's bedridden with blood wiped away by Byrne at her bedside, that damned bowl of water right there to be photographed artistically. There's plenty of extravagant effects, cinematography, sound effects, and a loud score to try and pound away at our sensibilities. I return to Arquette: I think she was good casting in a film that doesn't deserve her, really. Byrne gives his best serious face to all the possession shenanigans that test even the most sincere actor's poise. A considerable waste of Hollywood resources…this is a broken record complaint, isn't it?

Regardless of if u fall under the category of you having faith or not, this movie will captivate you, we have all wondered at some point, if there is actually something else out there other than aliens or just ourselves, we where all so to speak, generally, brought up believing in the fact that God and his Son exists. Myself, personally never actually committing to this idea, but always wondering if there is a higher power, and if so could it actually be real and would it ever affect little old me, well, this is the movie to start u thinking, God never came into my life, so why should i believe he existed, the church claim only the worthy should manifest such claims as visits, stigmata, or blessings etc, what if,,,,, it actually happened to you, or your family/friends! would you then be a believer? and if so, would u then decide you had to attend a church to praise him? This movie opens and closes all chapters, and leaves u wanting more? You don't have to be religious to get this movie, you do have to have a mild understanding of whats its all about though, and if, like me, you tread the path of the unknown, this movie may yet make you wonder, there may actually be more to this whole game that i call life than i think, i still ain't a believer, well not in the church nor its foundations, but i now believe that i'm not alone with my thoughts. This is one of my all time favourite movies though. A must watch movie, again and again!

A priest from the Vatican is sent to Sao Paulo, Brazil to investigate the appearance of the face of the Virgin Mary on the side of a building.While there he hears of a statue of the Virgin Mary bleeding tears in a small town outside of the city.Meanwhile, a young woman in the U.S. begins to show signs of stigmata, the wounds of Christ.The priest from the Vatican links up with her and cares for her as she is increasingly afflicted by the stigmata.Her ranting and raving finally begins to make sense to the priest who starts to question what his religion has stood for for the last 1900 years.....Stigmata is not a scary film. In fact, it's quite difficult to put this movie into a genre. Unless there was a 'heavily edited, made to look like a music video type' movie, because this is what basically the film is, all style and no substance.But it's quite endearing thanks to the two leads.Arquette is Alabama from True Romance without the fun or adrenalin, and Byrne is basically the same character from End of days, but playing for a different team.And we spend the duration of the film watcing arquette get wounded and everyone thinking she is mad, apart from Byrne, who thinks she is revealing something that happened at the time of the Crucifixion.But Jonathon Pryce won't let him go deeper, because he's still fresh from bad guy duty in 'Tomorrow never dies'.It's a confusing film, but done with a lot of class, and a lot good camera work.If more had gone into the story than the effects, we would have had a winner, but we just have, a great pop promo without the song