Stigmata

Any film which seeks to question the doctrine of Catholic faith, and attempts to use the sacred imagery of Christ’s crucifixion as the vehicle for its thoughts and ideas, is guaranteed to experience a storm of controversy. From the satirical exploits of Monty Python’s Life of Brian to the poetic eloquence of Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ, films of this nature are often universally vilified by critics as misguided attempts to reinterpret the Christian myth, or, condemned by church groups who view them as blasphemous attacks on their beliefs.

Released in September 1999, Stigmata proved to be no exception, receiving widespread denunciation from the Catholic League and scathing reviews. The level of public anger can best be measured in Stephen Hunter’s review in the Washington Post: "Stigmata turns out to be a vicious anti-Catholic diatribe disguised as an audition tape for MTV. The young director Rupert Wainwright clearly hopes this gets him a Madonna vid, and that’s why he pulls out all the stops. Watching it is like sticking your head inside a pipe organ while somebody plays a Bach fugue really loud."

Upon its release, San Salvador, the capital of the predominantly Catholic El Salvador, initially banned the screening of Stigmata. However, the ban was lifted only one day after its implementation - on the stringent condition that only persons of 18 years or over were allowed entrance into theatres showing the film, and only during specified hours.

MGM had so little confidence in Stigmata, that its new management promptly wrote off the film’s $32 million budget shortly after the studio’s acquisition. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, the film’s producer and the son of MGM's removed chairman, Frank Mancuso Jr., approached the studio’s newly-appointed vice chairman Chris McGurk, who told him that "he didn’t really like the film, that it didn’t work, that he liked the idea but didn’t think it would play to a broad audience."

However, the concern over Stigmata's box-office performance proved to be unwarranted. Upon its opening weekend in the United States the film earned an estimated $18.3 million, supplanting Disney's The Sixth Sense, and establishing itself as the number one box-office attraction during the September "Horror Weekend".

"The kingdom of God is within you and all around you. It is not within buildings of wood or stone. Split a piece of wood and you will find me. Look beneath a stone and I am there. "

Frankie Paige (played by Patricia Arquette) is a young Pittsburgh hairdresser, who just happens to be an Athiest. Independent, street-wise, and living a seemingly nihilistic lifestyle, her unassuming daily routine revolves around constant partying and a boyfriend who seems to regard her as a recreational play-thing.

Frankie’s descent into her own private Hell begins innocently enough with the arrival of a small package to the door of her apartment, courtesy of her mother’s holiday in Brazil. Included within the bundle are not only souvenirs, but also a deceased priest's rosary, which Frankie’s mother has obtained from a young Brazilian boy - who had apparently stole it from the priest’s open casket when no one was looking.

Upon touching the sacred icon, Frankie is violently ill - the first indication that something is amiss.

From this moment, Frankie finds herself subjected to ever-increasingly violent assaults, perpetrated by an unseen assailant. In the process, she becomes inflicted with the stigmata - deep puncture wounds in her wrists and feet and horrific lacerations on her back, representative of the tortures experienced during Christ’s crucifixion. After a particularly ferocious attack on a subway train, the Vatican sends Father Kiernan (Gabriel Byrne), the Catholic Church’s scientific investigator, to Pittsburgh to examine Frankie’s plight in an effort to determine its nature.

It soon becomes evident to Kiernan that Frankie’s suffering is not merely one of a psychological nature, but she is being tormented by a supernatural force that is slowly taking possession of her - exploiting her so that it can deliver a message to the world, one which can alter the course of human history and shatter the foundation of the Catholic Church.

Without question, Stigmata is treated to one of the most immaculate transfers that I have yet seen on DVD. The video is of reference material and is a damning indictment of the inferiority of VHS. Indeed, films such as Stigmata - which feature extreme colour palettes - serve as an introduction for newcomers to the wondrous advantages of DVD’s superior resolution and, no doubt, will further hasten the demise of VHS.

Stigmata is presented in its original 2.35:1 theatrical screen ratio, and is 16:9 enhanced.

Blacks are absolutely solid, and shadow detail is excellent. There are no MPEG artefacts. Details are razor-sharp, providing bold, strong definition. While it is true that are instances of aliasing appearing throughout the film, these are quite rare and are not intrusive - in most cases, they will be simply missed. As one would expect from a film of this vintage, film artefacts are essentially non-existent.

I should make particular mention of Stigamta's look, which can be directly attributed to the wizardry of the film’s cinematographer, Jeffery Kimball (whose credits include Top Gun, Jacob’s Ladder, and True Romance). Due to a skip-bleach process used in the film’s development, all primary colour was leeched out of it and reinserted back into it. Thus, Stigmata has a high-contrast appearance to it - resulting in blacks which are impenetrably black, and whites that are extremely harsh.

Steel-based colours, blues and greens are washed-out and muted, succeeding in lending to Pittsburgh’s urban sprawl a hard, gritty reality. In direct contrast to the rest of the colour palette, red is very dominant. In scenes which heavily feature it - Frankie’s administration to hospital and moments before her stigmatic attack on the subway train - the red, though vivid, is never over-saturated. The colour palette could have proved to be a nightmare for this transfer, but it is brilliantly handled.

There is some mild grain in certain scenes - such as when Frankie is at ease in her bathtub, and the aforementioned hospital visit - but I am attributing these minor occurrences to the film’s development process and the director’s artistic licence.

There are five audio selections - the default English Dolby Digital 5.1, German 5.1, French 5.1, Spanish 5.1, and the English commentary track.

Dialogue is always clear and easy to understand. There is no low-level noise.

The rear surrounds are constantly used throughout the film for music and sound, creating a rich and textured ambient experience. It may seem rather audacious to even mention it, but Stigmata's 5.1 audio track comes dangerously close to supplanting the benchmark that has belonged to The Matrix.

The subwoofer is utilised for the film’s more dramatic scenes - as well as the dynamic techno-industrial soundtrack supplied by Smashing Pumpkins' frontman Billy Corgan and Elia Cmiral - providing exceptional tone and reverberation.

Of particular note, is Stigamta's title sequence. When the film first begins the soundtrack adopts a haunting fugal tone, with subtle pipe organs which build into a spine-chilling crescendo, punctuated by a soft bass line, which gives the scene a slow, dreamlike quality.

The serene mood is shattered when, minutes later, the soundtrack launches straight into a pulsating post-punk industrial soundscape which succeeds in not only establishing the chaotic mood of Frankie’s world, but also in creating an intense listening experience. I particularly love the manner on which this musical shift is built - a monotone cadence of the line "Hail Mary, full of Grace..." which permeates the room in a very eerie fashion.

Without a doubt, this is an incredible 5.1 mix which screams "reference material".

MGM have made a dedicated commitment to package their titles with an abundance of additional features, and Stigmata is no exception.

Deleted Scenes: Not including the alternate ending, there are five deleted scenes included on this DVD. However, once a particular scene is selected, the rest will continue to play out until the last scene is reached, or, if they are interrupted by pressing the Menu button. All of these scenes are presented in a 2.35:1 theatrical screen aspect ratio with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, and are not anamorphic. With the exception of the alternate ending, these scenes exhibit extensive amounts of grain.

Alamedia’s Suicide (Discarded Opening). In this alternative sequence, Father Alamedia commits suicide by throwing himself out of the church window. In the film itself, there is no indication as to the cause of his death.

Frankie and Steve Get It On. Longer and sexually more explicit than what is featured in the finished cut, this scene shows Frankie and her boyfriend engaging in some frantic bedroom antics following a hard night’s clubbing.

Everything Goes Wrong At Work. Located after Frankie’s first stigmatic assault, she encounters a series of paranormal incidents as she is closing the doors of her hair salon.

Steve Scares Frankie. Frankie arrives at her apartment, following the attack from the unseen assailant on the subway train - only to discover her boyfriend is already there. The pair then launch into an argument, where it is suggested that Frankie is also pregnant.

Frankie Stabs Herself. Discarded because it was deemed too graphic for commercial audiences, this scene is an alternative take of Frankie’s confrontation with Father Kiernan. As the title suggests, Frankie drives a steak knife through her palm. Definitely not for the squeamish.

Alternate Ending: This is an excellent feature which, upon first inserting the DVD, allows the viewer the option of watching the theatrical cut or the film with the director’s alternate ending added. Visually, this scene is easily the most polished of all the deleted footage, with an image quality comparable with that of the actual feature film - and can be viewed separately. Unfortunately, it is presented in a 2.35:1 screen aspect ratio, and is not anamorphic.

Director’s Commentary: Alongside Das Boot: The Director’s Cut and The Cell, Stigmata's commentary track from director Rupert Wainright ranks as one of the most polished and informative I have yet heard. Wainright has an evident love for art and cinematography, and this passion is reflective in the conduct of his commentary. His speech is always clear, delivered in an energetic fashion that is not only entertaining, but also enlightening as he delves into every facet of Stigmata's production.

Featurette: Divine Rites: The Story of Stigmata. An informative, but sometimes distubring, documentary detailing the characteristics of stigmata, its origins, and its famous recipients. Also included is a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the making of the film. Presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 with a 1.85:1 screen aspect ratio, this feature runs for 25:14, and is not 16:9.

Music Video by Natalie Imbruglia: Suitably moody and rife with religious imagery, this clip is for the song Identify. It is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and in a 4:3 screen aspect ratio. Non-anamorphic, its running time is 4:04.

Theatrical Trailer: Presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 with a screen aspect ratio of 2.35:1, this trailer is of excellent quality. It is 16:9 enhanced, and runs for 2:22.

Stigmata's distributors seem to have marketed this film with the impression that it belongs firmly within the horror genre. Certainly there are strong - and I must emphasise, strong - scenes involving blood and mutilation, - staples of modern horror - but Stigmata is structured more as a traditional thriller with supernatural overtones, rather than just yet another slasher film.

It is to Wainwright’s credit that the film succeeds as much as it does. Certainly, given the subject matter, the film could have degenerated into yet another mindless Exorcist clone which Hollywood seems to produce on a seemingly weekly basis. However, despite some sensational and truly intense moments, Stigmata never declines into sensationalism. Indeed, it seems to be quite restrained.

The film’s other strength comes from its two main leads, Patricia Arquette and Gabriel Byrne. In what is an incredibly difficult role, Arquette manages to portray Frankie in a multi-faceted manner - one moment she is fiercely independent, the next quietly vulnerable. There is an air of credibility about her, one that makes the audience sympathise with her plight. Bryne provides his character with great poise and dignity, and his concern for Frankie is quite palpable.

Stigmata represents yet another benchmark in DVD’s superiority over both the VHS and laserdisc formats. Naturally, this film can not be recommended for those who hold strong religious convictions. But, those who appreciate strong visual flair with absorbing ideas and story-line should consider adding Stigmata to their collection.