At the end of World War I, Padre Pio begins his ministry at a remote monastery in southern Italy. Soon, his charisma and storied visions bring him fame.
Clearly a labor of love for director Abel Ferrara, “Padre Pio” chronicles a portion of the early life of canonized Roman Catholic Priest Francesco Forgione, also known as Saint Pio of Pietrelcina. Ferrara was raised Italian and Catholic, and although he now describes himself as a Buddhist, the influence of culture and religion clearly manifests themselves in the course of the film.
Shia Labeouf stars in the title role, with a uniformly Italian cast filling out the supporting characters. The movie opens with weary soldiers returning from World War I and encountering similarly ravaged and worn faces populating the poor rural village. One wonders what the auditions for parts entailed, the screen filled as it is with authentic-looking people sporting odd and weather-beaten features.
In part, “Padre Pio” represents a movie about faith – in this case, a tormented man of the cloth struggling to find his way in a temporal existence here on earth, eagerly awaiting his call to heaven. Part of his journey includes spiritual hallucinations of various sorts, either relating to the Madonna or, alternatively, torturing him with demonic apparitions likely of his own making. Ferrara, in fact, said last year that he considers Padre Pio his spirituality model.
At one point, as Pio hears confession, the woman remarks that she doesn’t think there is a God and doesn’t know if there is a hell. Pio angrily responds, “You don’t know? You will when you get there!“ Father Pio does not take disbelief or doubt regarding the existence of God very well. He needs to believe in something unbelievable, something not empirically provable. His only remaining refuge is to shout down alternative perspectives, which he repeatedly does. Pio is a prisoner to his faith, with Christ, his lord, and savior, essentially the last thing holding up the nearly broken man.
The other part of the storyline deals with the socialist struggle by the townspeople for worker rights. In the village, the ruling elite – the mayor, his brother, the policeman, and the military – run the government, rig elections, and drive peasants off the land. When an outsider arrives to further the socialist cause, the cop and his thugs brutally beat him before sending him on his way and telling him never to return.
The production design is simple, with light and dark sepia tones drenched in ubiquitous candlelight by night, starkly contrasted with rugged stone and rocky ground by day. Further, although the cinema verité technique adds a realistic touch to the film, the shaking camera begins to feel contrived after a while, drawing far too much attention to itself.
It’s hard to know what to make of a narrative like “Padre Pio,” with the storylines running largely independently of one another. The socialist class struggle against the capitalist minority never appears to connect with Padre Pio’s highly introspective personal conflict. Viewers might benefit from reading up on the real-life account of Pio, and his impact on the many followers amassed over the years. “Padre Pio” offers an earnest glimpse into post-World War I Italy, foreshadowing the cruel fascism lying in wait, just on the horizon.
In Theaters Friday, June 2nd
