Gritty cult director Ferrara gets religion in ‘Padre Pio’
Associated PressROME — Abel Ferrara, whose gritty New York exploitation films of the 1980s and 1990s delved into the soulless evils of drug addiction, corruption and sexual violence, pays homage to one of Italy’s best-known and most revered saints in his newest film, “Padre Pio.” That the film, which stars Shia LaBeouf and premieres at the Venice Film Festival next week, confirms a change of pace for the cult director is an understatement, one that Ferrara, 71, chalks up to a decade of sobriety and a new life in Italy. “I think it’s more just trying to get our game right.” The film chronicles a particular moment in the 20th century history of Italy and Padre Pio, the mystic Capuchin monk best known for having displayed the “stigmata” wounds of Christ: He bled from his hands, feet and sides. The context of the film, he said solemnly, is: “You’re looking at the end of the world.” Ferrara’s concern with Italian history, Catholicism and his fascination with Padre Pio are not new: The Bronx-born Ferrara was raised Catholic and introduced to both Italy and the saint by his grandfather, who was born in a town not far from Padre Pio’s hometown of Pietrelcina. Both “Pasolini” and “Padre Pio” relied heavily on the diaries, writings and documentation of their subjects, and Ferrara first made a documentary about the saint’s life before deciding to zero in on the particular period of his arrival in San Giovanni Rotondo, his doubts about his faith and the events surrounding the 1920 massacre.
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Review: Shia LaBeouf stars in Abel Ferrara’s ahistorical historical drama ‘Padre Pio’
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