In the beginning of his filmmaking career, Abel Ferrara directed porn. He is now working on a film on Padre Pio, popularly known as St. Pio of Pietrelcina, who is one of the most well-known Catholic saints of the 20th century.
The director’s connection in the porn business is well known; in fact, he admitted to insidehook.com in 2020 that most of his experience in filmmaking came from producing porn.
Why did he decide to film a movie on the renowned mystic from Italy? In an interview with the Associated Press that was published on August 26, Ferrara said, “Given the list of films I’d produced, you’d be wondering.”
However, he claimed that “church authorities” and Capuchin friars who served as “Padre Pioon-set “‘s advisors backed the movie, according to the AP.
The 71-year-old Hollywood filmmaker claims the dramatic contrast between his new “Padre Pio” picture and his previous, more edgy works, including “Bad Lieutenant,” “Ms. 45,” and his pornographic flicks, is a tribute to the improvements brought about by 10 years of sobriety and his new life in Italy.
According to the 2020 interview with insidehook.com, Ferrara is married and raising a daughter. He added, “That’s putting it nicely,” after stating that raising children sober is “way, waaay better.” He is also the father of two elder girls.
Ferrara, who was raised a Catholic, now considers himself a Buddhist, according to an interview with thefilmstage.com from 2021. But he said that Buddhism “is a practice for me, not a religion” in the insidehook.com interview.
The AP noted that his interest in Padre Pio is not new. His grandpa, who was also instrumental in exposing him to Padre Pio’s spirituality, was born in a town near to the Italian saint’s birthplace of Pietrelcina.
He told the Associated Press that after quitting alcohol and drugs, he and his friends “started to see a new way of life, of living in a different existence.” “I believe that the focus is more on perfecting our game.”
In a recent interview with Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester and Word on Fire Ministries, actor Shia LaBeouf, who portrays Padre Pio, said that his participation with the movie prompted him to accept the Catholic religion after reaching a low point in his life.
The movie will have its world debut at the Venice Film Festival, which runs from August 31 to September 10 in Venice, Italy. Its release date for cinemas or streaming services is unknown.
A crucial year in the life of the saint
The story of “Padre Pio” takes place in Italy in the 1920s amid the fascist revolt when the future saint, Francesco Forgione, is just beginning his priestly career. Padre Pio was ordained in 1910 and first experienced the stigmata, or the wounds of Jesus, in 1918.
The AP claims that the movie omits the details of his life that are more well known, such as the several inquiries into the saint by dubious Vatican officials.
The return of Italian troops from World War I to San Giovanni Rotondo, the city where Padre Pio’s monastery is situated, is shown at the start of the movie. According to the AP, the backdrop contains societal conflict between the Catholic Church and rich landowners as well as a socialist movement that includes members of the working class and peasants.
In 1920, when the socialists win the local mayoral race, the ruling class, supported by the Church, rejects the results. There follows political upheaval. In an effort to prevent the socialists from hoisting their flag atop the local government building, police opened fire into the crowd, killing 14 people and wounding 80 more. In the interview, Ferrara referred to it as the “Massacre of San Giovanni Rotondo.”
Prior to beginning production on the film, Ferrara had produced a documentary about Padre Pio and believed that the convergence of the saint’s spiritual struggles and the political carnage at San Giovanni Rotondo made sense as a subject matter for the picture.
I noticed the coincidence of the slaughter and the occurrence of his stigmata at the same time and location. I mean, how could you not turn it into a movie?” he asked the AP. The movie’s trailer is available for viewing below.
In Catholic circles, Padre Pio is most renowned for his profound insights on prayer and world peace, his stigmata, miraculous accounts of his bilocation, his experience of being physically assaulted by the devil, and his mastery of the spiritual life.
The meditative monk is sometimes credited with coining the expression “pray, hope, and don’t worry.”
You’re gazing at the end of the planet, Ferrara said in reference to the movie’s setting. According to the AP, Putin dedicated the movie to the Ukrainian people and the victims of that tragedy. Because “what I’m looking at is a replay of World War II,” he said, he did so. 70 years ago, 75 million individuals passed away. That was probably yesterday. We can see it occurring in front of us.
Is the movie credible and entertaining?
Brother Alexander Rodriguez, a Franciscan Capuchin who became close to Shia LaBeouf when the actor was training for the part of Padre Pio, advised everyone to watch the movie, he told CNA on Monday.
According to him, Padre Pio’s portrayal in the movie is 90% true and partly based on letters he sent from 1911 to 1918 to his provincial superior and spiritual director. Considering the saint’s fierce battles with the devil, Rodriguez, who joined LaBeouf both spiritually and as a co-actor on the movie, said that they went to an exorcist together so that LaBeouf could learn about Satan, possession, and exorcisms.
In order for LaBeouf to understand the main components of the Mass that the saint would have performed, they also went to see a priest who performs the Traditional Latin Mass.
The Saint Pio Foundation’s founder and CEO, Luciano Lamonarca, told CNA on Monday that he intends to see the movie and hopes others will do the same. The foundation is committed to promoting the spiritual charism of the saint.
The intention is for people to be drawn in by a sincere curiosity in seeing this film and then go on to discover more about Padre Pio’s life, he added. Lamonarca advised anyone interested in learning more about the saint to read books by Frank Vega about his life and go to the foundation’s website.