Padre Pio Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Padre Pio Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 2, 2023

Padre Pio is loosely based on the story of a real Italian priest who received the stigmata (scars and wounds similar to those suffered by Christ on the cross) in 1918. In the film, he is played by Shia LaBeouf in a good part that is partially devoured by choppy narrative cohesion. The Blu-ray is middling, with no supplement, troubled video, and decent audio.

It is the end of World War I and the young Italian soldiers are making their way back to San Giovanni Rotondo, a land of poverty, historic violence, and the iron-clad rule of the church and its wealthy landowners. Families are desperate, the men are broken, but victorious. Padre Pio (Shia Labeouf) also arrives, to a remote Capuchin monastery, to begin his ministry evoking an aura of compelling charisma, saintliness, and storied visions of Jesus, Mary, and the Devil himself. The eve of the first free election in Italy sets the stage for a historic, and metaphoric massacre, an apocalyptic event, one that changes the course of the world.

Padre Pio is formed on solid ground, but beyond the foundation is an impossibly dense and dull film that blends a historical sociopolitical scene with one man's religious struggles. The convergence rarely works, either directly or indirectly, and the picture plays out as if two films attempting to merge into one, at best, and engaging in dissociative combat with one another at worst. The story of the title character is the far more interesting one as a religious man is haunted by his personal past and troubled by the world around him. Throughout the film, he finds himself pushed into the dark recesses of his mind and psyche in a satanic challenge to his devotion to God. On the other hand is the upheaval taking place outside the monastery where a broken culture and clashing perspectives on how to socially and politically move forward in the wake of war upend the local populace. Both stories are worthy, but they do not blend together in a satisfying way. The film nails Pio's story but struggles to make the other half a compelling component.

The film is worth watching, however, for Shia LaBeouf's impressively deep and satisfying work as the title character. While the script disallows a truly intimate portrait, in the limited time, splitting the screen with the opposing story, LaBeouf brings a depth to the character as he wrestles with satanic attack and spiritual warfare attempting to undermine not only his role in society but his relationship with Christ. LaBeouf's tangible inner struggle is manifest in posture, facial expression, and haunted eyes. It's too bad that the filmmakers could not support the work with superior framing and cinematic access, but the work is quite good even hamstrung by too little screentime and somewhat poor cinemaic capabilities.

Padre Pio Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Gravitas Ventures releases Padre Pio to Blu-ray via a burned, not pressed, BD-25 disc. The image is something of a mixed bag. On one hand, it can, and often does, look pretty solid. Textures frequently delight for the absolute intricacy on display. Take an early shot of Padre Pio outside the monastery. The static shot lingers up against the wall, allowing viewers to soak in the roughhewn textures on the stone facade and road. Both are very tangible and tactile, and the shot is a delight to behold. Likewise, period clothes, grime on faces, facial scruff, and the like tend to look very good, boasting expert complexity and nicely cinematic definition in closeups and medium distance shots alike. Color reproduction in daytime exteriors, often under overcast skies, is very solid, even if the film looks slightly desaturated for effect. There's a nice balance to the full spectrum of colors that ranges from natural greens to other assorted clothing and object shades as well.

However, there is trouble to go along with the good. Judder is a frequent issue. It's difficult to say if the filmmakers are going for a weirdly slow motion shot every time the judder appears, but there's no mistaking the shake and unnatural panning effects seen throughout the film. Noise is pervasive in low light, which is much of the film. Just for a couple of the numerous examples throughout the film, look at the 11:24 mark for an example of the casual noise and see the 16:00-miunate mark for an example of the extraordinarily pervasive and very clumpy noise. Noise can also look frozen in place (1:10:50 being a fine example). Further, black levels are rather poor. They are soupy, inorganic, and crushed, lacking any hint of shadow detail or low light texturing. Additionally, macroblocking can appear (1:37:01) and a few jagged edges appear, but these are few and far between. Unfortunately, this is something of a hit or miss image, but with the numerous low light shots where the noise and the poor blacks dominate, the bad outweighs the good. Most of this appears to trace back to the source, but still...this is not an attractive image.

Padre Pio Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For the most part, Padre Pio's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers a satisfying core listen. The film is not brimming with opportunity to stretch and utilize the 5.1 configuration, mostly lingering up front and often in the center. However, there are some instances of higher intensity surround yield, such as when a bell blares in town only minutes into the movie, signaling a gaggle of returning soldiers from the war. The sense of immersion is pretty solid, and no matter where the camera is positioned or pointed, that bell continues to saturate the stage. The accompanying din of reuniting families is also nicely immersive. Music stretches along the front with positive clarity and satisfying definition. There's not much in terms of ample surround usage or dominant subwoofer engagement, however. Dialogue primarily moves the film forward from a sonic perspective. It is fairly clear, nicely grounded in the center, and always well prioritized.

Padre Pio Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Padre Pio contains no supplemental content. The main menu screen only offers options to "Play" the film and toggle "Subtitles" on and off. It's a static image screen with overlayed music. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Padre Pio Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Padre Pio is a deeply flawed film, but it's worth watching for a fairly deep and captivating performance from Shia LaBeouf. The contrast between the political and religious climates doesn't mesh well, and the film feels frequently at odds with itself and unable to draw either into focus to a particular point or better define its various scenes. The Blu-ray is featureless and delivers troubled video but solid enough audio. Worth a look on a steep sale.