Shia LaBeouf Returns to Acting in Abel Ferrara’s Next Film ‘Padre Pio,’ Premiering at Venice Days
thewrap.comVenice Days – or the Giornati Degli Autori – is an independent side bar to the Venice Film Festival in the vein of Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight section and is not directly associated with the larger La Biennale.
But Ferrara’s “Padre Pio” will make its premiere at the fest as part of a larger lineup that was announced Thursday.LaBeouf in the film plays the title character Padre Pio, also known as Francesco Forgione and Saint Pius of Pietrelcina.
In real life, Padre Pio was the subject of both adoration and controversy because he displayed bodily wounds or stigmata that many believed to be aligned and associated with the crucifixion of Christ.
He was beatified in 1999 and canonized as a saint in 2002, both by Pope John Paul II. The film from Ferrara (“Bad Lieutenant”), however, focuses on Padre Pio’s early days in a small Italian agricultural town and the political unrest that surrounded his early vocation.
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