Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Francesca Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 12, 2016

Giallo fans may be experiencing a new “Golden (Yellow?) Age” for the genre, both by dint of the fact that so many older gialli are being released on Blu-ray, but also due to so many younger filmmakers being so taken with the idiom that they’ve decided to make their own neo- gialli. The former category is stuffed full of product for interested fans, including everything from such iconic titles as The Girl Who Knew Too Much (available on Blu-ray as part of Evil Eye) and Blood and Black Lace to The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (also available in this pretty pricey out of print edition). Lesser known gialli have been coming out in virtual droves lately, though, including such releases as Death Walks Twice: Two Films by Luciano Ercoli and Killer Dames: Two Gothic Chillers by Emilio P. Miraglia. Newer gialli have included Amer, The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears, The Editor and Sonno Profondo (which has yet to see a Blu-ray release). That last title is especially salient with regard to Francesca, since both films are the product of Argentinian siblings Luciano and Nicolas Onetti. At least somewhat similarly to Amer’s creative team of Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani, the Onetti Brothers aren’t necessarily bound by the supposed strictures of giallo, and in fact tweak and play with various genre tropes like a cat with a distressed mouse. (Those interested may want to read my long ago interview with Cattet and Forzani tied to the Blu-ray release of Amer.) As such, Francesca serves as both an homage to and a deconstruction of giallo. It features many of the more iconic images associated with the genre, but it also obfuscates its narrative so deliberately that the viewer is left with feelings sparked more by elements like montage theory than with any strong intellectual appreciation of story elements (again, much as with the efforts of Cattet and Forzani).

The emphasis on montage, something that really helped to define Amer, is on display early on in Francesca, as a somewhat bewildering array of imagery assaults the viewer. There’s a little girl evidently mashing up the dessicated remains of a dead bird, while what seems to be a cross dressing male comforts a crying baby. The sequence ends in a somewhat ambiguously framed “shock” moment where it’s at least hinted that the little girl may have moved on from poking the dead bird to impaling the baby, but as with much about Francesca, the whole opening montage is open to various interpretations. That same weird obfuscatory approach continues with more bewildering imagery including a gloved and hatted person playing the piano. What exactly is going on?

In a plot point which may remind some of films like Seven and Inferno or novels like Matthew Brown’s The Dante Club, a series of gruesome murders turns out to have a connection to Dante. They also ultimately turn out to have a connection to that little girl seen in the opening montage, who of course is revealed to be Francesca. The film doesn’t shirk from throwing the viewer off balance by introducing information via flashback, including what supposedly is a reminiscence by Francesca’s famous poet father concerning a debilitating injury he suffered in the same incident that supposedly led to Francesca’s disappearance. As to whether these are real or created memories the viewer is left in some doubt, as per well established giallo tradition.

While it’s obvious the Onettis have the stylistic proclivities of giallo down pat (and then some), probably only a curmudgeon would suggest that the siblings have intentionally offered a pretty inchoate narrative that suggests the approach of lower tier gialli. The film is full of arresting imagery but a story that tends to defy not just logic but even rational explanation. That leaves the emphasis squarely on the style side of the style vs. substance equation, and it’s to the Onettis’ credit that Francesca probably succeeds well enough in that regard that any other qualms are more easily dismissed.

Francesca Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Francesca is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Unearthed Films and MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.55:1. I haven't been able to track down any authoritative technical data on how this was shot, and even an interview with the Ornetti Brothers where they gave advice to young (younger?) filmmakers to always choose a camera with which they were comfortable didn't reveal which camera the Ornettis utilized for this shoot. My hunch is this was digitally captured and then rather severely graded and tweaked to resemble film, but I can't state that with certainty. One way or the other, a cursory glance through the screenshots will show that the brothers prefer a look here that often resembles techniques like bleach bypass or reversal stock, with aggressively pushed contrast and weird skewings of the palette that can significantly affect detail levels. While probably intentional, blacks are pretty severely crushed at times, and the unique desaturation of the palette along with an at times pretty gritty grain field (whether naturally or digitally achieved) leads to some diminution of detail and fine detail levels. That said, the look here is decidedly sui generis, kind of like Bava filtered through a more experimental prism that recalls such films as U Turn or 1984. Other visual bells and whistles include black and white and "negative" moments, as detailed in screenshots 10 and 19.

Francesca Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Francesca's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is quite striking, and it's probably intentionally cheeky in a way (a way quite similar to The Editor) since there's a noticeable disconnect between the actors' lip movements and dialogue being spoken, in what is an obvious homage to the post-looped world of Italian cinema. Some of the most evocative elements of the sound design come not from dialogue (which is sporadic in any case), but in some spooky sound effects and the often quite effective score. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range fairly wide on this problem free track.

Francesca Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes (1080p; 14:21) has some good looks at things like makeup and practical effects work.


• Deleted Scene (Alternate Beginning) (1080p; 3:24) is in black and white and contains some of the same footage as the beginning that was utilized, along with other snippets.


• Interview - Luciano and Nicolas Onetti (1080p; 19:48) is an enjoyable sit down with the brothers. In Spanish with English subtitles.


• Hidden Scene (1080p; 2:01) contains more of the disturbing imagery that's seen in the film's post-credits "sting".

Additionally this package contains a soundtrack CD and a DVD copy of the film along with a four page insert containing an essay.

The disc has been authored a bit wonkily, with "Top Menu" going to scene selection, and each supplement exiting back out to the Main Menu rather than staying in the Extras submenu.

Francesca Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm not sure Francesca's supposed "twists" really stand up to the light of logic, but the film is undeniably stylish and often quite effectively spooky. The Onetti Brothers are obviously forces to keep an eye on, and Francesca's impact augurs well for future efforts by the pair. Technical merits are strong and Francesca comes Recommended.