Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films,
2016
Images from the Internet
Francesca: Limited Collector's Edition
Written and directed by Luciano
Onetti
Guante Negro Films / Unearthed Films / MVD
Visual
80 minutes,
2015 / 2016
The
advent of VHS spawned an entire industry of VHS-based films that would have
never been seen by a large audience, but rather relegated to areas like Times
Square or art cinemas that were usually in the seedier parts of towns. These releases
tended to be geared towards the cheap, the rushed and violent. American cinema
in this area had a boom in both the sexploitation and horror, as these were the
biggest sellers at Video Stores, but in places like Italy, the genre turned
towards what’s commonly known as Giallo,
murder mysteries that specialized in both gore and close-ups (sometimes even
zooming close-ups!). The word Giallo, literally
translated as “yellow,” is named for a style of populist fiction that started
after WWII, which tended to have yellow covers.
Enough
time has passed now that this period is looked upon (and rightfully so) with a
strong pang of nostalgia by many, especially after the bombardment of
high-powered franchised blockbusters. The films from earlier period didn’t
always make sense, but they had heart (both figuratively and literally in many
cases). Over the past few years, it has become cool to model the style of Giallo
films, with various levels of success. In fact, I might ponder that there are
more indie films adopting the style
in honor of it, than there were to begin with in the day.
Francesca is
one of those. Made just a couple of years ago, it is modelled after the Italian
style. But unlike most, this is actually in Italian with English subtitles, although
it was filmed in Argentina. But here’s an interesting thing that it almost
seems as though the film was shot silently, and then all sound, including the
voices, were dubbed in after. It’s obvious they are mouthing Italian, but it
also seems like a bad dub at the same time, with all the actors’ voices dubbed
by Luis Vazano and Silvina Grippaldi. It’s an interesting concept, which I’m
not sure if it was intended, or purposeful. Considering the budgetary
constraints, it’s forgivable, and gives the film an interesting touch.
The
premise is that Francesca, a psychopathic
child, had apparently been kidnapped 15 years earlier, and now, similar to Se7en, people who are deemed “sinful”
via Dante’s Inferno, are popping up
dead with some Inferno reference
nearby. The connection to Francesca is that her dad is a Dante expert. Two police detectives are kinda defective figuring
out the mystery and are on the verge of losing their jobs. Will they catch the
killer? Will the killer catch them?
The
film is steeped in the motif of Giallo,
loyal to its look, as if the world was based on the likes of Dario Argento.
There are weird camera angles, an odd sort of off-coloring with an occasionally
reddish filter, and the film is made to look VHS grainy. Also, there are lots
of indicators of the time period, such as typewriters, a film camera, a slide
projector, and the wardrobe. This all works together well, and there are
actually some incredibly beautiful shots such as a bird flying in slo-mo and
just the right composition to make it artful. The ending is also somewhat
satisfying, with just the right couple of red herrings. But overall, the film
itself is a bit wanting.
 |
| A confused copper |
The reason
for this is that the acting is kind of wooden, the kills are shown mostly
off-screen, and the direction is at a tepid pace, even though there is a nice
body count. Part of the problem is that there is a dearth of dialog, so the
audience is left to fill in just what the cops are up to (it’s around the
police that the writing is the weakest), and this never quite shapes up much.
In
some ways, however, the film is successful in that is respectful to the genre,
and they hit a lot of the right notes for the time. However, it is perhaps a
bit too focused on what it is trying to
be rather than bringing enough originality to the process. It’s sort of like
when someone covers someone else’s song, but they do it exactly like the original. To me, the biggest error, though, is
that they released this in Italian, towards that tribute. Considering it was
filmed in Latin America, I believe if they had left it in Spanish, the
overdubbing would have matched closer, and it would have brought that much more
of the Ornetti brothers’ influence into the mix, and been less distracting from
the story.
The
soundtrack, which is included as a CD in the Limited Collector’s Edition, is a fun listen. The music is also on
point, with a ‘80s sound that has just the right touch of dissonant electronica.
As
for the film’s extras, first up is a 14:20 minute Behind the Scenes featurette
that covers a wide range of topics, such as make-up, anecdotes about filming,
locales, and yes the dubbing process, by using a mix of off-stage shooting and
production stills. Next is a Deleted Scene, which is an alternative opening at 3:24.
It was decent and good to see, but they made the right choice in the one they
picked.
I
was looking forward to seeing the 19:47 Interview one with the director, Luciano
Onetti and the producer, Nicolas Onetti. The brothers also co-wrote the film
together. While not as deep as I was hoping it would be, the brothers discuss
the film from some interesting aspects. Nicolas goes on a bit about the
premieres and awards; Luciano discusses the more interesting connections
between this film and their first, Sonno
Profondo (Deep Sleep) from 2013. He also indicates they are part of an
intended trilogy.
The
penultimate is a 2:01 “Hidden Scene,” which is what is shown after the end
credits. Last is a bunch of trailers for Unearthed Films, including this one.
Oh, but did I say that was all? No, for the Limited
Collection Edition, there are the three-discs of a soundtrack CD, a DVD and
a Blu-Ray, plus a very nice package with inserts and the like.
I do
respect that this was an ambitious work by the brothers Onetti, and on some
levels, it actually is quite the nice
job. Personally, I believe they could use some outside editing (don’t look at
me) to help them punch up some of the looser material. Either way, I look
forward to seeing Sonno Profondo, and
whatever comes next.
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