MOVIES/VIDEO Francesco

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Yes, Mickey Rourke can play a saint. It is another travesty that this soundtrack remains totally unreleased. Not even a track on an official compilation album exists. Vangelis successfully imitated the sound of the cello on this 1989 film, and the score is moody at times, and very uplifting at other times. My favorite piece of music is when Francesco begins walking through the poor village for the first time, as if he had never seen this village before, even though it has always been there outside the town walls. Now, there are all sorts of problems in collecting this movie. There are at least three different versions. The complete film (150 minutes) is available from Italy, but dubbed in Italian, even the DVD! But at least the DVD has English subtitles. An edited version is available from Japan and Brazil (approximately 135 minutes). The worse is the USA version at 120 minutes. Not only that, but it has been re-edited and arranged in such a way that the movie makes little sense. Why would a video company do that? It cannot cost that much more money to add 30 minutes of videotape. One more thing. I have owned three different copies of Francesco on laserdisc from Japan. All of them suffered from a manufacturing defect, resulting in "laser rot", speckles throughout the picture. If you are seeking one, just be aware of this problem. [Thanks to Reinhard Teibl for scan of Franziskus videocassette from Germany, to Lightnet Media for the scan of the Spanish videocassette cover and to Tonnie Overgoor for the scan of the German DVD.][Thanks to Tonnie Overgoor for the info and scan of the 2nd Korean DVD!!!][Thanks to Marek Jaskolski for the scan of the Polish DVD!]

Videocassettes

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Pic?	Country	Label	Catalog No.	Notes
	Brazil	Flashstar Home Video	FHV-001	NTSC, dubbed in Portuguese, 135 minutes
	Germany	Starlight Video	22421	Titled "Franziskus", PAL, 128 minutes
	Hungary	Vision International		PAL, 120 minutes
	Italy	Luce	CL 00073	PAL, dubbed in Italian, 150 minutes
	Japan	Daiei Video	MVH-0201	NTSC, Japanese subtitles, 135 minutes
	Japan	Daiei Video	MVH-0202	NTSC, dubbed in Japanese, 135 minutes
	Spain	Filmax Home Video	70110	PAL, 90 minutes
	United Kingdom	Nouveau Entertainment Ltd.	NP0035	2001, PAL, 130 minutes
	United States	Hemdale	7186	NTSC, 120 minutes

Laserdiscs

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Pic?	Country	Label	Catalog No.	Notes
	Japan	Daiei Video Disc	DLZ-0158	1.66:1, CLV, NTSC, 2 disc set, obi strip, gatefold sleeve
	United States	Hemdale Home Video	8186	1.33:1, NTSC, 120 minutes

DVDs

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Pic?	Country	Label	Catalog No.	Notes
	Canada	Legacy Entertainment Inc.	LEDVD8006	2003, 1.33:1, NTSC, region 1, 115 minutes
	Germany	Arthaus	500756	2004, 1.78:1, PAL, region 2, 150 minutes, Dolby 5.1, no English track: German/Italian
	Greece	unknown	none	2005, 1.33:1, PAL, region 2, 119 minutes, in sleeve, released as a free giveaway with a periodical
	Greece	Historical Cinema Collection	81688	16:9, PAL, region 0, 150 minutes, full length, Italian language with Greek subtitles
	Italy	Luce	LD 90013	2001, 16:9, anamorphic, PAL, region 2, 150 minutes, Dolby 5.1, no English track-only English subtitles
	Korea (South)	Christian Media	2002-DVD1657	2002, 1.33:1, NTSC, region 3, 119 minutes
	Korea (South)	Sky Home Video	2003-FDVD1477	2003, 1.33:1, NTSC, region 3, 118 minutes
	Poland	Monolith Video	DVD S702	2007, 1.33:1, PAL, region 2, Dobly Digital 2.0, 120 minutes, in slipcase
	Russia	Hamaxa Home Entertainment	221097106	2006, 1.33:1, PAL, region free, Dolby Digital 5.1, 129 minutes, in slipcase
	United States	Simitar	7378	1998, 1.33:1, NTSC, region 1, 120 minutes
	United States	Trinity Home Entertainment	T1793	2005, 1.33:1, NTSC, region 1, 115 minutes

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