''Francesco'' is a 1989

historical drama film A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swa ...

about the life of St. Francis of Assisi. It is directed and co-written by Liliana Cavani, and stars Mickey Rourke as Francis and Helena Bonham Carter as the future St. Claire. The screenplay is adapted from

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include '' Demian'', '' Steppenwolf'', '' Siddhartha'', and '' The Glass Bead Game'', each of which explores an individual ...

’s 1904 book ''Francis of Assisi''.

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...

composed the musical score. The film won three awards and was nominated for a fourth. Danilo Donati won the 1989

David di Donatello The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's ''David'', a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance, are film awards given out each year by the ''Accademia del Cinema Italiano'' (The Academy of Italian Cinema). There are 26 award cat ...

Award for Best Production Design, and the 1989 Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon also for Best Production Design. Fabio Bussotti won the Syndicate's Best Supporting Actor Award. Director Liliana Cavani was nominated for the

Golden Palm The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the

1989 Cannes Film Festival The 42nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 23 May 1989. The Palme d'Or went to ''Sex, Lies, and Videotape'' by Steven Soderbergh. The festival opened with ''New York Stories'', anthology film directed by Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, ...

. The film is the second of three works by Cavani about St. Francis, preceded by a 1966 telefilm starring Lou Castel in the title role, and a 2014 production with

Mateusz Kościukiewicz Mateusz Kościukiewicz (; born 1 May 1986 in Nowy Tomyśl) is a Polish film actor. Life and career He grew up in Nowy Tomyśl, where he attended the General and Post-Secondary Schools. He studied at the Kraków State Higher Theater School. In ...

Plot

Through flashbacks, the film charts

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome * Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) Places *Rural ...

's evolution from rich man's son to religious humanitarian and finally to full-fledged saint. Raised as the pampered son of a merchant, Francis goes off to war, only to return with a profound horror for the society which generated such suffering. In one scene, as an act of renunciation, he strips himself of his fine clothing in front of his father, and leaves the house naked and barefoot, joining the lepers and beggars in the poor section of town. A series of episodes from Francis' life follows, rather than a coherent narrative, until his final days when he receives the stigmata, the wounds Christ suffered at the crucifixion.

Cast

* Mickey Rourke - Francesco * Helena Bonham Carter - Chiara * Andréa Ferréol - Francesco's Mother (as Andrea Ferreol) * Nikolaus Dutsch - Cardinal Colonna * Peter Berling - Bishop Guido * Hanns Zischler - Pope Innocent III * Mario Adorf - Cardinal Ugolino * Paolo Bonacelli - Francesco's Father * Fabio Bussotti - Leone * Riccardo De Torrebruna - Pietro Cattani * Alexander Dubin - Angelo (as Alekander Dubin) * Edward Farrelly - Egidio * Paolo Proietti - Pacifico * Paco Reconti - Rufino *

Diego Ribon Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. Et ...

- Bernardo di Quintavalle * Domiziano Arcangeli - Brother in Lateran Palace

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film was composed by the Greek composer

. It was never officially issued, but released in a limited edition not licensed for public by Andromeda Music (AMO103) in 2002.

References

External links

*
Filmografia di Liliana Cavani
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francesco (1989 film) 1989 films 1989 drama films English-language Italian films 1980s Italian-language films Films directed by Liliana Cavani Italian drama films Cultural depictions of Francis of Assisi Films set in the 13th century Films set in Italy Italian biographical films Films scored by Vangelis Adaptations of works by Hermann Hesse 1980s Italian films

Plot

Cast

Soundtrack

See also

References

External links