Pinocchio

A reasonably faithful and entertaining replica of the Italian classic tale with all its metaphorical interpretations chiselled through its grain and preserved with contemporary technological digital primer.

I had never paid much attention to the whole Pinocchio story which was originally published in a serial form in Italy as "The Story of a Puppet" starting in July 1881. While this feature length movie, almost 2 hours long, is faithful to the whole Pinocchio story it does leave a few things out and makes some minor changes. It is very well done using actors in costumes and makeup to approximate the wide range of characters. It was obviously made in Italian but the movie we watched is dubbed in English.

Woodworker Geppetto is very poor, always resorting to begging or offering to do menial tasks in exchange for food and/or supplies. He looks to a local carpenter for a piece of wood to make a marionette, he is given one that seems to have a mind of its own and moves across his workshop floor. Eager to get rid of it the wood is then carved into a figure that is the size of a 9-yr-old boy. A heartbeat is detected and soon the wooden boy begins to talk. When he is given arms and legs he begins to go on his own, eventually getting into a number of different difficult situations. His ultimate wish is to become a real boy.

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library.

Its got lots of comedy and a surreal and absolutly original telling of a classic story. I planted coins in my garden and watered them and still no flowers, don't trust the fox.

Geppetto (Roberto Benigni) is a struggling woodworker. After a traveling caravan arrives in town with puppets, he gets a magical piece of wood and carves Pinocchio who comes to life. It's an adaptation of the classic Italian children's novel. It has a magical darkness and a reality to the surreal world. The problem is that I've never liked Pinocchio. He's an idiot and an annoying brat. He never does what Geppetto wants. He keeps getting tricked by the most obvious scams. He's an infuriating character. I appreciate the style and the faithfulness of this adaptation. I still don't like Pinocchio. I kept wondering if a movie about Geppetto would be more compelling. I'm not fully sold with Benigni's comedic take on Geppetto but I would have liked to give it a try for the whole movie. Overall, this is an interesting exercise but I'm not fully engaged.

This is a largely faithful, visually neat adaptation of Collodi's classic of children's literature. Talented director Matteo Garrone (Il Racconto dei Racconti, Dogman, L'Imbalsamatore) keeps the darker side of his imagination at bay and correctly puts his visual talent in service of the story.

Performances are solid; Roberto Benigni is much better as Geppetto - warm, paternal, lovably awkward - than he was as Pinocchio. Even the kids are fine, with Ielapi as the titular protagonist, the naive, stubborn but well-meaning Pinocchio, Baldari Calabria as the quietly mischievous young fairy and Di Domenicantonio as toxic friend Lucignolo.

Special mention to the excellent make-up and costumes.

7,5/10