After his film noir “Nightmare Alley”, Guillermo del Toro returns with “Pinocchio”, his very first animated film. A project dear to his heart to discover on Netflix.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT ?
Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro revisits Carlo Collodi’s tale about a puppet that magically comes to life to soothe the heart of a woodcarver named Geppetto.
This stop-motion musical fantasy epic directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson follows the adventures of mischievous and disobedient Pinocchio as he searches for his place in the world.
Pinocchio, written by Matthew Robbins, Carlo Collodi and directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson
A DARK AND VIOLENT PINOCCHIO
It took fifteen years for Guillermo del Toro to complete his Pinocchio project. Always passionate about animation, the director, Oscar winner in 2018 for The Shape of Water, stages his very personal version of Carlo Collodi’s famous tale in stop motion (Anglo-Saxon term that designates a genre of animation designed with real objects).
Filmmaker Mark Gustafson, who worked on Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, comes to his aid. “I was recently told that there were almost 60 films around Pinocchio. We have taken care to avoid them”, explains Guillermo del Toro in an interview with IndieWire.
Without a doubt, the director was able to offer a vision at odds with other adaptations, in particular the latest one directed by Robert Zemeckis with Tom Hanks.
This new film is not made for children and shows another face of the hero, more faithful to the original tale. Here, Pinocchio disobeys and has nothing of the model little boy.
netflix
The story is transposed into a specific political context: the Italy of Mussolini. Guillermo del Toro recounts the rise of facism in his own way and confronts the figure of Pinocchio with the horrors of war.
If the film does not spare the spectators violence, it surprises by its intense emotion, as during the final scene, which is particularly successful. Everything is enhanced by the stop-motion animation which impresses with its many details.
We could regret a few lengths, but this Pinocchio opens a new chapter in the already impressive career of the Mexican filmmaker.
It is preferable to discover the film in its original version. A very beautiful cast gives voice to the characters. In a few names: Ewan McGregor, Cate Blanchett, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, Ron Perlman and Finn Wolfhard.
Pinocchio is available on Netflix.