Pinocchio

One of the greatest casting blunders I've seen in my lifetime was in 2002 when fifty-year-old Roberto Benigni directed and starred as the puppet boy Pinocchio. What an age difference. There's now a new take on Carlo Collodi's story ready to watch on your favorite streaming service. This is the second film I rented and watched on Amazon Prime today. 

Actually, it was released in Italy in 2019. But let's not think about that.

Benigni is now in the more age-appropriate role of Gepetto. One day, Gepetto decides to make himself a puppet like the ones in Mangiafuoco's (Gigi Proietti) theatre. His neighbor, Mastro Cillegia (Paolo Graziosi), gives him a rather large log that he insists on parting with. That's because the log is alive. Gepetto finds this out when the newly-sculpted Pinocchio (Federico Ielapi) talks to him.

Gepetto tries to teach Pinocchio how to be a good boy. But Pinocchio gets himself into trouble with various characters. The Turquoise Fairy (Marine Vacth/Alida Baldari Calabria) decides to help him stay on the right path. She'll make Pinocchio a real boy if he acts good enough. It's not easy for them.

Director Matteo Garrone and his co-writer, Massimo Ceccherini, stick pretty closely to Collodi's story. A story where Pinocchio is hung non-fatally by his "friends," the Cat (Rocco Papaleo) and the Fox (Ceccherini). Pinocchio violently rejecting the Talking Cricket's (Davide Marotta) advice was more amusing; Pinocchio getting donkey-fied at The Land of Toys was less so. There's also some weird bit characters like a Gorilla Judge (Teco Celio) who nearly sentences Pinocchio to life in prison. This world takes the weird as a matter of fact, doesn't it? Like Pinocchio being a walking puppet.

I must quickly get into Mark Coulier's makeup effects, which were just nominated for a BAFTA and shortlisted last month for the Oscar. Deservedly, so. The obvious results are the animal characters, a few humans and the Turquoise Fairy. Pinocchio is the standout as his woodenness is completely practical. No CGI was involved. There's also a Talking Tuna visualized by CGI and a man in an animatronic head. That part of him was practical is astounding; I thought it was all CGI. The makeup effects let actors play multiple parts unnoticed: Marotta also plays one of Mangiafuoco's marionettes and a creepy rabbit.

Let's quickly get into some characters. Ielapi is a good Pinocchio; a bit obstinate but good at heart. Benigni as Gepetto is a stern but nice man who genuinely cares for Pinocchio. Their scenes together were nice, especially when Pinocchio first speaks. Proietti, in his last film before his death last year, is perfect as a gruff but likable man as Mangiafuoco. Papaleo and Ceccherini make for delightfully funny creeps as Cat and Fox. There's also Nino Scardina as the Coachman who takes Pinocchio and other future donkeys to The Land of Toys. He is, by far, the creepiest character in a world of weird.

This take on Pinocchio moves pretty slow at 126 minutes. It also doesn't help that its subtitles were mistimed for a bit. So don't doze off for a bit. It's still one of the most involving takes on the story I've seen. I've grown up with Disney's version, so having one more good version is nice. See it for yourself to see what I mean.

Oh yeah, and there's also two other versions in development. One is being developed by Guillermo Del Toro for Netflix; the other by Robert Zemeckis for Disney +. Expect a few workarounds if and when I get to them.