We all know the story of Pinocchio, this wooden puppet who dreams of becoming a little boy. That didn’t stop director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water), who offers to tell it to us again this December 9 on Netflix. A touching and confusing adaptation, both in form and content.
This Pinocchio in animation therefore has the heavy task of revitalizing and re-enchanting a well (too) well-known story. An aesthetically sublime effort with undeniable charm, which may however put off some. Here is our review of the film, guaranteed without spoilers.
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Downloads: 893
Release date : 06/12/2022
Author : Netflix, Inc.
Licence : Free License
Categories:
Video – Leisure
Operating system :
Android, Online service All Internet browsers, Windows 10/11, iOS iPhone / iPad
The story
Director Guillermo del Toro revisits the famous tale about a puppet who magically comes to life to soothe the heart of a woodcarver named Geppetto. The mischievous and disobedient Pinocchio will therefore set off on an adventure in the middle of fascist Italy in the 1930s to find his place in the world.
In the making for more than 15 years, this film is undoubtedly the most intimate creation of its author, Guillermo del Toro. A stop-motion version (as in Fantastic Mr. Fox Where Coraline) with a unique cachet, and which breathes new life into Carlo Collodi’s novel released in 1881. When we thought we no longer needed another version of this story, this Pinocchio stands out as a tender, melancholic tale of astonishing depth.
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Guillermo del Toro’s good (first) idea is to shake up the framework of his adventure, by propelling it to the heart of fascist Italy in the 1930s. The themes of the story – morality, mourning, disobedience, family — find themselves inflated with a new meaning, precisely echoing our contemporary considerations. From a children’s story, the film switches into a political fable, which will pass over young audiences.
Geppetto and Pinocchio in the Netflix film by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson.
Because yes, this Pinocchio is intended for an informed public. Amusing to be sure, but also dark, melancholic, depressive, existentialist… The film transcends the dark aspects of Collodi’s original story. And at the turn of a scene, a shot, a line of dialogue, the poetry shaped by Guillermo del Toro pierces like a ray of sunshine through the clouds to reveal the most beautiful illuminations of the film.
And that is perhaps where the wealth of Pinocchio. It’s not the happiest of adventures, but del Toro and his co-director Mark Gustafson have managed to combine the dark and the bright, the sad and the happy, to deliver a most astonishing marriage. If its aesthetic proposal and crazy beauty, the film is like its heroes: imperfect.
the Pinocchio by Guillermo del Toro takes place in the heart of Fascist Italy.
Filled with brilliant ideas (especially the scenes in the afterlife) that transcend Carlo Collodi’s original story, the feature film gets lost a little on the way, and shows a rather off-putting soft underbelly that will make some people drop out. Disabling faults that we gladly forgive, compensated as they are by the formidable gallery of characters dubbed (in VO) by the incredible Ewan McGregor, Christoph Waltz or even Tilda Swinton.
resolutely intimate, Pinocchio will dig deep into the spectator, to make you feel the crazy adventure of being human. A radical bias, which will leave some on the side, but which remains 1000 times more interesting and noble than the odious live remake of Robert Zemeckis released on Disney + two months ago.
Pinocchio by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson.
In the end, this Pinocchio by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson is a bittersweet candy. A unique and chaotic journey, endowed with a mad poetry and a big heart like that. Imperfect, wonky, charming, heartbreaking: he embraces his faults as much as his qualities. Above all, it’s a work that will stick with you long after watching it. Wouldn’t that be the hallmark of great films?
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