Italy, 1930s. In a small town, the carpenter Geppetto (David Bradley)As she mourns the passing of her son Carlo, who died in World War I, she is making a puppet from the pine tree she cut on her grave – with cricket traveler Sebastian J. Cricket, who settled right in the pit. (Ewan McGregor). Waking up in a hungover, the carpenter discovers that the baby is running and talking: at night he is portrayed by the Dryad, pitying his heartbroken father. (Tilda Swinton). The wooden boy is called Pinocchio (young Gregory Mann), Gepetto’s spiritual wound begins to heal, but later the insidious Count Volpe intervenes in the puppet’s fate. (Christopher Waltz)Travels the world with puppet show and monkey Sprezaturra (Cate Blanchett)– as well as the podesta fascist (Ron Perlman)Who wants to turn Pinocchio into a super soldier?
Guillermo del Toro has many unrealized ideas on his desk (Lovecraft’s adaptation of Ridges of Madness remains the main one), and the concept of “industrial hell” is familiar to him firsthand. The director, who fell in love with the 1940s Disney cartoons as a child, wanted to shoot his own Pinocchio almost all his life. This was seriously discussed about 15 years ago, but for a long time nothing went right: no one wanted to give money, and Del Toro insisted that the cartoon be a puppet. Then came Netflix (apparently inspired by The Shape of Water’s Oscar success). And the doll came to life.
The years of delay was worth it: “Pinocchio Guillermo del Toro” is “Pinocchio” at its best. The director’s name is attached to the official name here, not out of arrogance (although no one will say a word), this is truly a completely deltoric film, very different from previous versions of Pinocchio – a fascinatingly somber story. The animal book is very touching if not heartbreaking. And, as in Pan’s Labyrinth, a fairy tale set in the horror of the reality of the fascist state.
In addition to the notable changes (for example, the Fox, Cat and Manjafoko puppet theater owner is glued to a single Count Volpe, and Pinocchio falls into a military children’s camp instead of the Isle of Pleasure), the film offers something. another: a radical revision of the ideological background of Carlo Collodi’s book and its “Disney” adaptation. In the retelling of Del Toro’s grandfather, “Pinocchio” loses its suffocating nature to the point of humiliation and explosion.
This is no longer a story about how a full-fledged personality was carved from a stupid log, as you know, he has the right to exist only if he obeys his elders in everything. Rather, disobedience is the desire to question any authority, be it Benito Mussolini. (Tom Kenton) or Death itself (Swinton again) and refusing to blindly follow what is being said here become the most important treasures and virtues (and even a nose coming out of a lie benefits). But more importantly, Pinocchio is now a story about how (and why) it is important to be human. About the priceless life and love. Too harsh even for the death, hatred, and war that are the basis of the fascist worldview. And most importantly, thanks to Del Toro, this fairy tale has regained its lost function – it has something to relearn.