There are a bunch of Pinocchio movies in development right now, including one from Guillermo Del Toro. But there’s another from a visionary filmmaker, Matteo Garrone, and it features the return of actor Roberto Benigni to the classic fairy tale, which he infamously directed and starred in years ago.
In this new version of Pinocchio, Benigni takes on the role of Gepetto, which is more fitting than when he tried to convince us his old ass could be a wooden boy. Federico Ielapi plays Pinocchio, the puppet who wishes to be a real, flesh and blood human child.
The script was written by Carlo Collodi. Joining Benigni and Ielapi in the cast are Marine Vacth, Marcello Fonte, Gigi Proietti, Davide Marotta, Massimiliano Gallo, Rocco Papaleo, and Massimo Ceccherini.
Garrone is the director best known for his acclaimed mafia film Gomorrah. More apt for this film is probably his 2015 fantasy Tale of Tales which blended reality with a heavy dose of surrealism.
Pinocchio opened in Italy last year, and was part of the Berlin Film Festival. Currently, there is no U.S. release date but that will surely change.
SYNOPSIS: Geppetto (Servillo), an old woodcarver, receives a piece of wood perfect for his next project: a puppet. But something magical happens – the cheeky puppet begins to talk, and can walk, run and eat like any young boy. Geppetto calls him Pinocchio, and brings him up as his son. But Pinocchio finds it hard to be good. Easily led astray, he tumbles from one misadventure to another as he is tricked, kidnapped and chased by bandits through a fantastical world full of imaginative creatures – from the belly of a giant fish, to the land of toys and the field of miracles. His loyal friend, the Fairy with the Turquoise Hair, tries to make him see that his dream – to be a real boy – can never come true until Pinocchio finally changes his ways.
