SHShowcaseOriginal Title: Pinocchio
Director: Enzo D’Alò
Italy, France, Belgium, Luxembourg | Italian
2012 | 84min. | Colour
Subtitles: Arabic and English
Format: DCP
All AgesThe classic story of Pinocchio, authored in the early 1880s by Carlo Collodi, was a cautionary tale, detailing the serial perils into which the wooden enfant terrible stumbles by being rude, deceitful or foolhardy. Director Enzo D’Alò’s vibrant adaptation hews terrifically close to the original, tracing Pinocchio’s transformation from a ravenous, hyperactive puppet – in a depiction of toddler tantrums that will make any parent laugh – to a thoughtful child who saves the day.

The film’s lush visual style reflects four painstaking years of production. Making liberal use of chiaroscuro, D’Alò worked with acclaimed artist and illustrator Lorenzo Mattotti on renderings of the stunning Tuscan landscape and the dazzling terrain of fantasy. A bizarre menagerie of talking animals commingle with a blue-haired fairy, an ogre, clumsy carabinieri and a raft of villainous adults who ignore, mislead, imprison and – not infrequently – attempt to eat the young.

This Pinocchio doesn’t just tell scary tales to suggest that children need to be dutiful and well behaved; it points to the very real truth that we can all lose the things we take for granted. As Pinocchio longs to be changed from a puppet into a real boy, his poor creator, Geppetto, simply yearns to once again have a son to call his own. While this nostalgic tale is familiar, D’Alò’s dynamic telling sweeps viewers along on a new journey filled with glorious imagery, memorable music and a whole lot of heart.

– Kate Lawrie Van de Ven