Pinocchio

UK Release Date. 15 October 2022
Certification. PG
Running Time. 1 hour 57 mins
Director. Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson
Cast. Cate Blanchett, David Bradley, Burn Gorman, Gregory Mann, Ewan McGregor, Tim Blake Nelson, Ron Perlman, Tilda Swinton, John Turturro, Christoph Waltz, Finn Wolfhard.
Rating. 53%

Review.

In Pinocchio, Guillermo del Toro collaborates and co-directs with Mark Gustafson, an animation director on Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, to create one of the most arresting stop-motion animation films in recent memory.

As you might imagine, del Toro's Pinocchio is like no other interpretation of Carlo Collodi's novel, The Adventures Of Pinocchio, you've ever seen before. Indeed, there's little that connects the film to Collodi's original source material. And in many ways, the film is richer for it. 

Where Collodi's novel served as a stark warning to the Italian underclass - work hard, or you, like Pinocchio, will be punished for your disobedience - del Toro, alongside co-writer Patrick McHale, have instead positioned the film as an examination of the need to conform alongside the grotesque inhumanity of fascism. The town's fascist official, Podesta (Ron Perlman) may not turn disobedient boys into donkeys, but he does extradite them to military youth camps in readiness for war.

The film sees Geppetto (David Bradley) drunkenly carve and create Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) out of blind rage following the tragic loss of his own beloved son, Carlo. But this is a Guillermo del Toro Pinocchio - a wooden marionette with rough edges and exposed nails. Other much-loved characters have become reimagined, but ultimately lack personality. For instance, Pinocchio's conscience, Sebastian J. Cricket (Ewan McGregor) has become a penniless writer, all too reminiscent of McGregor's impoverished writer, Christian in Moulin Rouge!

For a story so familiar to the audience, the lack of connection with the main characters is the film's ultimate downfall. Even the film's crushing conclusion would be significantly more powerful if a genuine connection with the lead character had been successfully established.