Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio

 

Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio

Directors – Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson

Writers – screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Patrick McHale based on the book "Pinocchio" written by Carlo Collodi

Stars – voices: Ewan McGregor. David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth

 

Well, I dislike a film pointing to itself and insisting on its magical-ness all the time (see also: ‘Babylon’). I just happened to have the subtitles on at the start of Guillermo Del Toro’s adaptation of ‘Pinocchio’, and the first was “Magical uplifting music plays”.  And the musical numbers were the kind that do nothing for me – so I appreciated the gag where several numbers were cut short.

But Del Toro can’t help but lean towards horror (yes: the giant crucifix too) so you have the horror of war – fanatical, filicidal fascism – but also the creation of Pinocchio is not that far away from ‘Frankenstein’ and the melodramatic shadow-play of German expressionism. I quite liked ADD Pinocchio spinning and twirling through a world trying its best to break into bleakness and horror tropes, his naivete his immune system. To this, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth’s exuberant voice-work for our wooden protagonist seemed appropriate and good, although I have a friend who couldn’t stand it. And therein perhaps lies the issue: you do have to go with all the “magical-ness” and the vergence on the twee at times, depending upon your taste, as that is what seems popular. And it’s easy to be impressed by the award-winning stop-motion – because that’s always awe-inspiring work (even in its shabbiest form). The model work, the tangible quality, the knowledge of the painstaking skill and patience it takes means stop-motion has the edge as a visual medium.

 

The changes to Collodi’s original tale are interesting – no donkeys; Del Toro’s sensibility dominates – takes a little time to settle, seems to lose interest in its musical agenda, pleasingly dark anti-fascist fairy tale, thematically heavy, but if the sentiment and a tone of neediness (after all, it is "Del Toro's Pinocchio') isn’t to your taste, then you may find it lacking.