[FILM]
GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO
Wooden it be nice? — Pinocchio, voiced by Gregory Mann;
★★★★
OUT 25 NOVEMBER (CINEMAS) / 9 DECEMBER (NETFLIX) / CERT PG / 117 MINS
DIRECTORS Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson
CAST Gregory Mann, David Bradley, Ewan McGregor, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, Ron Perlman, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro
PLOT Ten years after his son dies, Italian sculptor Geppetto (Bradley), wracked with grief, carves a new boy from a pine tree. Introduced to a world of fascism and exploitation, Pinocchio (Mann) is encouraged to do as he’s told — but he’s not totally on board with that.
EARLY ON IN Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, in a church, the little wooden boy — agnarly, twisted, ramshackle figure, new to the world but already causing consternation due to his mere appearance and unruly behaviour — peers up at a huge, wooden sculpture of the crucified Christ. “Why do they love him, and not me?” Pinocchio asks his father of the recoiling locals. “They sing to him.” Your heart murmurs; your soul shudders. This isn’t what you expect from Pinocchio.