Did we really need yet another screen iteration of Carlo Collodi’s 1883 children’s book about the miraculous wooden boy with the nose that grows? If this latest stab at “Pinocchio” from Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone is any indication, the answer is no, not really. But they made it anyway and you could do worse and probably have if you saw the 2002 version which, like this new film, also stars Roberto Benigni. But in that widely panned retelling, the Oscar winner (“Life is Beautiful”), then around 50, preposterously played the title character (as well as directing) and not famed cobbler Geppetto, as he quite deftly does here.
Pinocchio review: A fresh and more grown-up take on the animated classic
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Warning to parents: This is not the 1940 Disney cartoon classic. This Pinocchio is the live-action version, rated PG and starring Life Is Beautiful Oscar winner Roberto Benigni as Geppetto, the woodcutter who builds a puppet to replace the son he never had. In adapting the beloved 1883 children s book by Italian author Carlo Collodi, director Matteo Garrone takes a more grown-up approach that will still appeal to kids who aren t easily scared and are ready to discuss the implications of the story with mom and dad.
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This Pinocchio is darker and more demented than you re used to, but that s true to the book
Michael O Sullivan, The Washington Post
Dec. 23, 2020
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1of3Roberto Benigni, left, and Federico Ielapi in Pinocchio. Greta De Lazzaris/Roadside AttractionsShow MoreShow Less
2of3(L-r) Maria Pia Timo, Alida Baldari Calabria and Federico Ielapi in Pinocchio. Greta De Lazzaris/Roadside AttractionsShow MoreShow Less
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What is it about Pinocchio ?
Italian writer Carlo Collodi s 1883 children s book - a fable about a wooden puppet who yearns to become a human boy but who must first prove himself worthy through selflessness - has been called a metaphor for the human condition. The story has proved resonant enough to receive numerous film adaptations, including Disney s animated 1940 classic and a live-action 2002 version directed and starring the then-50-year old Oscar-winner Roberto Benigni in the title role. Netflix has al