Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Pinocchio’ Review
I managed to see this film ahead of time via the BFI London Film Festival in the royal festival hall on London’s Southbank. This version of Pinocchio is by and large charming, beautiful, clever and heart-warming, especially in comparison to the Disney’ release of September 2022.
Firstly, the choice to use stop motion is a great one. Using the softer looking animation style allows Del Toro to drive the plot to darker realms and still be a light viewing experience where realism would be too mature and heavy. Scenes Pinocchio involving death or danger could too brutal for a younger demographic but they simply aren’t. The animation style allows for more peril with less harmful imagery. Further, anyone who doesn’t find even a hint of added charm in stop motion is no friend of mine; the sheer patience, consistency and time that goes into these projects is mind blowing. A healthy appreciate for film making technique can certainly elevate a film.
Secondly, Del Toro penchant for the spookier interpretation of the ethereal realm and spirits helps separate this take on the classic from previous iterations. Personally, I am a huge fan of this style which is what piqued my interest in the auteurs favour when ‘Hellboy 2: The golden army’ released. This art style is gorgeous, creatures are earie but not entirely horrifying, undead skeletal rabbits, floating eyeballs and sphinx-like faeries all feature without reducing the tone of childlike whimsy throughout. Furthering this point is the design for the titular character himself. Pinocchio is not a perfectly sculpted, painted and varnish wooden boy clad in lederhosen, nor does his nose simply lengthen. This time Pinocchio is a choppy imperfect wooden puppet Frankenstein-ed together by a drunken Geppetto in a fit of grief; and his nose grows as a jagged branch with leaves and pinecones attached. Del Toro’s love for beautifully dark fairy-tale things allows Pinocchio a new life not previously afforded by Disney.
Third but perhaps most important is how the two previous points combine. Thematically this film is wonderful revolving around tyranny, honesty, acceptance, good and bad, death and grieving and difference. Even Pinocchio himself is born from frustration with life’s harder aspects. Pinocchio shifts its focus between all these notions and provides important resonating messages for all ages. This time Pinocchio never wishes to be a real boy, only to prove himself as a good son and friend to those he cares for. It is others who hold this Pinocchio down, suggestibly his only strings are the expectations of others and society.
Lastly for this review the music. Between the score which strongly mirrors ‘The shape of water’ and the musical numbers which are entertaining, heart-warming and energetic this films music is masterful. The crowd seemed to laugh and smile at ever little musical element, caught up in the score and the charm of each character’s tunes.
Before I saw this film, I read an article which suggested that this is Del Toro’s best film since ‘Pans labyrinth’ and personally I don’t agree, saying so would dismiss others such as ‘The Shape of Water’. I would however say that this film is a masterpiece all by itself. The longer I sit and ruminate on ‘Pinocchio’ the better it seems to get.
Watch this film!