Pinocchio (2022 Animated Film)

 

Based on the novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi with illustrations by Gris Grimly, Pinocchio is the story of a wooden puppet who comes to life as he struggles with his well-being and winning the approval of his father. Directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson with a screenplay by del Toro and Patrick McHale from a story by del Toro and Matthew Robbins, the stop-motion animation film is set during the period of Fascist Italy as it plays into a man dealing with loss and a puppet trying to discover life during a period of chaos. Featuring the voices of Gregory Mann, David Bradley, Ewan McGregor, Burn Gorman, Ron Perlman, John Turturro, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, Tim Blake Nelson, Christoph Waltz, and Tilda Swinton. Pinocchio is a rich and intoxicating film from Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson.

Two decades after the death of son during World War I, the film follows a man who drunkenly creates a wooden boy to cope with his loss as it comes to life where the boy struggles with not just winning his father’s approval but also what it means to live. It is a film that takes the premise of the story of a man who creates a puppet who turns into a boy as it is set in Fascist Italy at a time when conformity and playing to certain rules are in tow which is something that a puppet with no strings is trying to deal with as well as the idea of love and what it means to exist. The film’s screenplay by Guillermo del Toro and Patrick McHale is told largely by a cricket in Sebastian J. Cricket (Ewan McGregor) about the titular character (Gregory Mann) and how he had been created by this lonely carpenter in Geppetto (David Bradley) after having lost his son Carlo (Gregory Mann) during an aerial bombing in World War I as he had been ravaged by grief until he cuts down a tree where Cricket was living and turned it into a puppet. It is then where a fairy in the Wood Sprite (Tilda Swinton) would cast a spell for the puppet to come to life while asking Cricket to watch over and guide him.

While Geppetto’s initial encounter with Pinocchio has him confused and frightened as does Pinocchio’s appearance at the town’s local church. Geppetto does what he can to steer Pinocchio the right way but also him wanting to be like Carlo yet there is also pressure from the Podesta (Ron Perlman) who wants Geppetto to ensure that Pinocchio becomes part of the Italian Royal Army upon a major discovery they would have much to Geppetto’s horror. Even as Pinocchio would encounter the failing circus ringmaster Volpe (Christoph Waltz) who would get Pinocchio to sign a contract that would keep him out of the eye of the Podesta but also keep Pinocchio performing in order to keep Geppetto out of debt. It all plays into Pinocchio’s development and his conversations with Cricket as it has him thinking about not just wanting to live but also to find his own voice as he watches the abuse that Volpe has on his longtime assistant monkey Spazzatura (Cate Blanchett) as well as a closer look into the world of Fascist Italy upon being watched by the Podesta at youth training camp.

The direction of del Toro and Mark Gustafson is astonishing in its overall presentation due to the attention to detail that both men put into its look as it is created on studio locations in Portland, Oregon and Guadalajara, Mexico. With Gustafson and his team of animators doing much of the stop-motion work with production designers Guy Davis and Curt Enderle, with set decorators Jesse Gregg, Gillian Hunt, Samantha Levy, Molly Light, Laura Savage, and Zach Sheehan plus art directors Andy Berry, Karla Castaneda, Robert DeSue, and Juan J. Medina, helping to create much of the backdrops in the look of the forests and woods in such grand detail. Even with Davis also creating some of the creatures including Cricket, Spazzatura, and the sea monster for the film’s climax, there is a look that is del Toro in terms of its approach to death as well as horror with the former involving a sequence in which Pinocchio meets a death fairy (Tilda Swinton) in a surrealistic presentation of the afterlife. Since the film is also based on the illustrations of Gris Grimly, del Toro and Gustafson maintain this look that quite wobbly in its presentation as there is a realism to the animation as well as a physicality in how they take this story and set it into a world where there are elements of politics and existentialism in the mix.

Even in a scene where Pinocchio asks his father why people don’t like him but love this model of the crucifixion as it is among these things that Pinocchio would go into. The compositions that del Toro and Gustafson create add to the drama that Pinocchio goes through in the wide and medium shots in a location or in one of Pinocchio’s stage performances as well as close-ups that play into the characters as they cope with whatever situation they’re in. Notably in the climax as it plays into Pinocchio and Geppetto dealing with a sea monster as all of the lessons that Pinocchio would learn allows him to deal with the situations as well as an understanding of both life and death. Overall, del Toro and Gustafson craft an exquisitely moving and ravishing film about a wooden boy who comes to life and learns about existence and identity during the era of Fascist Italy.

Cinematographer Frank Passingham does incredible work with the cinematography as it helps the look of the film give it a sense of physicality in the lighting while helping to set mood to help bring more texture to the production design. Editors Ken Schretzmann and Holly Klein do amazing work with the editing as it is largely straightforward to play into some of the musical numbers but also in some of the dramatic and terrifying moments with its rhythmic cuts. Visual effects supervisors Cameron Carson and Aaron Weintraub do excellent work with the visual effects as it is mainly set dressing for some scenes involving war and fire as it help broaden the visuals. Sound designer Scott Martin Gershin does brilliant work with the sound in the way certain objects sound as well as the way an instrument sounds on a location or how bombs sound from afar. The film’s music by Alexandre Desplat is phenomenal with its rich orchestral score that has elements of lush strings and orchestral pianos themes along with some offbeat percussive-based themes while the soundtrack also feature original songs written by Desplat along with lyrics by del Toro, McHale, and Roeben Katz that add to the drama and humorous moments in the film that are sung by its cast.

The casting by Mary Hidalgo is great as it feature some notable small voice roles from Tom Kenny in a trio of voice performances as a sea captain, a right-hand for Mussolini, and the Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini as well as Tim Blake Nelson as a quartet of black rabbits, John Turturro as a doctor in the small town Geppetto lives in, Burn Gorman as the local priest, Finn Wolfhard as the son of the Podesta in Candlewick who at first bullies Pinocchio only to befriend him late in the film, and Cate Blanchett in a superb voice cameo as Volpe’s monkey assistant Spazzatura who talks through puppets where Blanchett brings unique voices as a monkey who is jealous of Pinocchio only to realize the good in Pinocchio. Tilda Swinton is fantastic in a dual voice role as the magical fairy known as the Wood Sprite and her sister known as Death where Swinton brings different tones to the two characters as they lament on the ideas of both life and death. Ron Perlman is excellent as the Podesta as a Fascist government official who sees Pinocchio at first as a freak only to see that he could become a symbol for the government in their rise while trying to raise his son as a perfect soldier for Fascist Italy.

Christoph Waltz is brilliant as Volpe as a former aristocrat-turned circus ringmaster who sees Pinocchio as a way to get him back into aristocracy as well as a chance to get in the good graces of Mussolini as he brings a charm to this evil character. Ewan McGregor is amazing as Sebastian J. Cricket as the film’s narrator and conscience-of-sorts who tries to steer Pinocchio onto the right path while dealing with being squished and such as well as trying to do what he can where he laments over his role. David Bradley is incredible as Geppetto as a woodcarver/carpenter who laments over the loss of his son as well as dealing with Pinocchio as he is someone ravaged by grief while trying to understand the many flaws of Pinocchio while trying to go on a search for him when Pinocchio joins the circus. Finally, there’s Gregory Mann in a sensational voice performance in the dual role of Carlo and the titular character as he brings an exuberance and innocence to the former as well as an energy into the latter as well as this vulnerability of someone who is just trying to understand the ideas of life and death where Mann brings a lot of life into both of these roles.

Pinocchio is a tremendous film from Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson. Featuring a great ensemble cast, gorgeous visuals, ravishing art direction, its story of existentialism and identity, amazing character/creature designs, and Alexandre Desplat’s enchanting music score. It is a film that takes a tale told many times but bring something new to it and set it during a tumultuous time in world history as it help play into a wooden boy trying to find himself as well as a physicality that gives the film an edge in its stop-motion animation presentation. In the end, Pinocchio is a magnificent film from Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson.

Guillermo del Toro Films: Cronos - Mimic - The Devil's Backbone - Blade II - Hellboy - Pan's Labyrinth - Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Pacific Rim - Crimson Peak - The Shape of Water - Nightmare Alley (2021 film)

Related: (Pinocchio (1940 film)) - The Auteurs #10: Guillermo del Toro

© thevoid99 2023

The World's End

Directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg, The World’s End is the story about a group of friends who try to reclaim their youth by doing a legendary pup crawl in a town only to realize that the town has been taken over by aliens. The third film in an unofficial trilogy known as the Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy, the film is not a spoof but rather a sci-fi adventure film of sorts where a group of friends try to drink 12 pints in 12 pubs to complete a legendary pub crawl. Starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike, and Pierce Brosnan. The World’s End is a very adventurous yet funny film from Edgar Wright.

The film is about a man who is definitely lost in his life as he tries to gather his old friends to try and complete a pub crawl they did over 20 years ago which they attempted to do but never finished. Though they’re all estranged from each other, the five men try to rekindle their old childhood friendship to do this legendary pub crawl in their old hometown of Newton Haven known as the Golden Mile. What happens is that there’s a lot of strange things happening in the town that raises suspicion forcing the men to team up and fight whatever forces they have all the way to the final pub known as the World’s End. It’s a film that plays into one man’s desire to relive the best moment of his life but he hasn’t managed to do anything as an adult as he tries to gather his old friends to relive that moment of their youth.

The screenplay that Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg’s explores not just the element of nostalgia but also how one man seems stuck in his past that he couldn’t deal with the current state of his life as he tries to reclaim his youth by attempting to complete a legendary pub crawl with his estranged friends. While the four other men in the story have grown into adults with pretty fulfilling lives, they’re reluctant to take part in this pub crawl only to become suspicious about the locals in their old home town. It is there that the tone of the film goes from being a study of nostalgia and friendship into a story of survival as these five men fight mysterious beings as it relates to the idea of perfection and such rather than the flaws of humanity. The narrative is quite simple in terms of its structure and plotting but what makes it so engaging is the fact that the story’s heart is about these five men trying to rebuild their friendship amidst the chaos of their situation and complete this legendary pub crawl.

Wright’s direction is quite simple for the most part but does have this element of nostalgia and ambition. Notably in the latter where there’s a lot of sci-fi into the story as well as a sense of adventure that is prevalent throughout the film. Even as it would play to the drama where Wright does find ways to put some humor into these moments but also have odes to such sci-fi classics like The Thing and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Wright’s approach to nostalgia as he infuses the film with a lot of references to the early 90s as well as the idea of trying to live in the past as a way to showcase the sense of loss that the film’s central character in Gary King (Simon Pegg) is dealing with. Even as he does whatever to get to the World’s End by any means. Wright’s approach to framing is quite simple yet he does put in a lot of things that are quite extraordinary including the film’s climax that involves the mystery of the robots the characters are trying to fight off. Overall, Wright creates a very witty yet sensational film about one man’s attempt to relive his youth.

Cinematographer Bill Pope does excellent work with the cinematography from the look of the town at day to more stylish lights for some of the interior and exterior scenes at night. Editor Paul Machliss does amazing work with the editing by creating a few stylish montages as well as elements of stylish cuts in some of the film‘s comedic and suspenseful moments. Production designer Marcus Rowland, with set decorator Sara Wan and supervising art director Nick Gottschalk, does brilliant work with the different look of the different pubs set for each moment in the journey.

Costume designer Guy Speranza does terrific work with the costumes as most of it is straightforward with the exception of Gary‘s Goth-like clothes. Makeup prosthetics designer Waldo Mason does fantastic work with some of the makeup work to play up some of the freakiness of the alien-robots the characters fight against. Visual effects supervisor Frazer Churchill does superb work with some of the visual effects to play out the chaos of some of the sci-fi moments. Sound designer Julian Slater does nice work with the sound to create some sound effects and moments to play up the chaos of the film. The film’s music by Steven Price is pretty good as it‘s low-key to play out the sense of adventure and suspense with its guitar and orchestral music while music supervisor Nick Angel brings in a fun soundtrack filled with a lot of great cuts from the early 90s like Sisters of Mercy, Happy Mondays, the Stone Roses, Blur, Inspiral Carpets, the Charlatans, Kylie Minogue, the Sundays, James, and St. Entienne as well as a cut from the Doors.

The casting by Nina Gold and Robert Sterne is phenomenal for the ensemble that is featured in the film as it includes appearances from David Bradley as a famous pub drinker the boys knew, Rafe Spall and Alice Lowe as a young couple looking for a house, Michael Smiley as a drug dealer named Reverend Green, Bill Nighy as the voice of a mysterious enigma, and Pierce Brosnan as the men’s old schoolteacher Guy Shepherd. In the roles of the young characters, there’s Thomas Law as the young Gary, Zachary Bailess as the young Andy, Jasper Levine as the young Steven, Luke Bromley as the young Oliver, James Tarpey as the young Peter, and Flora Slorach as the young Sam as they’re all quite good in those roles. Rosamund Pike is wonderful as Oliver’s sister Sam who becomes suspicious of what is going around the town as she tries to help the guys get out of town.

Eddie Marsan is terrific as Peter as a family man/car salesman who is still dealing with the trauma of being bullied as a kid while trying to comprehend the chaos of the situation. Martin Freeman is excellent as Oliver as a real-estates agent who isn’t sure about taking part as he’s trying to deal with his business while later becoming more outrageous as the film goes on. Paddy Considine is amazing as Steven as a man who holds a torch for Sam as he tries to deal with Gary’s immaturity and the chaos of the situation. Nick Frost is brilliant as Andy as a corporate businessman who was once Gary’s closest friend as he is the most reluctant to take part in the pub crawl only to go insane in battling the robots and confronting Gary about his problems. Finally, there’s Simon Pegg in a marvelous performance as Gary King as this immature yet troubled man-child who tries to rally everyone to complete the pub crawl while being evasive as he’s often lying or just doing something where it’s a really funny performance from Pegg.

The World’s End is a fantastic sci-fi adventure film from Edgar Wright that features a brilliant ensemble cast led by the duo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The film isn’t just a fitting conclusion to their Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy but also a great ode to the sci-fi adventure films while infusing it with smart and heartfelt humor. In the end, The World’s End is a sensational film from Edgar Wright.

Edgar Wright Films: (A Fistful of Fingers) - Shaun of the Dead - Hot Fuzz - Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Baby Driver - The Sparks Brothers - Last Night in Soho

© thevoid99 2013

Kes

Based on the novel A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines, Kes is the story about a fourteen-year-old miner’s son who bonds with a wild kestrel in his working class town. Directed by Ken Loach and screenplay by Loach, Barry Hines, and Tony Garnett, the film is an exploration into the life of a boy living in a dreary world where he finds hope in a bird. Starring David Bradley, Freddie Fletcher, Lynne Perrie, Colin Welland, and Brian Glover. Kes is a touching and heartwarming film from Ken Loach.

Billy Casper (David Bradley) is a fourteen-year-old boy who lives in a Yorkshire working class area where his older brother Jud (Freddie Fletcher) works as a miner while their mother (Lynne Perrie) also works as she has little time for Billy. Facing a horrible prospect of becoming a miner and already a bleak life filled with working as a paperboy and going to school where he has a hard time paying attention. Billy comes across a couple of flying kestrels near a farm where he takes a baby kestrel that he names Kes as he grows to care for it. Despite the bleak outlook of his life at home and at school where he’s teased by other kids, Billy grows to love Kes as he eventually tells a story in class where his English teacher (Colin Welland) suggests to Billy about a possible world where Billy can escape from the world of the coal mines.

The film is a simple tale of a boy who finds a baby kestrel and teaches it how to fly as it gives him a sense of escape in his Yorkshire mining town. Throughout the film, this young boy has to endure all of the troubles of his life at home where he’s neglected by his mother and treated with cruelty by his older brother. At school, he’s teased by some kids for being poor while being treated badly by teachers for not paying attention or just getting into trouble that includes a selfish football coach. Yet, it’s this kestrel that gives Billy Casper a sense of hope despite the prospect that he might face a life that is very bleak. The screenplay that Ken Loach, Tony Garnett, and its novelist Barry Hines create is unconventional due to its lack of plot as it centers a lot on this boy and his relationship with the kestrel.

Ken Loach’s direction is truly a marvel to watch in the way he creates a film that is sentimental at times but filled with a lot of realism as it’s shot largely on location in Yorkshire and is presented in a cinema verite style. With these gorgeous compositions of the locations including some wide shots of these locations, Loach’s direction also has a looseness for the way many of the people in the film act in front of the camera. A lot of them are non-actors where there’s a lot of humor in the scenes such as the football match where the gym teacher tries to cheat his way in the game. The film also has an ending where it’s quite powerful where its sentimentality is earned where it’s a very heartbreaking ending considering what the boy might face and how attached he’s become towards this kestrel. Overall, Loach creates a truly powerful and enchanting film about a boy and a kestrel.

Cinematographer Chris Menges does excellent work with the photography to capture the beauty inside the bleak world of Yorkshire with its factories and open landscapes as Menges work is a major highlight. Editor Roy Watts does terrific work with the editing in utilizing jump-cuts for some fast-paced sequences along with fade-outs to smooth out the transitions. Art director William McCrow does nice work with the minimal set pieces such as the home that Billy lives in. Sound recorders Gerry Humphreys and Tony Jackson do wonderful work with the sound to capture the raucous location of the party that Jud and Billy‘s mother attend that includes a live band and such while the rest of it is very sparse in the locations where some scenes are set.

The film’s score by John Cameron is incredible for its flute-driven score to play up the sense of innocence that is presented in the film as it also includes a few heavy orchestral pieces for dramatic reasons.

The film’s cast is brilliant for the ensemble that is created as it includes Bernard Atha as a youth employment officer, Colin Welland as the sympathetic Mr. Farthing, Brian Glover as the school’s strict headmaster, Bob Bowes as the school’s cruel gym teacher, and Lynne Perrie as Billy’s neglectful mother. Freddie Fletcher is very good as Billy’s cruel older brother who berates him for not being helpful and such as he would play a key role in the film’s climatic third act. Finally there’s David Bradley in a phenomenal performance as Billy Casper where Bradley brings a great energy and realism to a boy seemingly lost in his bleak world until he finds a baby kestrel that he grows to care for as he is among one of the film’s highlights along with the kestrel used in the film.

Kes is a magnificent film from Ken Loach that features a phenomenal performance from David Bradley. The film is definitely one of Loach’s great works for the way he tenderly tells a story about a boy and a bird that will touch anyone who loves films about kids and animals. Yet, it’s a film that does more as it provides insight into a bleak world of Britain where there’s a semblance of hope that is available for a young boy. Kes is truly a film that will touch anyone that loves a story between a boy and an animal as it is told with great care and mastery from someone like Ken Loach.

Ken Loach Films: (Cathy Comes Home) - (Poor Cow) - (Save the Children Fund Film) - (Family Life) - (The Price of Coal) - (Black Jack) - (The Gamekeeper) - (Looks and Smiles) - (Which Side Are You On?) - (Fatherland) - (Hidden Agenda) - (Riff-Raff) - (Raining Stones) - (Ladybird Ladybird) - (Land and Freedom) - (A Contemporary Case of Common Ownership) - (Carla’s Song) - (The Flickering Flame) - (McLibel (1997 film)) - (My Name is Joe) - (Bread and Roses) - (The Navigators) - Sweet Sixteen - (Ae Fond Kiss…) - (Tickets) - (McLibel (2005 film)) - The Wind That Shakes the Barley - It's a Free World... - Looking for Eric - (Route Irish) - (The Angels’ Share) - (The Spirit of '45) - Jimmy's Hall - I, Daniel Blake

© thevoid99 2012