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Tale of Tales – 2015 Garrone
- Visually inspired baroque fantasy
- Starts with a long tracking shot walking and arriving into this amazing world
- Décor detail is truly inspired- there interior of the castle with the maze-like walls
- A gorgeous shot on a bridge before the Toby Jones introduction
- The maze—Kubrick in The Shining
- The three thrones are beautifully designed- ornate
- It’s eerie and unsettling but there’s deadpan humor as well that’s quite effective. In a aftermath of an orgy scene with Vincent Cassel (perfectly cast as a sexual marauder for the 10th time) he kicks a peacock out of the way- it’s great
- Shot of Cassel walking down a hall of windows- stunning
- Garrone really sets the frame—meticulous- Wes Anderson or Kubrickian level of symmetry
- The leaders of the three kingdoms are absurd and the entire film is really about unchecked hubris backfiring
- On-location shooting in Tuscany—gorgeous establishing shots—the emerald green forest
- A rock solid Desplat score
- An eye for architecture
- There’s a bit of Bela Tarr in the off-putting rhythms and world being created here— eerie
- Highly Recommend- maybe even leaning HR/MS
Drake2022-02-09T23:12:27-05:00
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I just caught Io Capitano, my first film from Garrone
Notes:
Harrowing epic film, covering the harsh refugee journey from West Africa to Europe.
The opening setup is solid with the two boys wanting to leave their home village. Not only do they want a life, but they want a life they can’t have in Senegal (full time musicians/artists). Great stunning shot of the two leads in a graveyard with the sky full of birds is a highlight.
A huge journey covered in two hours, driving in rough terrain, walking for ages in the desert, later on the boat section. The desert section is the films most beautiful, some glorious long shots.
The magical realism sequences are cool, but do not fit the film which is just too harrowing. It’s too much of a clash and they aren’t consistently held up enough.
Plenty of dissolve edits in this.
A convenient plot point where the brothers reunite. It was setup to be a much harder ordeal but they is convenience bringing them back together.
Ending differs from the real life inspiration which had a sadder twist, I think making the ending more hopeful.
First time actors here are great.
@Drake-Did you manage to catch Garrone’s Io Capitano(2023)? Oscar nominated film
@Lionel- Not yet- it is on my radar
@Drake-How many archivable films do you have for Matteo Garrone?
Have you seen Garrone’s Dogman(2018), Pinocchio(2019) and Io Capitano(2023)
@Lionel – yes on Dogman, not on the others
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