Director Matteo Garrone on his lifelong love of Pinocchio

We believe we all know Carlo Collodi’s 19^th century story of the wooden puppet who dreamed of being a real, live boy, and it’s been filmed numerous times.  Disney’s animated Pinocchio is easily the most familiar, and their forthcoming new, live action version is reportedly set to star Tom Hanks as Geppetto, who creates the puppet.

This week brings another interpretation, from Italian director Matteo Garrone (Dogman, Tale Of Tales) who reveals to The People’s Movies’ Freda Cooper that he’s loved the story since he was a child – and shows a “storyboard” he drew as a six year old.  He talks about why his film stays faithful to the original story and how he used make up and extensive prosthetics to create some of its most stunning images.

He also explains why, unlike many other foreign language movies shown in the UK, he’s opted for dubbing instead of subtitles and how he persuaded Italian cinema legend, Roberto Benigni, to be involved in the project.

Pinocchio is released in cinemas on 14 August 2020. | Read our review of the film here.

About the Author

Freda Cooper

Editor

Freda is a Senior Writer at The People's Movies. A lifelong movie fan and a film critic for over ten years, Freda’s natural habitat is the darkened rooms frequented by fellow cineastes. She can also be found asking questions of some of the biggest names in the business – from Cate Blanchett to Daniel Craig or Mike Leigh to Pete Docter – or crafting reviews for a number of sites and publications, including The People’s Movies. And listeners to BBC Local Radio can catch her views on the latest releases. She always – and probably always will – cite The Third Man as her favourite film of all time. Her top ten? That’s a moveable feast …..

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