Variety
Taken together, the parables serve primarily to entertain - an effect that has as much to do with Garrone's command of the cinematic language as it does the content itself.
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Tale of Tales
Fantasy horror film adapting three tales by Neapolitan poet and courtier Giambattista Basile, written in the 1600s and influencing the likes of the Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Andersen.
Salma Hayek, Toby Jones, Vincent Cassel and John C. Reilly star, with director Matteo Garrone mixing realism with surrealism, bringing to life tales of necromancy, dragons, royals, virgins, fleas, ogres and transformation.
"Once upon a time there were three neighboring kingdoms each with a magnificent castle, from which ruled kings and queens, princes and princesses. One king was a fornicating libertine, another captivated by a strange animal, while one of the queens was obsessed by her wish for a child. Sorcerers and fairies, fearsome monsters, ogres and old washerwomen, acrobats and courtesans are the protagonists of this loose interpretation of the celebrated tales of Giambattista Basile." (Cannes Film Festival)
2015Rating: R13, Violence, horror & sex scenes125 minsItaly
FantasyHorror
- Director:
- Matteo Garrone ('Reality', 'Gomorrah')
- Writer:
- Edoardo AlbinatiUgo ChitiMatteo GarroneMassimo Gaudioso
- Cast:
- Salma HayekVincent CasselToby JonesJohn C. ReillyShirley HendersonHayley Carmichael
Tale of Tales / Reviews
Time Out
The sheer, obstinate oddness sends crowd-pleasers like 'Game of Thrones' and 'The Hobbit' scuttling into the shadows.
Full reviewThe Guardian
It is gloriously mad, rigorously imagined, visually wonderful: erotic, hilarious and internally consistent.
Full review
Little White Lies
The prime joy of this movie is its episodic dedication to surprise, where it develops its own inimitable internal logic within the first few scenes, yet keeps on raising the wacky bar as the runtime canters on.
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Hollywood Reporter
Combines the wildly imaginative world of kings, queens and ogres with the kind of lush production values Italian cinema was once famous for.
Full review
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