Review: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022).

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022). Directed by Guillermo del Toro& Mark Gustafson. Written by Guillermo del Toro, Patrick McHale & Matthew Robbins.

[Gregory Mann, David Bradley, Ewan McGregor].

Taking a story that held so much promise, and was let down over and over, Pinocchio 2022 comes bounding out the gate with this mystical, wholesome Stop Motion rendition of the 1950s Disney classic.

Guillermo del Toro sees stories between the lines- stories within stories. Stories that turn out to be the bigger picture and main theme. Whilst Pinocchio tells a story surrounding the lessons of lying or deception, naivety and trustworthiness and reliability, del Toro and Gustafson dig deeper- rather focusing on the tale of identity and conformity, as well as humanity, love, and loss. What is humanity? How do we understand and accept the fleetingness of life? There is an underlying motif of death, which deserves to be studied in depth, but I would like to focus this review on identity and expression.

This story is a love letter to fathers and sons, and with that in mind, building Geppetto into a character with intent and purpose was vital. I cried in the first five minutes, pleased with the addition of a back story, an established arc of his feelings of loss, and how they translate and make him into the angry, unkind self he is today. It adds and opens a doorway for Pinocchio to experience resistance- an opportunity to reflect and see the negativity in the world- in this way, Pinocchio has a reason behind his actions- more than just the pursuit of identity- an innate desire to be the perfect boy- for the sake of Geppetto. Geppetto wishes for the return of his deceased son, Carlo, and creates Pinocchio in a drunken stupor- waking up to witness his wish turn into something nightmarish.

Pinocchio’s otherworldliness- the balance between grotesque and innocence is another technique and theme that travels throughout all of del Toro’s filmography- challenging what we define as a monster, something I will touch on later. In this sense, Pinocchio is merely a monster to Geppetto- something unknown- and because of this unknown factor, Pinocchio is a threat to Geppetto and everything he believes.

Pinocchio originally tells the tale of a naughty boy who is taught the lesson of obedience and selflessness. In an interview, del Toro speaks of working to subvert these themes, and I felt it necessary to insert a quote of his, “Very poignantly, it becomes a movie about a puppet in a world of people that don’t know they are puppets… But they are puppets. Everybody is a puppet in there. And the one that behaves less like a puppet is the one everybody thinks is a puppet! I thought there was something delicious in that.”

Because Pinocchio doesn’t look like the other children, he is easily singled out amongst the crowd- in reality, he actually mirrors those in the crowd, Pinocchio is who they feel like on the inside- he is the innocence, freedom, and uncertainty bubbling beneath the surface of us all. Using the backdrop of Mussolini’s fascist Italy, secondary characters, such as the town general and his son as well as Spazz the monkey (shockingly, Cate Blanchett) see the freedom they lack and can use Pinocchio as an inspiration to act against the collective and rather embrace who they truly are. The strong theme of identity- the detriment of conforming to fit in with characteristics of the mass- whether it just be your interests, or in this film’s case, political stances.

There is hope yet! Within Pinocchio, we see the Fool Card ready to transition into the Magician. On the cusp of newness, exposed and unsure of the world around him. This childlike wonder is something we hardly experience post-childhood, but it is also an asset that has been dropped along the way. The gift of no prior judgements. A vulnerability that erases uncertainty and allows us to make decisions free of bias. Taking the Fool’s next step involves learning when to use this vulnerability, and through the darkness of the world (and some of its people) Pinocchio does understand that not everyone/thing has as pure intentions as he does. Being too trusting gets him into dangerous situations but balancing that with the fearlessness of consequence for the sake of doing good, is what makes Pinocchio more of a real boy than most.

Pinocchio is filmed in the animation style of Stop Motion- something I was blessed enough to get to practice during my animation modules. Stop Motion involves stopping and starting the camera repeatedly while slightly moving and adjusting objects to give the visual impression of movement. The tediousness and attention to detail are otherworldly- each second and movement guarantee an understanding of the time and dedication one has to have to craft such art. Del Toro gives the art back to the artists- each character being designated to a creator, giving free movement and decision-making to the people who work closest with these 3D models. I love the illusion of Stop Motion! The ingenuity- thinking outside of the box to make things work, trying little tricks and tactics to turn something challenging into a linear work of art. Every little thing matters and nothing was left untouched. I’d love to speak further on my love for stop motion, but for the sake of moving forward, I highly recommend checking out Pinocchio: Behind the Scenes on Netflix- as I tirelessly reiterate, all movies and series deserve a BTS!

I’d like to spend some time praising Guillermo del Toro. It’s no secret that he remains one of my top 3 directors, and this is partially due to his mystical style of creation, but more importantly due to the way he sees the world. His literary approach reminds me of that of my favourite author, Gabriel García Márquez. Tackling post-colonial themes and blending with the romanticism of reality. Del Toro likes to tell his stories from the eyes of those most innocent- pure of society's murky influences, this can be best displayed when his stories are told from the perspective of a monster- someone/thing who lacks a voice. My favourite examples of this are in his films Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and The Shape of Water (2017). I am always curious when approaching his films, excitedly anticipating his exploration into humanity. He acknowledges the importance of making a film for the right reasons, he says, “it’s not about how many people get it, it’s about how deep”. He puts so much curiosity into his art (Recommendation: Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities on Netflix. An anthology consisting of 8 horror-esque films created by smaller, international filmmakers. Absolutely worth the watch!) and you can feel that he is on a journey of exploration and understanding, questioning, and exploring what it means to be alive. He embraces the parts of childhood he was unable to feel growing up, seeks to connect with a part of himself buried within, and frankly, I just find his thought process beautiful.

Pinocchio has been transformed into something of depth and heartiness, something of adventure and magic, something I'll recommend for the rest of time.

10/10.

"He ventured into the world. And the world, I believe, embraced him back."

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