Le avventure di Pinocchio

When I was a child in the 70's I watched this beautiful version of Pinocchio on the German television for the first time. The series was broadcast on a few Sunday mornings in the '70's. I never saw such a realistic pinocchio-boy. It was fascinating to see how the wooden boy moved and how he walks and talks. In my childhood this boy of wood looks very realistic. I never forgot some fragments like the mysterious fairy and the boat by the water and the big whale. It was really spooky sometimes to watch but I didn't wanna stop watching! I loved it! But anyway I will warn children and other readers for watching Le avventure di Pinnochio alone. It could be a bit scary. One day, it was real tragic for me, the series suddenly stopped, it disappeared. Unfortunately I never saw it again on the television. I searched many times to this Pinnochio movie but didn't know any information about the subtitle or creator. Without the internet, I guess, I never discovered it. Finally this week I found at last the information I was searching so many years for. I was very enjoyed about it!! Now I can order this masterpiece of Luigi Comencini on DVD and watch it in my own Dutch language. I will always treasure this series from my childhood and I can't wait to see it again after more then 20 years.

It is always tricky and very hard to turn a (great) novel into a movie with good results. So many times the result is quite bad. But in this case this rendition of Carlo Collodi's wonderful novel (read it! And have your kids read it!) by one of the greatest Italian directors will leave you totally delighted and moved. The actors are superb and the atmosphere is absolutely perfect. Andrea Balestri (Pinocchio) is... well... THE perfect Pinocchio. Geppetto (the great Manfredi) is unforgettable, and so Lollobrigida, and so Franco Franchi e Ciccio Ingrassia and... well, try and find a copy: every effort you will make is worth, trust me. I have to say that Disney's version (after all a cartoon. A great one, but a cartoon) disappears if compared to Comencini's Pinocchio. I watched Comencini's Pinocchio when I was a kid and many times since then (I am Italian so I have had more opportunities to watch it) and I do think that this version is a masterpiece.

It's simply a masterpiece to collect. The best Pinocchio movie adaptation ever made. A strict adhesion to the Collodi's text and several genial inventions like Franchi and Ingrassia as "Il Gatto e la Volpe" or Vittorio De Sica as "il Giudice" or the Gherardi's costumes and the unforgettable soundtrack. The original tuscan speech, unfortunately available on Italian version only I suppose, enhances the philological value of the film. By the Comencini's Pinocchio the Italian TV production, at beginning of 70's, reached probably its quality top, rarely confirmed later. Forgot Benigni and his "colossal-flop", manufactured for US market! Only Comencini and Suso Cecchi D'Amico, uo to now, have been really able to adapt the Collodi's tale for a movie.

This is a charming, funny yet dark adaptation of Carlo Collodi's story of Pinocchio. The basic plot will be familiar to anyone who's seen Disney's version, but the story is much richer than the cartoon format allowed for. The actors in this version are superb, particularly Manfredi as Gepetto and Franchi and Ingrassia as the cat and the fox. It's well worth renting, if you can find it -- and it's probably better for adults to watch with older kids, given that some of the villains in the story are portrayed in a pretty scary way that the Disney cartoon glossed over.

I'm a little afraid to watch Benigni's Pinocchio, because I think that Luigi Comencini has already reached the top in the human versions of this story. Great acting (especially the great Nino Manfredi, Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia and the superb little boy Andrea Balestri), great photography (just look at the wonderful still image of the final scene, with Pinocchio and Geppetto on the beach), and great costumes by Piero Gherardi (Oscar for Fellini's La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2). I think this movie is better to watch for grown-up people, who can fully understand the philosophical and moral implications of this representation. Definitely, a story that will touch you, and make you somehow richer inside. I expect wonderful things from Benigni, or maybe I just hope it, because this time I don't think he can do the best.