Italy, France, UK, 2015, 125’
directed by: Matteo Garrone
written by: Edoardo Albinati, Ugo Chiti, Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso.
cast: Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, Toby Jones, John C. Reilly, Shirley Henderson
cinematography: Peter Suschitzky
edited by: Marco Spoletini
producers: Matteo Garrone, Jeremy Thomas, Jean Labadie, Anne-Laure Labadie
production: Archimede Film, Le Pact, Recorded Picture Company
Cannes Film Festival 2015; Film Fest Gent 2015.
Once upon a time there were three kingdoms. In each kingdom, there was a magnificent castle and in each castle there was a king or queen. One king was a debauched libertine. The other gave all his love to a gigantic flea. As for the queen, she was obsessed with the idea of having a baby. Tale Of Tales is the first English-language film of the two-time Cannes Grand Prix winner Matteo Garrone, whose film Reality screened at the 10th Zagreb Film Festival. His latest film is a fantastic, eerie and fabulous triptych based on a 17th century story collection by the Italian writer Giambattista Basile, known by his versions of popular fairy tales. An eccentric effusion of capriciousness of autocratic rulers, good-natured witches, monsters, metamorphoses and evil queens are what binds these seductive tales together into an experience which is both enthralling and disturbing.
Matteo Garrone was born in Rome in 1968, Matteo is a critically acclaimed award-winning director. In 2008, his film Gomorrah won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2012, his film Reality screened in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival winning the Grand Prix of the Jury. Reality was also screened at the 10th Zagreb Film Festival. Tale of Tales if his latest film.